altitude and ATC

[par8head]

 just wondering, when ever i contact atc, either to fly through or to land, atc allways says  my current altimeter is at 2992.   even if i am at 1,000ft or 10,000ft.  Is there a way to correct this so atc says my correct altitude

[KnightHawk]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but i believe the number 2992 is the standard airpressure.  This is what your altimeter should be set to inorder for a correct reading.

[Smoke2much]

Knighthawk is correct, this is the atmspheric pressure in the area in which you are flying.  If you download real weather the ATC will tell you the pressure to change your altimeter to.  You can change the number instantly using the B key.

Above a certain altitude (10000feet?) all aircraft fly at 2992 to standardise altitude and Flight Level.

Will

[OTTOL]

The altitude in question is called transition altitude. It's 18,000' in the continental U.S. and as low as 3,000 in some countries(Cuba for example). When the controller says "altimeter 29.92" Par8', he is giving you the current setting that should be entered in  the Colesman window(the small window with four numbers on the altimeter). Your altimeter uses PRESSURE to determine your current altitude. Pressure changes with temperature and variations in weather. If you fly over a long distance,and the pressure changes quite a bit  , your altimeter may be hundreds of feet off. In this case, you would want the correct altimeter setting, or you may be higher, or much worse, LOWER, than the altimeter indicates. The standard M$ program defaults to 29.92", which is known as standard pressure. You can change the pressure on the defaults, or like Will says, if you download realtime weather, you will have the controller tell you something other than " altimeter 2992".

[par8head]

thanks guys for your help....



ps   its par8head like parrott head, fan of jimmy buffett

anyway-thanks again    

[OTTOL]

I'm from south Florida, I got it the first time, I'm just too lazy to type the whole thing out!  ;D