Narrative:

Took off out of sfo on a porte 7 departure from 01L. Airborne, tower said, 'in your left turn, contact departure.' we contacted departure and there was something in his manner that caused us to question what heading he wanted us on instead of a normal turn to 200 degrees at the 4 DME, 350 degree right sfo. He said that he wanted us to maintain a 350 degree heading because of overflying traffic and he asked whether sfo had told us to maintain that heading prior to giving takeoff clearance. Tower had not done so. We were notified then that we were clear of traffic and given a left turn to continue the porte departure. Using the map CRT and LNAV, the airplane climbs to 420' and then turns to a heading in order to go direct to the 350 degree, 4 mi DME of sfo VOR, then calls for a turn left to 200 degrees. This is a slightly different track over the ground than if hand flying the immediate left turn in order to track out the 350 degree right to 4 mi.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MLG ON SID RECEIVES VECTOR FROM DEP CTLR WHO ASKS IF HEADING REQUEST HAD BEEN RECEIVED FROM THE LCL CTLR PRIOR TO TKOF.

Narrative: TOOK OFF OUT OF SFO ON A PORTE 7 DEP FROM 01L. AIRBORNE, TWR SAID, 'IN YOUR LEFT TURN, CONTACT DEP.' WE CONTACTED DEP AND THERE WAS SOMETHING IN HIS MANNER THAT CAUSED US TO QUESTION WHAT HDG HE WANTED US ON INSTEAD OF A NORMAL TURN TO 200 DEGS AT THE 4 DME, 350 DEG R SFO. HE SAID THAT HE WANTED US TO MAINTAIN A 350 DEG HDG BECAUSE OF OVERFLYING TFC AND HE ASKED WHETHER SFO HAD TOLD US TO MAINTAIN THAT HDG PRIOR TO GIVING TKOF CLRNC. TWR HAD NOT DONE SO. WE WERE NOTIFIED THEN THAT WE WERE CLR OF TFC AND GIVEN A LEFT TURN TO CONTINUE THE PORTE DEP. USING THE MAP CRT AND LNAV, THE AIRPLANE CLBS TO 420' AND THEN TURNS TO A HDG IN ORDER TO GO DIRECT TO THE 350 DEG, 4 MI DME OF SFO VOR, THEN CALLS FOR A TURN LEFT TO 200 DEGS. THIS IS A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT TRACK OVER THE GND THAN IF HAND FLYING THE IMMEDIATE LEFT TURN IN ORDER TO TRACK OUT THE 350 DEG R TO 4 MI.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.