Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

3 Answers

What does “at altitude” mean?

Asked by: 10542 views General Aviation

When pilots refer to being "at altitude", what exactly do they mean?

I would assume "at altitude" would be any height above the ground...not exactly a specific altitude.

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

3 Answers



  1. Kent Shook on Jan 04, 2011

    I would take “at altitude” to mean “at cruise altitude.” That’s how I’ve always heard it used.
     

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Matthew Waugh on Jan 05, 2011

    I’ve also heard it used in place of “safe altitude” in a briefing. As in “we’ll climb straight ahead and fix the problem at altitude”, but I agree that the more common usage is at cruise, we’ve settled in, got our drinks and snacks organised, pulled out the reading material and “now what particularl political point did you want to discuss at altitude?”

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Nathan on Jun 05, 2014

    At altitude for necessary maneuver. Cruise, practicing stalls, acro, any maneuver that had a designated altitude for safety or preference. Or just previously discussed altitude. On take off, “at altitude you can turn out 180 and continue to climb.” Some planes, and airports have a pre determined altitude before you should start to turn.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.