I was happily flying along at my assigned altitude of 17000 ft, QNH checked, when ATC told me to be careful, my assigned altitude was 17000 (duh), then after a few warnings they became really nasty. Why? Why did ATC think I was at a different altitude? Is this a bug?I hope someone can shed some light on this.cheersMartin

Hi Martin,ATC doesn't hate you ;-)Where in the world are you flying? If it's outside the USA then the Transition Altitude will probably not be 18000ft. Were you assigned 17000ft or Flight level 170? If the latter then you should be on standard pressure of 1013.2mb.As JD said in another message welcome to flying outside the US! :-)Cheers,

Thanks Ray, you may have a point. I was flying from EHAM to EGLL, just a little exercise to keep my hand in, so to speak. And if I recall correctly, I was assigned FL170, and there was a nasty low pressure area with a lot of turbulence, QNH about 1000 mb. So what would the transition altitude be ?cheersMartin

Martin, the problem is an altimeter setting error. The Transition Altitude at Amsterdam is 3000ft and at Heathrow, 6000ft. If you were cleared to FL170, your altimeter should have been set to the standard setting of 1013.2 mB/hPa and not the QNH.Remember FL = standard pressure, altitude = QNH. If you still had a QNH of 1000mB set, when you though you were at F170, you would have been approximately 350ft too high.Pete

There you are Martin. You've heard it straight from the mouth of a r/w controller :-)Thanks Pete!

So, if I understand correctly, on leaving EHAM I should have set standard at 3000 and on descending at London Heathrow I should have reset it at 6000 ? Where can I find the different transition altitudes for the different countries ? Or is it not a country specific rule ?Thanks for the answers, Ray and Pete, BAV will thank you too :-) cheers Martin

different TA's for each country, and therefore different TL's for each countryrc will display the TL, in the fs9 display window, when rc begins.the TA's can be found on the airport charts of the airport.jd

on leaving EHAM I should have set standard at 3000 and on descending at London Heathrow I should have reset it at 6000If you reset your altimeter at the TA going up and the TL coming down, you won't be far wrong and your co-pilot will help you with this. When you pass the Transition Altitude climbing and the Transition Level descending, your co-pilot will say "altimeter check" which is a reminder to you to reset your altimeter sub-scale to the correct value i you haven't already done so. One very important thing to note: DO NOT USE THE 'B' KEY to reset your altimeter. It is set up for the US TA of 18000ft and will give an incorrect setting when used with the low European TAs.Pete

Ray,>>ATC doesn't hate you <

As JD wrote, different countries, different TA. Even in the same country (UK per example) you will get different TA from one airport to the other.You can find the TA values for departure and arrival when starting RCV4. After loading RCV4 and entering the flight plan and before starting RCV4 check the Controller Info. You will find the TA for departure, arrival and alternate airports. You can even change them if you wish.

One more thing,If you use FS Flight Keeper, it will automatically warn you when you reach the TA by saying to set up the altimeter.

I don't know if ATC really hates Martin, but I think "he" hates me. I was flying thru the Andes, say 13000 ft mountains, I fly FL 220 (assigned previously) and the ATC start to assign me lower altitudes, finally 12000 ft. I do this but the plane starts alerting me: Terrain! Terrain!.... I raise my altitude and the ATC becames nasty. Finally I ignore him because I prefer not to crash ;)Anyway, the other situations when I hate the ATC is when he, in a very nasty way, say I am out of my way, but it is false.

Did you check the NOTAMS box for the arrival airport? That tells RC that any descents can only be flown if it is safe to do so.Also check that the MSA (Minimum Safe Altitude) is appropriate for the airport you're flying to. The pre-determined value is the highest point in a 30 miles radius I believe.<>We need more info please. Were you flying the route you filed? Did your heading match that of the next waypoint in the RC display? Or maybe you didn't make your crossing restriction? There are some rules that cannot be broken. Crossing restriction is one of them. If you continue to be told off any you don't know why create a log and sent it to JD with background to the problem.RC is like your mother. Sometimes we might scold you but deep down we love you and would never want any harm to come to you ;-)Cheers,

:DI ddin't have checked the NOTAMS box :oops:I create my flight plans with FlightSim Commander 7, save as FS9 plan and open in Radar Contact.I fly with PSS Boeing 777 and set the plan in the FMC copying everything, so the plan in RC must be the same as the plan in the Boeing.Well, I do what I can with my english, I hope you can understand me :D

after loading the .pln in rc, go to the controller's page, and adjust the msa as necessaryjd