Setting the altimeter to field elevation causes the altimeter to indicate what value?

• A. True altitude at field elevation
• B. Indicated altitude
• C. Altitude above mean sea level
• D. Pressure altitude

Answer: (A)

When you set the altimeter to field elevation, you’re telling the instrument that the reference pressure surface corresponds to that field’s own elevation above sea level. The altimeter then displays how high you are above that field’s surface, i.e., your height relative to the field itself. That value is what we mean by the true altitude at the field’s elevation—the altitude measured from the field’s ground level upward.

This isn’t the same as altitude above mean sea level unless you’ve set the altimeter to the local QNH, and it isn’t pressure altitude, which would require setting the pressure to the standard datum (29.92/1013.25).