[LANCAIR] Altimeter tooltip: a request [ANSWERED]

[rosariomanzo]

Hello

I'm really enjoying the Lancair and just now i'm flying it online from Maribor (LJMB) to Brindisi (LIBR).

As I often fly in countries where millibars are used, instead of inHg, may I ask you to please add the millibar value of the barometric pressure in the tooltip, together with the inHg one? So I could read both values, e.g. , "29.92Hg - 1013.25mb".

I would find it a great help when getting atc instructions while flying online. Now I should perform some arithmetical conversions .

Thanks in advance for any help!

[ryanbatc]

Not a bad idea... you could always use the b key as well.

[rosariomanzo]

You are right, but I have to comply to atc instructions and be precise on altimeter settings. Maybe the 'b' key is not always a good woorkaround, due to the different weather servers.

[Jared Charalambous]

Might look into it for SP1

[rosariomanzo]

Might look into it for SP1

Thank you Jared

[CoolP]

You are right, but I have to comply to atc instructions and be precise on altimeter settings. Maybe the 'b' key is not always a good woorkaround, due to the different weather servers.

Just a sidenote and maybe I'm wrong, but the "b" key is THE solution if you have different weather servers.

ATC expects you at e. g. 7000ft and gives you an altimeter setting for their weather data. If your weather data differs and you use the altimeter setting from the ATC, you won't be at 7000ft but somewhere else. The deviation might me small but can be big too.

If you press "b", your altimeter will show the right altitude and you can fly safely at 7000ft because you are at 7000ft on your PC and that's the altitude that gets transfered to them.

So the best solution is to use "b" and read back the altimeter setting like ATC said to give them the feel that you care (because you do) and to not confuse them, but you will actually use your setting (referring to your weather data) and the only way to set up this "your" data fast is pressing "b".

But the tooltip on the Lancair would be nice of course.

[rosariomanzo]

No, it isn't.

IVAO uses a certain weather server, I use ASE, or REX weather engine.

If an ATC tells me to set the altimeter at 1017, i have to set 1017. If ASE reads another value for that station, the 'b' key will give me a wrong value.

Let's suppose ASE or REX give me a value of 1020 at LIRN, while IVAO servers give 1012. The ATC will see me at a level which is not true.

As you say, I will be at 7000 on MY pc, but not on ATC radar. This is the problem.

This will lead to errors and eventually under-separation. I will have to set 1012 as instructed by ATC, doesn't matter which values I have from my weather generator.

More, barometric pressure changes with altitude. I have to set the barometric pressure of the airport, passing the transition altitude, which will be different if I will press 'b' at 7000'.

So, the tooltip in mb, from my side, is vital (please give the right weight to this word!  )

Thanks anyway for your kind explaination.

[CoolP]

I did a test and placed myself on some lonely island, very close to sea level and therefor at around 3ft high. I've pressed "b" to make sure that my altimeter setting fits to the current weather and it therefor reports the correct value of 3ft.

I've connected to VATSIM then and waited some time until my position showed up there. With my altimeter set to the correct values for my PC and my weather it showed 3ft too.

Now imagine some ATC to come up, using different weather data than me (a common situation by the way) and therefor advising me to use another altimeter setting.

So I'm turning my altimeter knob now to another setting, the imagined ATC given one. The weather isn't changing on my PC, I'm not moving and I'm still standing there, at real 3ft.

But with the setting from ATC my altimeter shows me on some other altitude, one that isn't the right and VATSIM still sees me at 3ft, because that's the value their client reports to the network, the real (distance measured) one on my PC, regardless of some setting.

The problem with that is, if they advised my to go for e. g. 7000ft now together with their altimeter setting, I would aim for "7000" to show up on my altimeter but my real altitude would differ because of the deviation in the altimeter setting.

The client would report me on 6900 or 7100 or something but no at 7000 because I have the wrong values shown up in my cockpit and only "b" (or the right value for my setup) can counteract this situation.

So you see, one has to go for his altimeter setting and therefor his real altitude, otherwise he will see 7000ft in his cockpit but he will actually fly higher or lower from that, because the real altitude gets reported (measured by FSX, on a non-barometric basis), not the one showing on your instruments.

The only way to get the real altitude and the one on the aircraft's altimeter lined up is to use your altimeter settings, for your current weather and not the one from ATC.

I doubt that IVAO clients work any different but you may want to test it yourself by connecting and switching up and down your altimeter while IVAO always reports the real value which won't change then.