Hi people,
thanks for the replies.....its been an interesting read for me. From what can be read from people's replies, it is a combination of legal and practical/logical reasons why the turn at 500'.
But thinking about it.......when this rule was invented, pilots and authorities probably sat around when deciding on the height for this rule and decided on 500' for another reason which is that within the first 500', it gives the pilot enough time to establish the Vy or Vx attitude for climb, clean up the aircraft (flaps and ldg lear) whilst maintaining a lookout for other traffic. If a turn was allowed earlier, then un-necessary distractions could occur and maybe more incidents/accidents could be predicted.
MK.