Talk:QFE

The example given in the text for this entry is unrealistic. A pilot on the ground would have no need to ask ATC for the QFE. All he needs to do is set his altimeter to show 0 and he's got QFE. To an airborne pilot on approach, however, the QFE definitely is useful.

Not true. If an altimeter code is available at the airport you're starting from, using that code and comparing the altimeter reading to the local field elevation is an important check on the accuracy of your altimeter. —Cleared as filed. 21:29, 11 October 2005 (UTC)

Also, (and I wrote the example originally) it happens to be a verbatim transcript of the sort of call I made all the time during my training. I went solo in G-WACF... ;-) Graham 23:17, 11 October 2005 (UTC)

Interesting; where'd you train? My instructor at Biggin insisted on a full-blown initial call, which would have been along the lines of, "Golf Bravo Oscar Lima Victor is a Cessna 152 at EFG, request taxi for local VFR, two on board, information Alpha, QNH 1014", (followed by a great intake of breath). The most interesting difference there is that I would read back the QNH I got from the ATIS (of course, if the request had been for circuit work, the controller would have given me QFE along with the taxi clearance). I'd always set QNH if I was leaving the circuit, and get QFE on the way back in. I do think it's a useful example though. (BTW, good ol' Lima Victor is the plane I soloed in ;-)

I did make a couple of minor changes to the example, specifically to eliminate the abbreviation of 'Foxtrot'. I figure that an encyclopedia should set a good example ;-) uFu 04:41, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

I trained at Wycombe Air Centre. I think my instructor tended to encourage me to be more relaxed about strict correctness in favour of developing a sense of what was truly important in the communication. He would often point out what he considered to be amateurish efforts that we heard over the radio ("hear that? don't do it that way..." etc), and also those that seemed more professional, and hence, more confidence inspiring. As he was also an air-traffic controller I assumed he knew what he was talking about. That said, for my R/T exam he told me to 'go by the book', so I had to learn it both ways... In practice I found that most controllers tended to abbreviate things like 'foxtrot' as 'fox', as long as there was no ambiguity (actually one time I was in G-WACL and the same controller was simultaneously talking to G-BVCL (??) and that called for some listening effort ), even RAF controllers who otherwise seemed to have a language all their own. Also, I guess at WAC the controllers were used to dealing with a thousand identical requests a day, so it wasn't as if there could be any doubt about what was being requested. I think they would get a little fed up listening to newbies laboriously reciting a text-perfect r/t call that tied up the channel for five minutes, then STILL missed the actual figures passed back ;-) That all said I agree with you - we should probably 'go by the book' here too. Graham 22:25, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Inaccuracies. 1) When a pilot establishes radio contact with a station, that stations name must be used first, IE, "Leeds Tower, G-ABCD" 2) I believe QFE is set to read zero at the runway touchdown threshold, as opposed to the 'beginning'. 3) QFE is still widely used in european civillian aviation, and its use is still instructed in JAA ATPL ground school. Interestingly the use of two altimeters is used for instrument tuition. 4) The use of QNH is a regional pressure setting in the U.K. ie "Barnsley QNH", indicating an average pressure/altimeter setting for that 'region' whereas in the USA the 'altimeter' setting, is given from the weather station at the (nearest?) named airfield. 5) I guess in the use of "Royal Air Force" you mean the U.K RAF? JonLocke 23:30, 20 Jan 06 (UTC-4)

split

Shouldn't this article be split and made into a real disambiguation page, and so on? -- Mikeblas 16:29, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

QFE is set to read zero at the highest point/location on the runway. Im currently training for my PPL licence, at Kjeller Airbase in Norway :-) --Icenor 03:38, 12 January 2007 (UTC)