Gig 601XL Builder wrote:




No reason to ident unless asked. It does not make it easier to identify
you under any circumstances.


Then why would we ever be asked to ident?

To make a legal radar identification the controller must see the code
change from 1200 to whatever code he gave you. If he doesn't see it he
will ask you to ident, this also qualifies. Same goes for a departure
off an airport in the middle of nowhere, all of a sudden the radar sees
a code, there was no code change, therefore an ident is required. There
are many letters of agreement that allow pre assigned codes. For
example for our local Help Flight helicopte is permanently assigned the
code of 0222. To make a legal ID the controller is supposed to have him
ident. In practice if I see a 0222 code I don't make him ident. It's a
trivial matter so I just skip it.