{"id":418,"date":"2015-12-01T15:40:25","date_gmt":"2015-12-01T23:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tghaviation.com\/aircraft-instrument-services\/?p=418"},"modified":"2025-06-24T16:48:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T23:48:50","slug":"how-to-read-a-3-pointer-altimeter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tghaviation.com\/aircraft-instrument-services\/how-to-read-a-3-pointer-altimeter\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Read a 3 Pointer Altimeter"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>How to Read a 3 Pointer Altimeter | Altimeter readings<\/h5>\n

A three-pointer altimeter, as its name implies, has three different pointers on the front\u00a0dial. They are the 100-foot pointer, the 1000-foot pointer, and the 10,000-foot pointer. The medium length pointer is the 100-foot pointer, the shortest pointer is the 1000-foot pointer, and the longest pointer is the 10,000-foot pointer. The altimeter dial has 10 major indices numbered 0 through 9. In between each major indice are 4 minor indices. The value of these indices is dependent on the pointer being read. When reading the 100-foot pointer each minor indice equals 20 feet, each major indice equals 100 feet. When reading the 1000-foot pointer each minor indice is equal to 200 feet, each major indice is equal to 1000 feet. When reading the 10,000-foot pointer each minor indice is equal to 2000 feet, each major indice is equal to 10,000 feet. The altimeter in figure 1 is indicating 11,520 feet and is read as follows:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 10,000 foot pointer is past the 1 and not yet up to the<\/p>\n

2 and so it is read as:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01 x 10,000 = 10,000 +<\/p>\n

The 1,000 foot pointer is past the 1 and not yet up to the<\/p>\n

2 and so it is read as:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1 x 1,000 = 1,000 +<\/p>\n

The 100-foot pointer is 1 minor indice past the 5 and so<\/p>\n

Therefore, it is read as:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5.2 x 100 = 520<\/p>\n

The indicated altitude is the sum of the pointers:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 11,520<\/p>\n

\"barber_pole\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Figure 1: Three-Pointer Altimeter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How to Read a 3 Pointer Altimeter | Altimeter readings A three-pointer altimeter, as its name implies, has three different pointers on the front\u00a0dial. They are the 100-foot pointer, the 1000-foot pointer, and the 10,000-foot pointer. The medium length pointer is the 100-foot pointer, the shortest pointer is the 1000-foot pointer, and the longest pointer … Continue reading How to Read a 3 Pointer Altimeter<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[14,12,31,28,19,26,32,27,13,45,25,30,29,46,47],"class_list":["post-418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tgh-aviation-blog","tag-aircraft","tag-altimeter","tag-altitude-meter","tag-atmospheric-weight","tag-aviation","tag-barometer","tag-barometric-altimeter","tag-instrument","tag-pilot","tag-plane","tag-pressure-gauge","tag-sea-level","tag-tgh-aviation","tag-three-pointer","tag-tso"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t