The development team at FlyByWire Simulations (FBW) has implemented significant improvements to the altitude measurement system in the current development version of its A32NX and A380X aircraft models.

Background to the Change

In airliners, air pressure is measured via so-called static ports on the front fuselage. The obtained data is processed in the Air Data Reference Computers (ADR), which filter the information and calculate the pressure altitude – which is displayed in the instruments’ STD mode. In addition to the pressure altitude itself, modern systems also take into account barometric corrections (QNH/QFE) entered by the flight crew via the Flight Control Unit (FCU).

A special feature at Airbus: The baro-corrected altitude is maintained even when the display is set to STD – a function that is now also correctly simulated.

Overview of the new features

The latest update implements numerous details of the altimeter system:

Extended QNH range: The correctable pressure range now extends from 745 to 1100 hPa, realistically reflecting modern Airbus systems – a feature not included in the standard simulator.

Split altimeter in the A32NX: The two sides of the cockpit now have independent altimeters. Differences between the captain and copilot trigger corresponding ECAM warnings and influence the autopilot behavior depending on the active channel.

Autopilot integration in progress: While this functionality is already available in the A32NX, it will be added to the A380X with upcoming autopilot improvements.

For single-pilot ops: An option in the realism settings allows the EFIS controls to be synchronized between the captain and copilot sides to simplify operation for single players.