In the US the following is the case:
Altitude - feet
Speed - knots
Nav distance Nautical Miles
Visibility Statute Miles
Temperature Celsius
Atom. Press in. Hg.
Wind speed knots
Weight - lbs
Fuel qty - either US gallons or lbs
Runway length feet (metres). Large airports have metres
parenthetically placed
The FAA Practical Test Standards publish tolerances as feet(metres).
Baron Carter
CFI,CFII,MEI
-----Original Message-----
From: Gregory Peterson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Wednesday, 25 April, 2001 09:17
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:12464] metric in aviation
I have a friend who is currently taking ground-school flight classes here in
Saskatchewan. He's just a couple of years younger than me so he also belongs
to Canada's first metric generation.
He told me that he was quite upset with the whole idea that aviation in
Canada (and North America) was still done in Imperial units. He told me that
they're still using miles, nautical miles, feet, "and even inches of
mercury". Though he did note that one speed gauge listed "mph, knots, and
km/h". He also noted that since most of the other people, who happen to be
"much older" than he is, were completely comfortable with these units while
he had to learn a whole new language.
I'm well aware that foot elevation and knot speed are still used in North
American aviation, but I was under the impression that Celsius temperature
and bar (or hPa) pressure was being used.
Could someone update me on the status of American/Canadian aviation units.
greg
