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Newbie question about the altimeter

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2 minutes ago, Matt Sdeel said:

I guess that where flight experience in a specific plane comes in.

Correct, practice touch-and-go until you feel comfortable.. 🙂

Bert

During your landing, and in real life, don't fixate to your instruments.

You flare based on your experience, the current wind speed and directions, your peripheral vision and look straight down on the runway.

When landing on a field/farm land, maybe much further away from any ATC services that can give you an altimeter settings, you can use your VFR chart to find landmarks like tower to get an idea of the elevation too.

That is why when you are planning your route, you also have to see where you are flying over and anticipate if any emergency due to mechanical or weather.

But if you are just flying around the practice area, you can pretty much have an idea of the elevation.

When it comes down to pre-cautionary or emergency landing, you just visually fly the plane in a circuit to inspect and back for another round for landing if you are happy with what you see.

  • Author
1 minute ago, Bert Pieke said:

Correct, practice touch-and-go until you feel comfortable.. 🙂

Oh, before I forget.... everything in aviation especially when communicating with ATC or other pilots, is based on 'MSL' with regards to altitude  --and to KIAS with regards to speed, right?

The radar altimeter, if one exists in the plane, is never used in communicating with others.  And, communication is always in English and in the Imperial System (ie. not metric). So if I went to Russia or China, ATC will communicate with me in English and use Imperial units, right?

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