PLT166: Altimeter Settings
What code PLT166 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Altimeter Settings before your checkride.
Recall altimeter - settings / setting procedures
What this means for your checkride
Setting the altimeter means dialing the current local altimeter setting into the Kollsman window so the instrument reads field elevation and true altitude. Below 18,000 feet you use the nearest station's setting; at and above FL180 everyone sets 29.92 for pressure altitude.
A wrong altimeter setting misreads your altitude, so the FAA tests the setting procedures and the transition to 29.92 in the flight levels.
Pilots keep an old setting on a long flight. You update to the nearest reporting station's setting en route, or indicated altitude drifts from true altitude as the pressure changes.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.