altitude reads wrong

[Toothless]

Hi... Flying at 12,000 or lower, altimeter and outside view of aircraft

[beaky]

By "outside reading" I assume you mean what you see when you press Shift+Z ? Does that read differently depending on the view selected
(cockpit or spot view)?

[Nav]

Toothless, above 18,000 feet you're in Class A airspace. Normal practice in most parts of the world (and the whole 'FS world') above that height is to work on standard pressure (29.92) instead of setting the altimeter to true pressure (by pressing 'B').

The idea is to make sure that everyone's flying at the 'right' heights relative to each other, for safety reasons.

FS sets 29.92 for you automatically, above 18,000. So it's quite 'normal' for the true height to be different to the one shown on the gauge. All you have to do is make sure to press 'B' to re-calibrate the altimeter after you pass through 18,000 on the way up and on the way down.

If the heights seem wrong even below 18 000, same thing - keep pressing 'B' to re-calibrate. Air pressure varies quite often and quite a lot. Also, if you're flying on autopilot, give the aeroplane time to react to a pressure change, it's not 'immediate' by any means, often takes a couple of minutes. Glance at the 'Rate Of Climb/Descent' gauge, it'll tell you whether you're climbing or descending.

Hope that helps.

[gypsymoth]

Thanks Nav!  My education continues  8-)