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Altimeter Setting - standard unit?


James Pimenta
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James Pimenta
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I noticed that when flying in the UK I am only told the setting in hectopascal (hPa) and never Inches of mercury (inHg) by ATC. This includes when listening to the ATIS.

I don't have a problem with this, I was just wondering is this the standard unit for Europe?

 

 

 

 

 

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Trevor Hannant
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Yes, and many other regions around the world.

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Trevor Hannant

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Christoph Reule
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Hectopascal (hPa) is the standard altimeter setting for Europe, exempt very few U.S. military installations (like Ramstein/ETAR or Spangdahlem/ETAD) which report air pressure in InHg.

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Andreas Fuchs
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hPa are used in all countries of the world, except for North America and Japan (and some US Air Force bases around the world). In Russia (and some other ex-USSR countries) you can request the altimeter setting in "Millimetres of Mercury", in case that your aircraft needs it, but they are using hPa by default.

This makes inHg a rather exotic unit to be used (like degrees Fahrenheit). This is just a fact, not a judgement (in case that someone choses to take offence in calling "his" unit as something exotic! (need to take care with the wording these days). I personally enjoy using inHg when flying in the States, Canada or Japan, it's different from our boring standard stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altimeter

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