AFTER DEPARTING W OFF BWI FOR ORF ON RWY HEADING; THE CTLR CLRED THE FLT TO 9000 FT AND APPEARED TO FORGET THAT THE FLT WAS ON A HEADING.

Narrative

DEP CLRNC VIA CLRNC DELIVERY WAS CLB TO ASSIGNED ALT ON RWY HEADING. TWR CLRED US FOR TKOF ON RWY 28 WITH NO SPECIFIC HEADING INFO. THEY SUBSEQUENTLY SWITCHED US TO DEP; AGAIN WITH NO SPECIFIC HEADING INFO. DEP CLRED US UP TO 9000 FT. AS WE LEVELED; STILL ON RWY HEADING THEY ASKED; 'OH; COMPANY NUMBER DID YOU MISS YOUR TURN...?' WE RESPONDED THAT WE HAD RECEIVED NOTHING OTHER THAN RWY HEADING FROM THE CLRNC. THEY KEPT US AT 9000 FT AND TURNED US TO THE FIRST FIX 'DAILY' TO THE S. NO TFC CONFLICTS WERE OBSERVED. PROCEEDED NORMALLY TO ORF. OBSERVATIONS: I THINK THIS INCIDENT HIGHLIGHTS SOME AMBIGUITIES WITH THE BWI DEP PROCS. WE HAVE BECOME VERY ACCUSTOMED TO TWR ASSIGNING HEADINGS OUT OF BWI AND IN THE ABSENCE OF THAT; SPECIFIC GUIDELINES FOR POST TKOF PROCS ARE LACKING. THERE ARE ONLY 2 PUBLISHED SIDS; THE PALEO; AND THE SWANN; BOTH TO THE E AND N. S AND W; INTO THE HEART OF THE CLASS B ARE NEBULOUS. ALSO THE BWI 10-7 PAGE DEP NOISE ABATEMENT PROCS ARE GENERAL; OFTEN DIFFERENT FROM ATC INSTRUCTIONS AND DON'T OFTEN TIE INTO THE PALEO AND SWANN. I THINK BWI MAY BE A CANDIDATE FOR A TOTAL REWRITE OF AIRSPACE PROCS; AS IT BECOMES A DOMINANT PRESENCE IN THE AREA AND NOT JUST A SECONDARY AIRFIELD. ATC; IN GENERAL; AT BWI DOES AN OUTSTANDING JOB WITH WHAT THEY HAVE; BUT UNLESS THEY 'HOLD YOUR HAND' TO THE W AND S; THINGS COULD GET COLORFUL IF SOMEONE GOES LOST COM. AS A MINIMUM; I THINK A GENERIC 'BWI 3' TYPE SID WOULD WORK SIMILAR TO THE TPA 3 OR THE TITAN 5; ETC.