A classic tale indeed. Go to Stand-by always. This is a hairy chesnut.
Just go to standby. Then change. Don`t do it any other way.
FOR EXAMPLE. TRUE STORY.
Airliner approaching the US Eastern coast, from the East, like Europe, ok?
Pilot inadvertantly selects a naughty squawk, US ATC kindly invites them to divert.
Pilot argues, it was his error and everything is tickety boo. US ATC, not interested. Divert or else. Pilot diverts. Conclusion: silly pilot.
Standby, before changing squawk, standby before operating from cold. Standby when asked to squawk `standby`
Standby before switching the box off. Standby until airborne for initial squawk.
Last edited by Natstrackalpha; 14th Apr 2013 at 22:07.