Note to the readers of this thread:. .. .Someone called Only A Few More Seasons posted here saying that he thought stating cleared altitude was a bit daft, and that he didn't like doing it - he suggested that he might be a bit old-fashioned. He then deleted all his posts on the thread, so I have deleted my response to his later post (nothing dubious here, he made a point an I responded to it, but now his point has gone, my response is irrelevant). Anyhow, here's my original response to his post.. .. .OAFM Seasons,. .. .Not old fashioned, just plain wrong, I'm afraid.. .. .There are lots of level busts on SIDs. More so on step-climb SIDs. Especially where a particular brand of chart is used. Level busts are bl**dy nasty things to have, in the flight deck or on the radar.. .. .Because there are step-climb SIDs, there's a requirement to state the cleared altitude (level in a couple of cases). This will allow the controller to check that you're climbing to the correct altitude. Simple really, and nothing to do with headings. Bear in mind that this is a safety net to catch your mistake before it becomes an incident or worse.. .. .Flare armed,. .. .No, you didn't miss anything. Your chart provider did.. .. .timeo americanos et carta ferrentes. .. .The Thales (formerly Aerad) charts, of course, incorporate the information.. . . . <small>[ 08 March 2002, 09:19: Message edited by: NorthernSky ]</small>