Radio Altimeter

This is a focused aviation how‑to article explaining radio altimeter operation. The Radio Altimeter is one of the most safety-critical instruments in the airline cockpit — and one of the least understood by sim pilots. This guide by Captain Mike Ray explains how the radio altimeter works, how airline crews use it during approach and landing, and why it plays a central role in autoland, GPWS, and low-visibility operations.

What's Inside

• Radio altimeter principles and display interpretation
• Decision height and alert height callout procedures
• Integration with autoland, GPWS, and TAWS systems
• How the radio altimeter differs from the barometric altimeter

Who Is This For?

• Flight sim pilots flying precision approaches in X-Plane or MSFS
• Aviation students building instrument systems knowledge
• Sim pilots wanting to understand low-altitude alerting systems

Available as an instant download for just $1 — from University of Temecula Press.

If you like these pilot briefs by Captain Mike Ray, they are all compiled into two beautiful books, Airplane Stuff: Aviation Addicts Handbook and Airplane Stuff 2: Flight Simulation...and a Whole Lot More!