Narrative:

Arrived at airplane for ferry flight. I understood that the aircraft had just come out of heavy maintenance. Taxied to [runway.] immediately during takeoff; got unusual vibration; felt in seat and noted on control yoke. Considered rejecting; but felt it would lessen during takeoff roll. Vibration remained until liftoff; ceased once airborne. Called for LNAV at 400 feet afl; began to notice odor. Odor got stronger; could not identify it; called for climb thrust/VNAV at 1000 feet afl and autopilot left command. Asked first officer if he noticed odor; he replied he did. We were focusing on getting the flaps up and were very concerned with the odor when I noticed that the airplane had continued turning left and was not staying on the departure routing. As I began to take corrective action; departure control asked us our heading and told us to turn right to 330 degrees. I disengaged the autopilot; called for heading 330; and turned to the right. After passing about 300 degrees; departure told us to turn left to 270. After stabilized in the climb and on heading; I called for autopilot on again. We were then cleared direct to a fix on the departure; engaged LNAV and continued with the departure. We discussed the unknown odor; decided that one of us should go on oxygen. I transferred flying duties to the first officer and donned the oxygen mask. The fumes; which began after gear retraction; seemed to be decreasing in intensity; and we agreed they smelled like hot rubber. Since the fumes were seemingly decreasing; we agreed to continue the flight; referring to the QRH for guidance. Not knowing the source of the fumes; we thought there was a possibility we may have had a tire failure due to the vibration during takeoff roll; followed by the rubber-like fumes after airborne. There were no abnormal indications on any aircraft systems. I assumed flying duties after level off at cruise altitude. Not knowing for sure if we had a tire problem or not; we elected to have the arrival tower roll the equipment out for our landing; which was uneventful. After parking at the gate; we were told by maintenance personnel that new brake pads were a known source of the odor as we described it.neither the first officer nor I understand why the airplane did not remain in LNAV and fly the departure routing. As the flying pilot; I may have bumped the heading select button when I rotated the heading know after our initial left turn on the departure. Even with our focus on our other issues; it did not take long for us to notice that we were not on the departure routing and begin to intervene when departure called and gave us a heading back to the left. Obviously; we were distracted by the odor and would have noticed going off the departure much sooner than we did.as always; fly the airplane first; ensuring that it stays on the desired course. If unable to do that; declare an emergency.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757 developed an unfamiliar odor during the first takeoff and climb on a ferry flight following heavy maintenance. The distracted crew had a track deviation and determined after the flight that new brakes were the odor's source.

Narrative: Arrived at airplane for ferry flight. I understood that the aircraft had just come out of heavy maintenance. Taxied to [runway.] Immediately during takeoff; got unusual vibration; felt in seat and noted on control yoke. Considered rejecting; but felt it would lessen during takeoff roll. Vibration remained until liftoff; ceased once airborne. Called for LNAV at 400 feet AFL; began to notice odor. Odor got stronger; could not identify it; called for CLB THRUST/VNAV at 1000 feet AFL and AUTOPILOT LEFT COMMAND. Asked FO if he noticed odor; he replied he did. We were focusing on getting the flaps up and were very concerned with the odor when I noticed that the airplane had continued turning left and was not staying on the departure routing. As I began to take corrective action; departure control asked us our heading and told us to turn right to 330 degrees. I disengaged the autopilot; called for HEADING 330; and turned to the right. After passing about 300 degrees; departure told us to turn left to 270. After stabilized in the climb and on heading; I called for autopilot on again. We were then cleared direct to a fix on the departure; engaged LNAV and continued with the departure. We discussed the unknown odor; decided that one of us should go on oxygen. I transferred flying duties to the FO and donned the oxygen mask. The fumes; which began after gear retraction; seemed to be decreasing in intensity; and we agreed they smelled like hot rubber. Since the fumes were seemingly decreasing; we agreed to continue the flight; referring to the QRH for guidance. Not knowing the source of the fumes; we thought there was a possibility we may have had a tire failure due to the vibration during takeoff roll; followed by the rubber-like fumes after airborne. There were no abnormal indications on any aircraft systems. I assumed flying duties after level off at cruise altitude. Not knowing for sure if we had a tire problem or not; we elected to have the arrival tower roll the equipment out for our landing; which was uneventful. After parking at the gate; we were told by maintenance personnel that new brake pads were a known source of the odor as we described it.Neither the FO nor I understand why the airplane did not remain in LNAV and fly the departure routing. As the flying pilot; I may have bumped the HEADING SELECT button when I rotated the heading know after our initial left turn on the departure. Even with our focus on our other issues; it did not take long for us to notice that we were not on the departure routing and begin to intervene when departure called and gave us a heading back to the left. Obviously; we were distracted by the odor and would have noticed going off the departure much sooner than we did.As always; fly the airplane first; ensuring that it stays on the desired course. If unable to do that; declare an emergency.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.