Light Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30; Flight Crew Total 10000; Flight Crew Type 10
Workload; Situational Awareness; Time Pressure; Human-Machine Interface; Confusion
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Aircraft; Chart Or Publication; Procedure
The SHEAD 7 Departure requires five altitude restrictions on successive waypoints right after departure. The first is at 7;000 MSL; and the second is at 9;000 MSL. I misread the waypoint name and commenced the climb from the 7;000 FT initial level off to the next altitude (9;000) one waypoint early. The Controller noticed it and asked when I was at about 7;700 FT; before clearing me unrestricted to FL190. My mistake; but a SID design that requires aircraft without VNAV to rapidly scan back and forth from closely spaced waypoints during the busy initial climb; fly the airplane and communicate with two ATC sectors; is flawed. In retrospect; I should have requested the McCarran 3; which has a more conventional pilot workload.
A pilot who departed on the LAS SHEAD 7 RNAV without an FMS became very busy so that he transposed waypoints and began a climb to 9;000 FT before passing POPPR.