QFE is a three letter acronym which can have meanings in aviation, in software development, and in internet usage. The TLA (three-letter acronym or three-letter abbreviation) is a TLA and is the most popular type of abbreviation in technical terminology, and is also very common in general language. ...

Aviation acronym

QFE is a Q code used by pilots and air traffic control (ATC) to refer to the barometric altimeter setting which will cause an altimeter to read height above the official reference datum for a particular airfield (generally the height of a particular runway threshold). An altimeter set to QFE will therefore read zero when on the ground at the beginning of the runway. The Q code is a standardized collection of three-letter signals, all starting with the letter Q, initially developed for commercial radiotelegraph communication, and later adopted by other radio services, especially amateur radio. ... It has been suggested that Pilot (spaceflight) be merged into this article or section. ... Air Traffic Control Towers (ATCTs) at Schiphol Airport Air Traffic Control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. ... Kollsman-type barometric aircraft altimeter as used in North America An altimeter is an active instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level. ...

QFE is just one of many aviation Q codes. Originally, when the only method of communiction was by Morse code the Q codes ran from QAA to QZZ, each code could be decoded by a radio operator onboard an aircraft or in an ATCU by reference to the code book. The letters of the code do not in themselves stand for anything. The letter Q (--.-) was used to attract the attention of the radio operator to the following two letter coded message as it was "easy" to hear (da da de da) and not used often in normal "speech".

The use of Q codes saved much time, for instance, instead of a radio operator sending the message "To what pressure setting must I set the subscale on my altimeter so that it reads zero on touchdown at your airfield?", he would simply send "QFE".

In modern aviation only a few of the most frequently used old Q codes are still used/remembered, eg.:

QFE - subscale setting to give height above aerodrome,

QNH - subscale setting to give altitude above sea level,

QNE - value indicated on altimeter at touchdown when a subscale setting of 1013 millibars (a standard atmospheric pressure setting used to fly Flightlevels) is set,

QDM - the magnetic bearing to a position,

QDR - the magnetic bearing from a postion,

QTE - the true bearing to a position,

QUJ - the true bearing from a postion,

QSY - change frequency to,

QFU - the precise magnetic heading of a runway,ie, the QFU of runway 24 is 238 degrees.

Student pilots sometimes think of QFE as "Q Field Elevation" to help them remember its meaning.

ATC will update pilots with the QFE when necessary. A typical radio conversation might go:

• Pilot: Golf Whiskey Alpha Charlie Foxtrot, requesting taxi clearance for local VFR.
• ATC: Golf Charlie Foxtrot, taxi to Alpha for two-five right hand, QFE niner-niner-eight millibars.
• Pilot: To Alpha, two-five right, QFE niner-niner-eight, Golf Charlie Foxtrot.

Here, the pilot of G-WACF (who is on the ground) requests a taxi clearance and is told to taxi to holding point A for runway 25, the circuit is right-handed and QFE is 998 millibars. The pilot acknowledges the information by reading it back to ATC. Visual flight rules (VFR) are a set of aviation regulations under which a pilot may operate an aircraft, if weather conditions are sufficient to allow the pilot to visually control the aircrafts attitude, navigate, and maintain separation with obstacles such as terrain and other aircraft. ...

In most parts of the world, QFE is given in millibars (or hectopascals, which is the same-sized SI unit). Whilst the Royal Air Force (RAF) and some European private pilots still use QFE, it is largely obsolete in commercial aviation, where QNH is preferred for take off and landing (and where sophisticated radio aids can be used during landing). In general aviation, QFE is routinely used during take off and landing (where the eyeball tends to be used) and when flying in the circuit. The exception to this is in the USA and Canada, where QFE is rarely used, the most common practice being to use QNH (known simply as the "altimeter setting") for all operations below the transition altitude. The bar (symbol bar) and the millibar (symbol mbar, also mb) are units of pressure. ... The pascal (symbol Pa) is the SI unit of pressure. ... Cover of brochure The International System of Units. ... The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... QNH is a Q code used by pilots, air traffic control (ATC) and low frequency weather beacons to refer to the barometric altimeter setting which will cause the altimeter to read altitude above mean sea level within a certain defined region. ... The NDB station co-located with Middle Marker of Beijing Capital International Airport ILS RWY36L The Instrument Landing System (ILS) is an instrument approach system which provides precise guidance to an aircraft approaching a runway and in some cases along the runway surface. ... General aviation (abbr. ... At an airfield, the circuit is a conventional standard path for coordinating air traffic that is taking off and landing, as opposed to a practice of so-called straight in approaches and direct climb outs. It is usually employed at small general aviation (GA) airfields, though it is also used... Transition altitude is a term used in aviation. ...

Software development acronym

QFE stands for Quick Fix Engineering. This is the [[Microsoft] and Intel] term for a 'Bug patch' or as it was previously known, a 'Hotfix'. Many software modules related to Microsoft products return a QFE number indicating a patch number in the version/build information. QFEs are often bundled together to make a 'Service Pack'.

Internet acronym

QFE is also a popularly used internet forum acronym for "quoted for emphasis". Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial letter or letters of words, such as NATO and XHTML, and are pronounced in a way that is distinct from the full pronunciation of what the letters stand for. ...

Networking hardware acronym

QFE stands for Quad FastEthernet and is a type of vendor-specific network card with four network interfaces.