Ok, I know I've seen this somewhere before. Can you explain the difference? Right now I've got this controller chattering away at me to watch my altitude... assigned is FL70 and I'm at 7000ft. My QNH is set correctly and still there's a never ending warning about my altitude. It's a cardinal sin but I've chosen to simply ignore this guy.I searched the manual and can't find any reference to the difference.

The transition altitude determines where the flight levels begin (FLs). When climbing to a commanded FL set your altimeter pressure to standard (29.92in or 1013mb). When descending to an altitude declared in feet set your altimeter to local QNH.Transition altiudes are local to the areas involved. For FAA airports and enroute in US territories it is fixed at 18,000 feet. Most other areas are lower declared by local authority. In the controller page you will see the transition altitudes for each of your airports I believe.Do not use the FS "B" key to set your altimeter. It is hard coded for a transition altitude of 18,000 feet which is incorrect for mosdt of the world.See pages 107 and 108 in the RC manual.

Just looked at those pages... hey, it is in there. Thanks for the clarification. I now understand the difference between FL (use standard) and altitude in feet (use BP/QNH).

Read through and try to fly the tutorials. Items like this are covered. Use a simple default aircraft (no FMC to complicate things).

What? Actually read manuals and fly tutorials? I'm far too impatient for that. :) In all honesty, I did begin a tutorial but RC seemed so user friendly I stopped and just began flying.

I'll bet you did not skip reading your military OPS manuals. :)RC's I bet are much more entertaining.You might also be interested in stories and flight training on www.stoenworks.com. Hal was a CFI and corporate pilot flying twin turboprops. His tutorials are entertaining and well illustrated. They include a lot of practical matters.

Thanks for the heads-up on stoenworks - i've only had time to briefly scan the site, but I guarantee I'll return often. Such a wide variety of experience and knowledgeCheersjaje