Hi,This has happened to me several times and kept me puzzled. So now it is time to ask for help. I fly from the VC.I take off from EHAM, runway 24, LEKKO dep. The SID states that at D4.2 SPL a left turn is to be made heading 153.So, before take off I have hdg 153 selected, not yet set.I take off, climb out and and set Auto Flight at 1500ft. Nothing else is set, no NAV, no profile.At D4.2 i set hdg 153 by right clicking the hdg knob. To my surprise the aircraft starts making a right turn and turns all the way until it aligns with the given direction. Why is it not simpy turning left?Like I said, I have tried this several times, either with the SID programmed in the FMC and without. No difference.What am I doing wrong?Menno

Hi,This has happened to me several times and kept me puzzled. So now it is time to ask for help. I fly from the VC.I take off from EHAM, runway 24, LEKKO dep. The SID states that at D4.2 SPL a left turn is to be made heading 153.So, before take off I have hdg 153 selected, not yet set.I take off, climb out and and set Auto Flight at 1500ft. Nothing else is set, no NAV, no profile.At D4.2 i set hdg 153 by right clicking the hdg knob. To my surprise the aircraft starts making a right turn and turns all the way until it aligns with the given direction. Why is it not simpy turning left?Like I said, I have tried this several times, either with the SID programmed in the FMC and without. No difference.What am I doing wrong?Menno

Before pulling the HDG knob... Look to see if there are any tiny white dots on the compass rose, which will determine which way the aircraft will turn. When you pre-select the HDG the direction of turn is established at that time, as a result if you then taxi and take the runway the direction of turn may not be what you want it to be.... experiment while taxiing, try setting a heading 180 off of current, the direction of turn will be in the direction you turned the knob (say to the left) then taxi to the right and see that the dots will still show a left turn even though the shorter direction will be to the right...that is my best guess as to what may be causing you problems

The above poster is correct; I don't set the HDG until I line up on the rwy. It also helps to push the hdg knob in first (sets current heading) an then pull it. Doing the push then pull thing seems to reset it.

You guys are right to assume I already set the hdg before taxiing. I shall do this when lined up next time.Guess this is a bug.Thanks!Menno

I think its a bug too. I've always set the runway heading or desired heading needed after takeoff prior to taxi, but doing this in the MD has resulted in a few opposite turn regardless of which way I turn the dial in flight. I now have to wait until line up on the runway to push the heading knob to "reset" the heading to the active and make adjustments from there. Haven't had any trouble since.

I think its a bug too. I've always set the runway heading or desired heading needed after takeoff prior to taxi, but doing this in the MD has resulted in a few opposite turn regardless of which way I turn the dial in flight. I now have to wait until line up on the runway to push the heading knob to "reset" the heading to the active and make adjustments from there. Haven't had any trouble since.

It is not a bug, it is a feature, and a very clever one at that. That most other aircraft don't have this feature does not make it wrong, but being a feature, you, the pilot in command, must use it correctly. If you want to take off, and turn LEFT to hdg xx, turn the heading knob LEFT to heading xx. If you don't know wether you need to turn left or right to get to the heading you want, then either you should not be setting the hdg yet or you should not be flying. I use this feature most often when the route starts above the airport. Say, for example, that the 1st leg is from the airport VOR heading 180 and I want to take off from runway 9. The short route would be to take off and turn LEFT to hdg 180 which puts me parallel to, but a long way west of my leg. If instead, I take off and turn RIGHT to heading 180, even though I turn through 270 degrees, I will be almost exactly on my leg. P.S. Standard operating procedure usually calls for the heading to be set to runway heading.

It is not a bug, it is a feature, and a very clever one at that. That most other aircraft don't have this feature does not make it wrong, but being a feature, you, the pilot in command, must use it correctly. If you want to take off, and turn LEFT to hdg xx, turn the heading knob LEFT to heading xx. If you don't know wether you need to turn left or right to get to the heading you want, then either you should not be setting the hdg yet or you should not be flying. I use this feature most often when the route starts above the airport. Say, for example, that the 1st leg is from the airport VOR heading 180 and I want to take off from runway 9. The short route would be to take off and turn LEFT to hdg 180 which puts me parallel to, but a long way west of my leg. If instead, I take off and turn RIGHT to heading 180, even though I turn through 270 degrees, I will be almost exactly on my leg. P.S. Standard operating procedure usually calls for the heading to be set to runway heading.

:( :( Are you serious? I can tell you with the utmost certainty that I have used the heading knob to line up to the runway heading, whereupon I was holding the runway heading after AP engagement, however once ATC cleared me to turn left or right a minor 30 or 90 degrees from my current heading, I did in fact turn the knob the correct direction to fly the new heading and the MD went the opposite way. This would've been taken the MD in a 330 degree circle to intercept a heading 30 degrees to the left or right. I'm not some n00b either. Your post is kind of insulting to be honest. Either you haven't encountered this problem or you're misunderstanding what we're saying. Keep in mind it only happens once in a while and I have no idea how to replicate it, thus I've decided, like others, to push the HDG knob on runway line up and it never happens if we do that. Now, why would that be if we were turning the knob incorrectly?

...I've always set the runway heading or desired heading needed after takeoff prior to taxi, ...

I didn't think you were a n00b, but I can only react to what you wrote, and prior to taxi is not after takeoff.