Hi all! I'm new to this site and to the flight sim. I

My Dear Friend, Welcome. You will always keep going back to fly, once you've tried it, trust me.Well as for the altimeter reading this non zero number, this is normal. The altimeters in airplanes read the altitude with reference to mean sea level. So this means for a place that is situated on a mountain for example, Denver, you can expect this sort of thing.In reality, a lot of places we live are well above sea level.It is done this way in all airplanes to give a common reference, so that regrdless of where the aircraft is, xxxx ft will always be xxxx ft.I hope that this helps.

I'm sure your altimeter is right; but, as the previous poster pointed out, the altimeter references MSL (Mean Sea Level). The airport has a published alitude MSL. If you will look up the airport's elevation and reference that to the altimeter, you won't run into the ground. Try it in daylight first and then you'll see what I mean. You should expect to run into the ground at Denver somewhere about a mile up from sea level!Welcome to the Community!

Thanks for the tip. My next question is; is this some kind of a bug or something. I'm having problems landing at Denver Int. (KDEN). The tower tells me to approach at 7000ft., but that's really 1569ft. I end up too low and I can't line up the runway. Is there a way to set the altimeter?thanks:-zhelp

Listen to the ATIS broadcast before switching to the tower frequency or when you are in range of the signal. Set your altimeter manually according to the ATIS broadcast. Unless you're flying with real weather or a weather theme, the alitimeter should be 29.92". Have a look at the terain during daylight. If you know the terrain is too high for that altitude, disregard the instruction. The ATC in FS is a program, not an intuitive person who knows what's out there. You're the pilot, keep the blue side up and don't run out of anything.:>

For what it's worth: From my experience, the ground detail slider mainly controls the detail of the (invisible) collision-"layer" that covers the actual ground. So basically, you are more likely to crash into the ground with a low detail setting than with a high one (taken you're flying low - and you watch where you're going :D)-Daniel

Hello, There is also a "cheat" for setting the altimeter without listening to ATIS, all you have to do is hit the B button and you are set. I prefer to listen to ATIS and change the dial manually myself but hitting "B" is a quick and easy method of accomplishing the same thing. If you are using real weather downloads be advised that the barometric pressure will change throughout your flight so you will want to adjust the altimeter before you leave the gate, make any changes you hear from ATC in route, but note that at 18,000 feet and above in the US (different countries have different altitudes)the altimeter should always be set at 29.92 then once you descend below 18,000 you once again follow ATC's or ATIS reports of the barometric pressure. You may or may not already know that but I thought that I would include that in case you did not as there is a lot to learn if you want to do it the "right" way. If you have any further questions just give a yell and I'll se what I can do.Good luck!Philip

Thanks All!I've done the 'B'thing and listen to the tower, but none has worked. Even if I start at the airport in the gate, my altimeter is at 5431ft, and I haven't even turned on the battery yet!!!!!!!!!!HuggsKittie:-grr

Hi KittieJust one more piece of info. The Lear is one of the more difficult planes to fly and especially to land. Most people start with something a little bit easier, like one of the small Cessnas. But if you want to start out with the lear then go for it. Because of its speed you need to really be thinking ahead and anticipating what is comming up and how to handle it before you get there. Also you need to take into account that jet engines don't respond as quickly as piston engines. Look at the specs on the kneeboard and try to follow the numbers for approach speed, rate of descent, landing speed, etc.Good LuckDavid

>Thanks All!>>I've done the 'B'thing and listen to the tower, but none has>worked. Even if I start at the airport in the gate, my>altimeter is at 5431ft, and I haven't even turned on the>battery yet!!!!!!!!!!Well thats normal you have to remember that Denver is on the rockie mountains so when you start it wont be at 0ft. You only get 0 ft if your airport is at the same level as the ocean and that only happens on the small islands... though some of them ar still a few feet above sea level.

Denver international Airport is listed in the Airport Facility Directory as 5431' altitude MSL. If your altimeter is set correctly that is the altitude it should read. If you are running into trees/ground while on short final you may be descending too quickly. If you are flying IFR and ATC has you at 7,000' and asks you to now descend to a lower altitude you need to descend at a given speed and descent rate so you do not drop below a safe altitude. That way you reach the designated altitude at the location of the next marker (vor, ndb, etc.) on your ib route.Hope this helps :)

Also, airplanes (small ones) stall right onto the tarmac in a normal landing. The heavy aircraft land at higher speeds to stay above the stall speed and keep enough airflow over the control surfaces so they have spoilers that deploy and reduce the wings lift upon the gear hitting the ground. Read the aircraft manual approach speeds and proper descent rate for a safe landing. If you are at the correct attitude and descent profile you can land without crashing each time. If you can land at other airports with ease then you are doing this ok and just need to check your profiles at Denver and the Middle East.:)

Thanks for all your help. I think I'm finally starting to understand this now.HuggsKittie:-wave

I don't know whether Denver suffers from this bug but when I was learning ILS approaches I discovered that KFLL (Ft. Lauderdale) will slam you right into the ground. Other airports like Tampa (KTPA) and Orlando (KMCO) will pretty much let you do a hands off landing.I hope you're landing the Learjet with ILS assistance because landing it manually is a hard way to start.

I just did a takeoff and manual landing with the Lear at KFLL RWY 13 and didn't notice anything unusual. Are you using APR to actually land? APR isn't designed to land an aircraft, only to set you up for landing. At some point before touchdown you must disengage APR and land manually. David