Gday guys just got a quick question!Im a student Pilot in Australia and we use the QNH standard 1013hpa.Now all the FS aircraft seem to use the QNE 29.92 inches standard.My question is can you setup flightsim to work on the QNH standard?I've looked but cant find it! I thought you would have the option of QNE or QNH on yor Altimeter as both are major standards! I thought QNE is only used in the USA and Canada! and most of the world uses QNH. I am probably wrong :) If anyone is thinking " What the hell is QNH and QNE?" then take a peek here.http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/directline_issues/dl2_intl.htmThanks!Pete

Ok forget for this moment hpa or inches.Lets first look at QNH and QNE. When on the gound or on approach the local ATIS information or tower will always give you the QNH. This is the actual pressure on the ground. When your altimeter is set to this it will indicate your actual height above mean sea level. So when sitting on the runway the height indicated shows you the height of the runway above mean sea level.The next thing is the transition altitude. This altitude varies in different regions, countries and control zones in the world but for example in the most of Europe the is FL 060 (6000 feet).When flying at or above this altitude you have to set your altimeter to QNE. This is 1013.2 mb or the same 29.92 inches. As soon as you ascend through the transition altitude you set your altimeter to QNE. When descending through the transition altitude you set your altimeter to the QNH for that region. You will get the QNH from the local controllers or from the tower.(I think, but I might be wrong, that the transition altitude in the USA is FL100)The last one is the QFE setting. This is normally used when flying locally near to your airfield, say for example when flying circuits or of course when told by the the tower. The QFE will show an altitude of 0 when on the runway. EA it will indicate the actual height above the runway (AGL)Jack

thanks Jack!I do know what QNH etc.. is used for and was not asking how they are used! My question was can you use QNH in FS? As all the Gauges only seem to use QNE! There sould be QNH Altimeters where you enter 1013hpa for example! Not 29.92 inches!Pete

Hi Jack,Thanks for that very informative reply - sorted a few things out for me as well. However.......what do the letters (QNH, QNE and QFE)stand for? I am assuming they are acronyms, but could well be wrong. If we wannabe flyers understood what these letters represented it might help us remember what they mean ;)Mike

The Q codes are just that codes, they are not acronymns. the Q codes starting with QAA to QNZ are reserved for aeronautical use as shown below.History:The Q-code was instituted at the Radiotelegraph Convention held in London, 1912.The following list of current Q-codes is compiled from various sources.The QAA...QNZ series are reserved for the aeronautical service.(ICAO Procedures for Air Navigation Services (PANS), Abbreviations and Codes [Doc8400])The QOA...QQZ series are reserved for the maritime services.(ITU RR1990, Appendix 14)The QRA...QUZ series are for use by all services.(ITU RR1990, Appendix 13, 14)The QZA...QZZ series for other usage.For any one intersted here is a link to a web page that will tell yuo exactly what QNH and QNE mean, as well as all the other hundreds of Q codes, although Jack already explained exactly what they mean.http://www.kloth.net/radio/qcodes.php#qaa----------------------------------------------------------------------QNE What indication will my altimeter give on landing at ... (place) at ... hours, my sub-scale being set to 1013.2 millibars (29.92 inches)? QNH What should I set on the subscale of my altimeter so that the instrument would indicate its elevation if my aircraft were on the ground at your station?----------------------------------------------------------------------The subscale that they are referring to above is the Kollsman gauge. It appears that MSFS only shows inches of Hg. although many add on planes will show millibars as well as inches of Hg. The Dreamfleet Cardinal being one that quickly comes to mind in that regard. Regardless of inches Hg. or millibars or hectopascals, one still must get the QNH for that moment in time from ATIS and then set your altimeter accordingly. Edit: Allow me to add that in the United States QNE is used at or above FL180, (18,000 ft.).

You will be in heaven with the Meridian then!it offers 3 independant settings for your altimeters: PFD, STDBY and AUTOPILOT, and this is the only one to my knowledge doing this.It also displays both Inhg and Mb in most cases!Also, the Jet Line 2 and Jet Line 4 from Reality XP offer you a setting to choose from InHg or MB...Hope this helps!

Suddenly, I feel a whole lot better!I've been meaning, on and off, to ask this question for some time but since it was never queried by anyone else I have been assuming that by doing so would betray a level of ignorance that would make me wish to hide. Needles to say, I won't be so stupid in future.Many thanks, Donald.Mike :-waveEdit: I see now I should have used Google....sigh!

Please repeat after me Mike, "there are no stupid questions".:D:-lol

There are no stupid questionsThere are no stupid questionsThere are no stupid questionsMike

My VFR Study Guide says this about the Q code.Back in the days when voice modulated radio was difficult to receive, much of the communication was done by Morse Code. To aviod the need for a long Morse Code transmission, many of the most commonly asked questions were incorporated into the 'Q' code. When the operator sent the letter 'Q' it indicated he had a question. To ask for the atmospheric pressure at sea level, he simply transmitted the letters 'QNH'. This was understood as " I have a question. What is the atmospheric pressure at nil hight?" The atmospheric pressure at sea level is stll referred as QNH.Pete

Found this interesting link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_codeIt's all coming together now.Mike