Thread creep I know but,IMHO,Worth thinking about flap problem whilst cleaning up.
Sure,you can't account for every problem whilst operating the aircraft in every phase of flight.However,when things start to go wrong,and you are no longer going to climb to that FL,I like to have a setting that agrees with where I am..
One less thing to cock up!
My previous airline SOP stated that if cleared to FL in predeparture clearance,to not set STD until Flaps retracted, for that very reason.
However,as soon as we were cleared to FL in the air,they still seemed to set STD,regardless of where the flaps were.
Same in descent,states side..FL340, cleared to 16,000..Perfectly legal to set QNH ,but how often is the descent clearance amended,and how tired are we in that descent if it's the end of a transatlantic flight.
MD83FO,I'm with you..