Carter, Baron wrote: >On to the 18 000 ft cutover to flight levels. The cutover to flight >levels is not an international standard
It is not even a national standard. The UK has had a default of 3000 and local values of 4000, 5000 and 6000 feet (I don't know what the current situation is). UK policy is to migrate upwards to a national standard of 6000 feet. It is a bit of a mess. Note the range of possibilities allowed by the following quote from Eurocontrol: "No transition altitude is less than 450 m above an aerodrome." www.eurocontrol.int/ais/eaip/eAIP-pack/html/EC-ENR-1.7-en-GB.html (It also has an interesting table that is relevant to the rest of your discussion of altitudes in feet and metres). Common transition altitude across Europe is a policy objective as part of the 'Single sky' concept: www.eurocontrol.int/asm-nav/wa-apdsg.html I have seen references to simulation tests using 5000, 10000 and 18000 feet. Those values may merely indicate exploration of the range rather than any proposed value. I would be surprised if the British would go to all the trouble of migrating up to 6000 feet if a lower value of 5000 is a serious possibility.
