February 25, 200422 yr okay i know how to do everything else. im good with nearly everything until now. lol i feel stupid asking this but how do i know my altitude by looking at the altimeter. this is my first ever simulator.im really eager to learn and ive loved everything about it. like i said i can do everything else. i just find it inconvinient to change camera views just to check the altitude.id really appreciate any helpthanks a lot guys.
February 25, 200422 yr The large hand indicates hundreds of feet and the small hand indicates thousands of feet. Since it can be heard to read you can cheat and press shift z. That shows your altitude, heading, airspeed and position in a text line at the top of the screen.Welcome to the forum, by the way. There are many knowledgeable people here who can answer just about any question you have about simulated flying, real flying or hardware issues.BlairCYOW
February 25, 200422 yr thanks a lot. im going to try it out as soon as i can. and thanks for the help as well really appreciate it.
February 25, 200422 yr still cant read it properly. for example for approximatly 700 feet the small hand points to zero and the big one to o.4 (fourth incriment on the dial). i dont get how thats 700 feet. if the large hand is the "hundreds" hand than wouldnt it be pointing at the number 7.i know this is probably the most obvious thing but i really wanna do it properly.thanks of the time and help guys :)
February 25, 200422 yr The altimeter must be set to the current barometric pressure where you are. If you tune the radio with the nearest ATIS they will tell you, among other useful things, something like 'altimeter xx.xx' You must click the knob on the altimeter until the small numbers to the right mark that pressure. Also, if you press 'B' key, FS will adjust the altimeter automagically.OR maybe you're fliying in a very cold place. If the temperature is too cold, the pitot will eventually freeze, and the altimeter and other systems will stop working. to prevent this, turn on the 'pitot heat' switch in your aircraft.
February 25, 200422 yr Like the poster before me said...You have to adjust the altimeter. It's not a radar beam that bounces back to your plane and tells your height above ground. The altimeter is just basically a barometer...IE it measures the atmospheric pressure and caculates your altitude above sealevel based on that pressure. But it must be calibrated for current weather conditions in order to read correctly. Just hit the 'B' key to automatically calibrate it.And since you are new to flight sims and flight in general I suggest you take some time and go through the lessons. They will tell you what you need to know. :)
February 25, 200422 yr thanks a lot for the info im off to try it out asap. so that means that a reading of 700 feet above sea level would have the small hand pointing at zero and the large hand pointing at 7 and a reading of 5000 feet would have the small hand pointing at 5 and the large hand at 0. coz thats what i dont understand.
February 25, 200422 yr Assuming your altimeter is set correctly (as stated above) yes you would be correct.
February 25, 200422 yr He is right it does help to go through the lesson. I thought i was the best until I took the lessons and lerned to fly evan better and lerned somting i didn even know.Also the Airport that you may be taking off from or landing at might not be at sea level altitude such as Denver Intl witch is about 5,ooo feet above the sea leve so your altimiter will read (5000) Also in some airplanes the altimiter shows the hands and in numbers such as in the 777,747,737, and the Cessna I belive just keep flying,keep practicing and eventually you will learn to fly Properly.PS:Ive been flying for about 4 yrs now and I can easly fly a 747 from San Fran to New York Just don't give up if you really like it stick with it. :)
February 25, 200422 yr thanks a lot lol. yeah ill keep at it and thanks for helping me along the way. im flying the cessna 178 (i think) and i pressed B for like 2 minutes. problem is that the reading is wierd. im at 426 feet and the small hand point at 0 and the big one points at 6is the cessna an exception or what. if its the cessna thats complicated than ill just move on. thanks a lot guys. couldnt have held hope without you
February 25, 200422 yr Ah...You are reading the MSL altitiude from the status line after pressing Shift+Z, right?Mean Sea Level (MSL): The average height of the surface of the sea for all stafes of tide; used as a reference for elevations throughout the U.S. The instrument for indicating the aircraft's altitude, the altimeter, measures static air pressure and is calibrated in accordance with an international standard atmospheric pressure and temperature model. Air density has a significant effect on aircraft take-off performance and equivalent air density at the airfield can be ascertained from current pressure and air temperature.So those numbers can be different.http://www.auf.asn.au/groundschool/umodule3.html
February 25, 200422 yr here lemme post a link to what im looking at. lol its the altimetre but i dunno whats wrong with what im doing.http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimul...ics_screen4.aspwhat altitude is that plane at?
February 25, 200422 yr YAY yeah thats great. okay confusion cleared. thats great so thats the MSL. so where do i read the altitude? (im really sorry for asking dumb questions. thanks for the patience and help guys)
February 25, 200422 yr MSL is the standard unit of altitude. Your AGL is your MSL minus the MSL of the point of land you are flying over.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Support
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