I'm a CFI and have been directing my students to this video to help explain pressure altitude. Watching their lightbulbs go off as they finally understand it has been beautiful :) Thank you Ms. Hollman!
Cyndy, I cannot thankyou enough for this thorough and clear explanation of pressure altitude and it effects on flying. You have certainly helped me in my flying and academic studies!
Going for BFR (COM INST S/MEL SES), so actually reviewing the basics. This is the clearest explanation of PA I have run across. Several of your other presentations are equally outstanding. Thank You!
Thank you so much for the professionalism and the very helpful videos. I own a FAA CPL but I am need to get current again ; the Jeppesen books and your videos really help me to get back to speed.
This helped so much. I’ve tried understanding this concept for some time and your visual representations helped a ton. Thank you for wonderfully explaining it
@@jasonk795 not saying I can't operate safely. I knew it and how it affected density. However, I need to periodically go back and review ppl and general stuff with all this new IFR info. If that makes sensr
@@jasonk795 Update, I'm heading into my CFI rating, with my IFR rating done. Passed with flying colors. Don't judge someone's question or make them look dumb. Just skip it or answer it kindly.
She is great in teaching these materials, I hope she could do something about the sound quality and the white board so we can hear her clearly and see what she draws and writes on the board.
Thanks Cindy! Great tutorial. Also, we must not forget that aircraft in USA (& Canada & Japan?) use "inches of mercury", while much of the world uses Hectopascals (aka millibars). Here in Australia we use the metric 1013.2 hPa, instead of 29.92 in.Hg.
How do you do that, there is always a simple trick in your conversation which explains things so easily. The key point here is - "How your plane feels" and things just get understood instead of cramming the definition of Pressure Altitude and getting confused with words. Awesome !!! Thanks.
She also said to do 30.52-29.92 to get 0.6X1000 to get 600 PA and then makes it negative on the board. It’s supposed to be 29.92-30.52 = -0.6 X 1000 = -600 + field elevation. I understand it’s a mistake but this is supposed to educate people and that confused me.
@@alexinaviation you do - 600 because it's a higher pressure. That means it's going to be more dense air and a lower pressure altitude. She didn't make a mistake. You're just not understanding.
Hi Cyndy. I really like your videos. I am an instructor myself and like to have my students watch them. Question: Do you know why there is a difference between the hand calculated pressure altitude correction factor, as you have shown here, and the Electronic E6B's and tables out there. I have always demonstrated the calculation just as you have here, but only now realized there is a slight difference between this and other methods. What are your thoughts?
It seems odd that with today's technology the altimeters don't just update themselves automatically by communicating directly with ASOS or other weather systems on the ground, as you fly to your destination.
Great explanation!! Please allow me to ask a question to test if I really understand this. Suppose you are flying from GMU to ATL in your first example, flying the pressure altitude 26.52, your true altitude would be 3000, the actual physical height above sea level. But, you won't realize it, because you would be slowly descending without really knowing it just keeping the indicated altitude of 4000 ft. Correct? And in fact, if you had another means to get your true altitude, and you flew by that instrument, and stayed a 4000 ft true, then your steam gauge indicated altimeter would slowly climb from 4000 ft to 5000 ft as you'd now be at 25.52 pressure, which according to GMU setting would make your indicated altitude 5000ft
What do you mean you get 1.1 when you subtract 2889 off 2992? Im getting 103. What exactly do I have to do here to get 1.1? I sort of get the decimal thing and I know this question is rather silly, but there is something quite simple I myself am not familiar with. Please help..
Never mind, I found my own way of doing this. Sometimes you just have to figure it out on your own some other way... For anyone reading this, everyone learns differently, but if there is someone who didnt quite get it...like me, lmao, here we go: First, I thought it was 2889, but what she actually said and wrote on the board is 28.82QNH. Sorry. 29.92 inHg is the so called Standard Atmospheric Pressure at Sea level which will actually be higher or lower than that in most cases. In this case the difference in pressure altitude here is 1,100 because, as you know if the air is less dense (thinner) the mercury drops by one inch per 1k feet, or increases 1k if the air is more dense (thicker) In this case a QNH of 28.82, here the air is less dense than Standard 29.92 inHg, by how much? 110. If the QNH were 28.92 NOT .82, our result would be 100. and you know, we have to convert that 110 to 1,100 because 28,82 is slightly over an inch that the mercury decreased, and what happens if it decreases by over an inch?? Yes...it is 1000 thousand +. C'mon.............. This is so freaking simple, I still cant believe it takes me all these words to explain it.. Fun fact: When landing at an airport over 8k feet above sea level and getting a QNH of 30.33. As you can see higher than the standard 29.92, I kept on wondering why is it higher than the standard if im not landing at sea level but at 8k above on a freaking mountain? I kept on convincing myself it should be lower ahahaha, but then the more videos I watched, the more I realized that the QNH is measuring the pressure at sea level for that particular place at that particular time, not the pressure at 8,360 feet... I guess this stuff is harder to understand if you dont even know what a barometer is or how wind is created and how the wind speed is responsible for decreasing the pressure, etc....
Great video Cyndy!! Could you possibly explain how airport elevation plays a factor in landing with the altimeter? For example...if I leave an airport with an elevation of 300 feet above sea level and land at and airport at 700 feet above sea level, what math do I have to do to make sure I’m at the right altitude. Can you do them in non standard pressures for me? Thanks so much.
I may be wrong, but I think you should be keeping your altimeter adjusted based on AWOS of airports on the way, before landing, which will give you your best appropriate altitude. But again, don't take my words. There are many CFIs listening to her, they may answer better.
If you’re some where at 3,000 ft on final approach, and the QNH is 10.20 Hp, and field elevation is 433 ft, how then do you calculate how many feet to land? From the altimeter should you aim to torch down at 433 ft being the field elevation? I have tried aiming to land at 433 ft from the altimeter, but it doesn’t work. I would finally torch down at 344. Pls how do I calculate it right?
The pressure altitude formula is PA=(29.92-current pressure)x1000+field elevation. It looked like she subtracted the standard from the current. If the current pressure was higher than 29.92 it should have resulted in a negative number. Anyone notice this? This will definitely throw off the DA calculation.
if the pressure at sea level is 1013 hP can i assume that 1" mercury is about 33,86 hP? I got stuck at calculating the difference between today's pressure and standard pressure :( as we here use hP. Shall I multiply that number 1000 times? or is there any other trick? thanks
The logic here makes sense. But is she subtracting from field elevation. I was taught to find the difference multiple by 1000 and add field elevation.... this is confusing
SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!! My FE is 1,386 feet. The current altimeter is 29.97. I am trying to get my pressure altitude the way it’s done in this video but I am not getting it. I am subtracting 29.92 from 29.97. I am getting 0.05. I then multiply that by 1000 which gives me 50. Adding that to my FE gets me 1,436 feet. The test prep I am using says that is incorrect. And it says 1,341 feet is the correct answer. What am I doing wrong?
So I've found it easier to just subtract any pressure altitude from 29.92 then multiply then take the positive or negative number from the field elevation. So 29.92 - 29.97 = -0.05 x1000= -50 +1386 = 1336
Natasha Ledezma That’s exactly what I did. I got the same answer but apparently that is wrong. The rest prep I’m using says it’s wrong as well as a Pressure Altitude calculator I found online. Both say the right answer is 1,341
It is the standard, its the baseline for corrections in PA. You need a starting point to use. The “standards” are 29.92 inches of mercury for the barometic pressure and 15c for temperature. You will need 29.92 for PA calculations and 15c for DA calculations.
It is NOT. The reference standard sea-level barometric pressure is DEFINED as 29.92 for the "standard atmosphere" PA is this reference point linearly adjusted for the actual weight of the atmosphere (barometric pressure) at any given time, and only rarely will be 29.92
When you set your altimeter to 29.92 and read the altitude displayed, that's the current pressure altitude. It changes constantly as atmospheric pressure changes.
So ,if on a high pressure day the pressure is 30.42 and my indicator reads 1000 ft altitude is my aircraft actually at 500 feet and not 1000 ft? do I have to adjust my altitude to compensate i mean does it read 1000 but is its actually 500ft because of the high pressure?
TheDevilshandpuppet hey there :) I think as you said the pressure is 30.42 . If that’s what you put in the sub scale then your indicated altitude would be your true altitude
The lecture was good, but I cringe every time I hear her say "The airplane thinks". It would sound a lot more professional and scholarly if she said "The airplane will operate" or "The airplane will perform". Those would sound a lot better because that's exactly what happens. An airplane operates or performs in certain ways under certain conditions. Airplanes never "think".
This is the best explanation of pressure altitude that I have seen. Thank you.
I'm a CFI and have been directing my students to this video to help explain pressure altitude. Watching their lightbulbs go off as they finally understand it has been beautiful :) Thank you Ms. Hollman!
Does your horse have a Kollsman window?
Took a year to finally understand this and you explained it the best. Thank you!
Cyndy, I cannot thankyou enough for this thorough and clear explanation of pressure altitude and it effects on flying. You have certainly helped me in my flying and academic studies!
Going for BFR (COM INST S/MEL SES), so actually reviewing the basics.
This is the clearest explanation of PA I have run across. Several of your other presentations are equally outstanding.
Thank You!
Seriously your videos are the best I'm so happy they are on RUclips.
Thank you so much for the professionalism and the very helpful videos.
I own a FAA CPL but I am need to get current again ; the Jeppesen books and your videos really help me to get back to speed.
Once again, Cyndy turns the unfathomably complicated into simple.
Wow. Oneness again, your explanations areSOOOOO much clearer than Anyone else I’ve watched. Thank you. Seriously… thank you!
This helped so much. I’ve tried understanding this concept for some time and your visual representations helped a ton. Thank you for wonderfully explaining it
It's nice to be able to review this a couple of years after getting my PPL. Thanks.
Thank you for clarifying and simplifying this topic!
You’re an amazing instructor 💐
Everybody's favorite flight instructor
She's back! Thank you Cyndy... I am working on my CFI and this is the single best explanation of pressure altitudes I have encountered!
@@jasonk795 I'm working on my IR and learning new gaps in my knowledge. Noy everyone knows everything
@@jasonk795 not saying I can't operate safely. I knew it and how it affected density. However, I need to periodically go back and review ppl and general stuff with all this new IFR info. If that makes sensr
@@jasonk795 Update, I'm heading into my CFI rating, with my IFR rating done. Passed with flying colors. Don't judge someone's question or make them look dumb. Just skip it or answer it kindly.
Watch various videos on this subject , but finally understand it with your great explanation.
She is great in teaching these materials, I hope she could do something about the sound quality and the white board so we can hear her clearly and see what she draws and writes on the board.
Great dear flight instructor .. I'm a pilot trainee.i fully appreciate you for very perfect & clear details you expressed ...
Thanks Cindy! Great tutorial.
Also, we must not forget that aircraft in USA (& Canada & Japan?) use "inches of mercury", while much of the world uses Hectopascals (aka millibars). Here in Australia we use the metric 1013.2 hPa, instead of 29.92 in.Hg.
This is simply the best explanation out there. Thank you!!!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and well prepared presentations. You're the best!!!
How do you do that, there is always a simple trick in your conversation which explains things so easily. The key point here is - "How your plane feels" and things just get understood instead of cramming the definition of Pressure Altitude and getting confused with words. Awesome !!! Thanks.
Thank you. I now understand.
You do such a great job. I really appreciate the time and effort you put into doing these :)
You are amazing! So clear and easy to understand! I hope to be able to teach like you one day! Thank you!!!
You are the next Martha King...very nicely done.
I saw you at Flight School of Greenville! Please keep making more videos!
Best explanation out there, thank you so much Cyndy!
Candy, this is by far the best video about this. Also, you actually describe how this affects performance charts at cruise which no one else does.
I wish youtube had a love button, this explanation is great...thanks a lot !
Stuck on this for abit. Wish id seen this video!! The diagram you did made it so simple. Great job!!!! :)
You want to do 29.92 - 30.52 FIRST so you get -.6 X 1000 to get -600 + field elevation
Correct. My students sometimes have an issue with this. She should have had a negative number before adding field elevation.
Wow thanks for explaining this! I get so confused w/pressure/density altitude 😳😃👍🙏🏼👌🏻
You are simply the best. Please keep making videos.
Thank you so much. Like always, I wish I was your student. You're the best
Great explanation Cyndy!! Thanks for posting!
~Galen Miller
thank you for your brief end precise explanation
4:05 - "Pressure altitude is the altitude corrected for non-standard pressure."
She also said to do 30.52-29.92 to get 0.6X1000 to get 600 PA and then makes it negative on the board. It’s supposed to be 29.92-30.52 = -0.6 X 1000 = -600 + field elevation. I understand it’s a mistake but this is supposed to educate people and that confused me.
@@alexinaviation you do - 600 because it's a higher pressure. That means it's going to be more dense air and a lower pressure altitude. She didn't make a mistake. You're just not understanding.
You're the best teacher.
Cindy is the CFI that we all wish we had.
Hi Cyndy. I really like your videos. I am an instructor myself and like to have my students watch them. Question: Do you know why there is a difference between the hand calculated pressure altitude correction factor, as you have shown here, and the Electronic E6B's and tables out there. I have always demonstrated the calculation just as you have here, but only now realized there is a slight difference between this and other methods. What are your thoughts?
why did she choose 1,048 ft? random?
Is it true that putting 29.92 Hg in the Kolsman window will cause the altimeter to show pressure altitude?
Gene C Yes
It seems odd that with today's technology the altimeters don't just update themselves automatically by communicating directly with ASOS or other weather systems on the ground, as you fly to your destination.
Great explanation!! Please allow me to ask a question to test if I really understand this. Suppose you are flying from GMU to ATL in your first example, flying the pressure altitude 26.52, your true altitude would be 3000, the actual physical height above sea level. But, you won't realize it, because you would be slowly descending without really knowing it just keeping the indicated altitude of 4000 ft. Correct?
And in fact, if you had another means to get your true altitude, and you flew by that instrument, and stayed a 4000 ft true, then your steam gauge indicated altimeter would slowly climb from 4000 ft to 5000 ft as you'd now be at 25.52 pressure, which according to GMU setting would make your indicated altitude 5000ft
What do you mean you get 1.1 when you subtract 2889 off 2992? Im getting 103. What exactly do I have to do here to get 1.1? I sort of get the decimal thing and I know this question is rather silly, but there is something quite simple I myself am not familiar with. Please help..
Never mind, I found my own way of doing this. Sometimes you just have to figure it out on your own some other way...
For anyone reading this, everyone learns differently, but if there is someone who didnt quite get it...like me, lmao, here we go:
First, I thought it was 2889, but what she actually said and wrote on the board is 28.82QNH. Sorry.
29.92 inHg is the so called Standard Atmospheric Pressure at Sea level which will actually be higher or lower than that in most cases.
In this case the difference in pressure altitude here is 1,100 because, as you know if the air is less dense (thinner) the mercury drops by one inch per 1k feet, or increases 1k if the air is more dense (thicker) In this case a QNH of 28.82, here the air is less dense than Standard 29.92 inHg, by how much? 110. If the QNH were 28.92 NOT .82, our result would be 100.
and you know, we have to convert that 110 to 1,100 because 28,82 is slightly over an inch that the mercury decreased, and what happens if it decreases by over an inch?? Yes...it is 1000 thousand +. C'mon..............
This is so freaking simple, I still cant believe it takes me all these words to explain it..
Fun fact: When landing at an airport over 8k feet above sea level and getting a QNH of 30.33. As you can see higher than the standard 29.92, I kept on wondering why is it higher than the standard if im not landing at sea level but at 8k above on a freaking mountain? I kept on convincing myself it should be lower ahahaha, but then the more videos I watched, the more I realized that the QNH is measuring the pressure at sea level for that particular place at that particular time, not the pressure at 8,360 feet... I guess this stuff is harder to understand if you dont even know what a barometer is or how wind is created and how the wind speed is responsible for decreasing the pressure, etc....
Great Video. Thanks
nicely explained
Great explanation. Thanks
Really like the videos. Just wish they were at a higher resolution. :)
& the mike closer... :)
Excellent, helpful video!
Great video Cyndy!!
Could you possibly explain how airport elevation plays a factor in landing with the altimeter? For example...if I leave an airport with an elevation of 300 feet above sea level and land at and airport at 700 feet above sea level, what math do I have to do to make sure I’m at the right altitude. Can you do them in non standard pressures for me? Thanks so much.
I may be wrong, but I think you should be keeping your altimeter adjusted based on AWOS of airports on the way, before landing, which will give you your best appropriate altitude. But again, don't take my words. There are many CFIs listening to her, they may answer better.
If you’re some where at 3,000 ft on final approach, and the QNH is 10.20 Hp, and field elevation is 433 ft, how then do you calculate how many feet to land? From the altimeter should you aim to torch down at 433 ft being the field elevation? I have tried aiming to land at 433 ft from the altimeter, but it doesn’t work. I would finally torch down at 344. Pls how do I calculate it right?
So from cold to hot look out bellow and not the other way around like everyone teaches?
Excellent!!!
The pressure altitude formula is PA=(29.92-current pressure)x1000+field elevation. It looked like she subtracted the standard from the current. If the current pressure was higher than 29.92 it should have resulted in a negative number. Anyone notice this?
This will definitely throw off the DA calculation.
Thank you
This was great, thanks!
Excellent explanation... thanks!!
What about improving the quality of the video ?
I mean the image definition...
if the pressure at sea level is 1013 hP can i assume that 1" mercury is about 33,86 hP? I got stuck at calculating the difference between today's pressure and standard pressure :( as we here use hP. Shall I multiply that number 1000 times? or is there any other trick? thanks
Very helpful, thanks!
Awesome !!!!!!!
thank you! pilot handbook does not explain this well
The logic here makes sense. But is she subtracting from field elevation. I was taught to find the difference multiple by 1000 and add field elevation.... this is confusing
wow .......Captain's bars....she must be smart
"most of the time you'll be smart enough to ask for flight following" LOL
Super great explanations (and very cute as a bonus).
HK B you’re weird
Smart and nice Thanks !
What is pressure altitude? A one sentence definition?
Csaba Mihaly... it is what you read on the altimeter when you set 29.92, that’s all
The height at which a particular pressure would be found
SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!! My FE is 1,386 feet. The current altimeter is 29.97. I am trying to get my pressure altitude the way it’s done in this video but I am not getting it. I am subtracting 29.92 from 29.97. I am getting 0.05. I then multiply that by 1000 which gives me 50. Adding that to my FE gets me 1,436 feet. The test prep I am using says that is incorrect. And it says 1,341 feet is the correct answer. What am I doing wrong?
So I've found it easier to just subtract any pressure altitude from 29.92 then multiply then take the positive or negative number from the field elevation. So 29.92 - 29.97 = -0.05 x1000= -50 +1386 = 1336
Natasha Ledezma That’s exactly what I did. I got the same answer but apparently that is wrong. The rest prep I’m using says it’s wrong as well as a Pressure Altitude calculator I found online. Both say the right answer is 1,341
Best she made whole a lot more easier but I wish the quality of the video was better
she is so cute... my rate of climb is off the chart
careful now, don't go full vertical!
Love the videos thank
goat
Its little confusing .. then why we say pressure altitude is 29.92 always ?
It is the standard, its the baseline for corrections in PA. You need a starting point to use. The “standards” are 29.92 inches of mercury for the barometic pressure and 15c for temperature. You will need 29.92 for PA calculations and 15c for DA calculations.
It is NOT.
The reference standard sea-level barometric pressure is DEFINED as 29.92 for the "standard atmosphere"
PA is this reference point linearly adjusted for the actual weight of the atmosphere (barometric pressure) at any given time, and only rarely will be 29.92
When you set your altimeter to 29.92 and read the altitude displayed, that's the current pressure altitude. It changes constantly as atmospheric pressure changes.
Baby you are the best
You speak verry fast
So ,if on a high pressure day the pressure is 30.42 and my indicator reads 1000 ft altitude is my aircraft actually at 500 feet and not 1000 ft? do I have to adjust my altitude to compensate i mean does it read 1000 but is its actually 500ft because of the high pressure?
TheDevilshandpuppet hey there :)
I think as you said the pressure is 30.42 . If that’s what you put in the sub scale then your indicated altitude would be your true altitude
That’s actually why it’s necessary to constantly update your QNH with changes in pressure :)
Is "ELtitude" the same thing as "ALtitude?"
Or you could just say altitude corrected for pressure. Does this comment make me an asshole? Great video tho.
you are a darling
The lecture was good, but I cringe every time I hear her say "The airplane thinks". It would sound a lot more professional and scholarly if she said "The airplane will operate" or "The airplane will perform". Those would sound a lot better because that's exactly what happens. An airplane operates or performs in certain ways under certain conditions. Airplanes never "think".