On Jan 26, 4:33*am, Tom wrote:
As a glider pilot, when are you allowed to use a zero altimeter
setting?

Back in July, I asked the FAA for a legal opinion regarding FAR
91.121. Yesterday, I finally received a response.

There is reason for a continued dialog, and I am continuing the
discussion with the FAA legal department.

This Saturday, immediately prior to the third Glider Safety Webinar,I
will provide subscribers to the webinar the exact wording of the FAA
response.

To join us in this discussion, please sign up for the third webinar on
our web site:www.eglider.org

Tom Knauff

If there is confusion it's because of an instructor not teaching
properly

This letter is in response to your July 19,2011 request for a legal
interpretation regarding
altimeter settings required in 14 CFR § 91.121. In your letter, you
state that there is
confusion among local area glider pilots as to whether altimeters must
be set to mean sea
level (MSL) when not using a cruising altitude, such as when
conducting student glider
flight training. Additionally, you indicate that glider operators are
unsure if the regulation
requires altimeters to be set to mean sea level (MSL) or above ground
level (AGL) during
student training and local flying.
The cruising altitude of an aircraft below 18,000 feet MSL shall be
maintained by
reference to an altimeter that is set to the current reported
altimeter setting of a station
located along the route of flight and within 100 nautical miles of the
aircraft. If there is no
such station, the current reported altimeter setting of an appropriate
available station shall
be used. In an aircraft having no radio, the altimeter shall be set to
the elevation of the
departure airport or an appropriate altimeter setting available before
departure. 14 CFR §
91.121(a)(1).
The cruising altitude is the MSL altitude or flight level maintained
during en route level
flight. For aircraft such as gliders, transient periods oftime at a
particular altitude do not
relieve pilots from the requirements to operate the aircraft in
reference to an altimeter that
is set according to the requirements of § 91.121(a). Thus, local area
glider pilots must set
their altimeters to MSL, not AGL, during glider operations, including
student glider
training flights.
Further FAA guidance on altimeter settings for glider operations can
be found in the Glider
Flying Handbook, FAA-H-8083-13, Chapter 4 (available online at
http://www .faa. gov/library/manuals/ aircraft! glider handbook/media/
faa-h-8083-13. pdf