Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
An altimeter or an altitude meter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level. [1] The measurement of altitude is called altimetry , which is related to the term bathymetry , the measurement of depth under water.
An old altimeter intended for use in aircraft A drum-type aircraft altimeter, showing the small Kollsman windows at the bottom left (hectopascals) and bottom right (inches of mercury) of the face. In aircraft, an aneroid altimeter or aneroid barometer measures the atmospheric pressure from a static port outside the aircraft.
QFE - is the barometric altimeter setting that causes an altimeter to read zero when at the reference datum of a particular airfield (in practice, the reference datum is either an airfield center or a runway threshold). In ISA temperature conditions the altimeter will read the height above the airfield/runway in the vicinity of the airfield.
The altimeter setting used is the ISA sea level pressure of 1013 hPa or 29.92 inHg. The actual surface pressure will vary from this at different locations and times. Therefore, by using a standard pressure setting, every aircraft has the same altimeter setting, and vertical clearance can be maintained during cruise flight. [1]
It indicates altitude obtained when an altimeter is set to an agreed baseline pressure under certain circumstances in which the aircraft’s altimeter would be unable to give a useful altitude readout. Examples would be landing at a high altitude or near sea level under conditions of exceptionally high air pressure.
Indicated altitude is the reading on the altimeter when it is set to the local barometric pressure at mean sea level. In UK aviation radiotelephony usage, the vertical distance of a level, a point or an object considered as a point, measured from mean sea level; this is referred to over the radio as altitude.(see QNH) [2]
The altimeter is adjustable for local barometric pressure which must be set correctly to obtain accurate altitude readings, usually in either feet or meters. As the aircraft ascends, the capsules expand and the static pressure drops, causing the altimeter to indicate a higher altitude. The opposite effect occurs when descending.
Aircraft altimeters measure the relative pressure difference between the lower ambient pressure at altitude and a calibrated reading on the ground. In the United States, Canada [2] and Japan, these altimeter readings are provided in inches of mercury, but most other nations use hectopascals. Ground readings vary with weather and along the route ...