Altimeter Setting

On May 31, 11:22*pm, Greg Arnold wrote:
On 5/31/2010 8:06 PM, ContestID67 wrote:



He then takes a tow to what he thinks is 3,000 feet AGL but is only
really at 2,000 feet AGL. *The tow pilot doesn't think much about it
as people get off tow early all the time. *About to enter the pattern
the AGL'er thinks, "Gee, the ground seems to be kind of large
today ... but I am still at 1500 feet AGL so I'm must be OK." *He then
almost lands short as he was 1,000 feet lower than he thought. *End of
story? *Nah.

The poor guy couldn't tell the difference between 500' AGL and 1500' AGL
by looking out the window? *Sounds like it was time to retire his wings..

Here's a good one. I usually fly out of a busy general aviation
airport right on the edge of Class C airspace. We are surrounded by
mountains, talk to power planes and controllers, and fly cross country
a lot, so we always use MSL. Recently I spent a sunny afternoon down
at the local gliderport where they do a lot of training. I took a tow
to the ridge and got off at about 3,200 (MSL). Much later that
afternoon, the owner was up flying so I asked someone what I owed for
the tow. They asked me how high I went and I said "3,200 feet." A
quick look at the handy chart on the wall told me what I owed them for
"3,200 feet" and I happily paid and left. On the drive home I was
musing about how the price of tows was always going up, but who cares
when the planes and gadgets cost so damned much. Then it hit me WHY
they were going up. The gliderport uses AGL for training AND to
calculate the tows to simplify the billing, and I hadn't deducted the
field elevation when I told him "3,200 feet." I had bought about 800
feet of it sitting at the end of the runway waiting to hook up. All
I could do was laugh at myself, and they are welcome to the tip for
all they do for all of us. At least I hadn't scratched around cross
country for two hours with my gear down like I usually do... Now THAT
****es me off!

Don