[William_Rusher]

didn't have much use for transponders flying helos, always squaked 1200 if I recall for VFR. Never had the need to memorize the code for a hijack.

So you don't need to hit ident huh, why when you pull into airspace around major airports and you get put into a holding pattern do they tell you to climb to yada yada and squak 1233 and hit indent?

[AntiTyrant]

why . . . do they tell you to climb to yada yada and squak 1233 and hit indent?
hitting ident makes that arbitrary, ordinary code stand out on the scope temporarily so the controller can easily confirm you; it doesn't 'send' the code or anything like that -- the code is sent whenever the xponder is queried by radar (as marked by the flashing light on the panel). atc's systems are programmed to react in a big way to the mere existence of one of the 3 xponder emergency codes, so no ident is necessary; your controller (and every other participating system in range) will know you're squawking trouble.