Cleared for the Visual - What Altitude set in Alerter or MCP?

[Slice121]

In the 1900 we'd use 1000 for the app/visual and 49000 cleared to land. CRJ recogs are on below 10,000. Landing lights on for approach clearance, nose light on for landing clearance. F-16, don't use anything but memory. Kinda sucks but there really is not a good way around it.

 

[pilotguy733]

Who cares...

Personally, I just set the altitude most likely to be used by the next crew (usually whats on the standard DP given). Who even needs a FD on most visual approaches anyway...

If I have to do a GA, tower will just give an altitude and heading - and we will simply set them appropriately.

 

[Cappytan]

Evidently you don't....thank you for sharing though... Standard SOPs for years has been to set the alerter to '000', now everyone knows that we were CLEARED, and it raises an eyebrow if somebody forgets to set the initial altitude after getting the clearance on the next leg. Setting a "normal" altitude is an RA waiting to happen on the outbound. We also set the TXPDR to 1200 after clearing the runway, again, we know if the proper code has been missed on the outbound.

 

[Cardinal]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'll leave my organization alone on this. Rez and others have at least shown me that traffic pattern altitude is not entirely superfluous. I still know how I'd like to do it, but can probably stomach teaching our standard procedure. Thanks again guys.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Evidently you don't....thank you for sharing though... Standard SOPs for years has been to set the alerter to '000', now everyone knows that we were CLEARED, and it raises an eyebrow if somebody forgets to set the initial altitude after getting the clearance on the next leg. Setting a "normal" altitude is an RA waiting to happen on the outbound. We also set the TXPDR to 1200 after clearing the runway, again, we know if the proper code has been missed on the outbound.

Is setting the alerter to '000 SOP or just a cultural commonality. In other words is it in your book or does everyone just do it?

Setting the TX to 1200 is B-A-D in the post 9/11 environment.....

 

[Cappytan]

Is setting the alerter to '000 SOP or just a cultural commonality. In other words is it in your book or does everyone just do it?

Setting the TX to 1200 is B-A-D in the post 9/11 environment.....

No, just something I picked up on about 17 years ago flying auto parts and the occasional stray Mexican from the border to the plants in Michigan. Used it ever since in the several flight departments that I was Chief Pilot at. Not the bible, just worked for me and the guys I flew with. As far as the 1200 TX setting, not sure what the implication is. All I know is that we hardly ever (read never) go VFR in the Gulfstreams or Challengers and if we saw the 1200 code, we'd know it wasn't SET. Hey it's certainly better than shutting down with the flaps still deployed....

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

No, just something I picked up on about 17 years ago flying auto parts and the occasional stray Mexican from the border to the plants in Michigan. Used it ever since in the several flight departments that I was Chief Pilot at. Not the bible, just worked for me and the guys I flew with. As far as the 1200 TX setting, not sure what the implication is. All I know is that we hardly ever (read never) go VFR in the Gulfstreams or Challengers and if we saw the 1200 code, we'd know it wasn't SET. Hey it's certainly better than shutting down with the flaps still deployed....

Sounds like a technique...and techniques are good to have!

As far as 1200, if you forget it, which you never would, ATC gets nervous, but that is more around the Mid Atlantic, which you probably never fly....

 

[Cappytan]

Sounds like a technique...and techniques are good to have!

As far as 1200, if you forget it, which you never would, ATC gets nervous, but that is more around the Mid Atlantic, which you probably never fly....

:0 Actually its set that way BECAUSE I (we) do occasionally forget. Chief Pilots are humans (proud ones too) ya know... And I'm guessing dozens of times to PHL, IAD and up and down the coast heading for PBI every month via the overwater routes probably gets close to the Mid-Atlantic....will have to get back to ya on that one.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

:0 Actually its set that way BECAUSE I (we) do occasionally forget. Chief Pilots are humans (proud ones too) ya know... And I'm guessing dozens of times to PHL, IAD and up and down the coast heading for PBI every month via the overwater routes probably gets close to the Mid-Atlantic....will have to get back to ya on that one.

Operating out of IAD a crew forget to put their code in and the previous crew set 1200. ATC wnet nuts as they didn't know who was the VFR.....

 

[CFIse]

As far as 1200, if you forget it, which you never would, ATC gets nervous, but that is more around the Mid Atlantic, which you probably never fly....

They get more than nervous - they violate you - they have to. The military is still looking at the DC area and if they see a 1200 squawk they want to know why and they want the pilot written up.

I know of airline crews who mistakenly departed with 1200 still in the box and got and investigation and a letter in their file. So now, if I find the box set to 1200 when I get on board I set it to something random.

Set the FCP altitude to 000 - that's just a technique - never heard of it before, never flown with anybody who used it. Not saying it's a bad technique, but it's not common practice.