Which 'Pilot' watch

[dkatwa]

Apart from quartz watches, with digital displays, are there any good watches that can be used for VFR flying? I find the displays on traditional watches, with a stopwatch, too small to be of any use. I have a Seiko Sportura SNAF34P1. Looks nice but the stopwatch functionality is too small.

[john_tullamarine]

A series of throwaway $5 el cheapo digitals has done me proud over the years .. typically gain/lose a few seconds a month.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

This has been asked a few times before ...

I use a £20 watch from a supermarket. Requirements for me were

- numbers 1-12
- tick marks for minutes/seconds
- second hand

There are stop watches in the panel (in various places depending on the aircraft), I don't need one on my wrist as well. Plus I find the ones on the panel are easier to incorporate into a scan than the one on my wrist.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Anything with a clear display and three hands.

A stopwatch is nice to have, but not particularly essential at PPL level.

I like a velcro strap, then it can go around the middle of the control column, but that's just me, and certainly not essential. I have an "Animal" leather and velcro strap from an outdoors shop - it gets replaced about every 3-4 years.


I do use a reasonably posh Seiko Military that I'm very fond of, but I didn't pay for it, it's 18 years old and I wouldn't necessarily pay for an identical replacement if it died. There are plenty of perfectly good watches out there which would do everything mine does, for around a tenner.

G

Postscript, my Seiko is a lot cheaper than it used to be - £99 on Amazon, and I am fond of it, so I probably would. However, the one on my wrist is still good as new (okay, one new glass, and probably 4 batteries and 5 straps in 18 years) so I shouldn't need to. This one. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seiko-SNDA57P1-Mens-Chronograph-Watch/dp/B001EN4TJK/ref=sr_1_sc_3?s=watch&ie=UTF8&qid=1409609789&sr=1-3-spell&keywords=seiiko+military - or near as dammit anyhow.

[unusualAtitude]

What people will do for one or even two of 'em:

Stolen Rolex watches recovered inside women?s vaginas at Las Vegas hotel: police - NY Daily News (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/stolen-watches-recovered-women-vaginas-cops-article-1.1922110)

[9 lives]

Anything with a clear display and three hands.

A stopwatch is nice to have, but not particularly essential at PPL level.

That's the answer. The easier to read the better (so less distracting/confusing dial markings).

[galwaypilot]

I think a Rolex is a must... Wouldn't live without mine never mind fly without it! No no I joke. Have a watch for a year now €55 it cost me!

[Heston]

Buy Timex Men's Gold Plated Black Strap Watch at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for Men's watches. (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2515737.htm)


Under £25. Perfect for the job.


If you are of the feminine gender I'd still suggest the Men's watch as its bigger and easier to read in the cockpit.


(PS I am being serious with this post btw)

[SouthendPilot]

I found an easy to read watch invaluable for my nav exercises in my PPL. For me, the digital watches are quick to glance at and its handy if you want to set a couple of alarms for the odd mid-flight task.

I went for this:
Casio Men's Digital Twin Sensor Compass Watch (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2830632.htm)

Big numbers, super easy to read if you're bouncing about a bit and under a little pressure doing a diversion exercise or something, and has an excellent backlight. Its got a reasonably good built in compass and thermometer too, pretty useless but it appealed to the nerd in me!

[Camargue]

depends what you want to spend.

if you have the budget and wrist size this from tutima is hard to beat for a mechanical chronograph.
also keeps ticking at 7G if you ever go aeros!

Tutima | Military Commando II Chronograph | Titanium | Watch database watchtime.com (http://www.watchtime.com/watch-database/tutima/military-commando-ii-chronograph/titanium)

[Jan Olieslagers]

Pilot's watches (like all watches today) are jewelry and nothing else. Any half decent GPS and any half decent phone display the time, at satellite accuracy, and what pilot doesn't have both, or at least one of them?

[gasax]

That watch looks a deal more complicated than my aircraft!

I cannot think of anything that you actually "need" a pilot's watch for - apart from impressing the impressionable.

But then my vanity is served by having a Russian panel mount chronograph. It tells the time too, and irradiates the passenger!

[Piltdown Man]

The very best watch money can buy is one of these. Keeps good time, easy to read, functional, water-proof enough, cheap, lights up when you need it. Brilliant and it doesn't say a wally of a pilot is wearing it.

PM

[Lukesdad]

These looked nice and easy to read GX7 Pilots Chronograph : (http://www.wernersflyingwatches.com/products.asp?ProID=762)

And not too dear.

[S-Works]

A watch, how very gucci....... I just take the times of the GPS.

[riverrock83]

My post from a previous thread: http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/471284-pilot-wrist-watches-7.html#post7023456

I still like that one I got for £80. Just looked it up and if you want to get it now you can pay $550 AUD (http://www.downunderpilotshop.com.au/Watches/citizen-wingman-jq8000-50e) (£310GBP). I think I got a bargain! Not many watches increase in value over time!

[Genghis the Engineer]

The very best watch money can buy is one of these (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Timex-Expedition-Fullsize-Camper-Cream/dp/B000FGDE7A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409670131&sr=8-1&keywords=timex+expedition+indiglo). Keeps good time, easy to read, functional, water-proof enough, cheap, lights up when you need it. Brilliant and it doesn't say a wally of a pilot is wearing it.

PM

Just makes you look like an SAS wannabee instead.

G :E

[Jesse Pinkman]

Dkatwa, you started by asking 'apart from quartz watches'. Although there appears to be plenty of enthusiasm for accurate time keeping in the answers offered there doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm for mechanical watches. Not knocking that at all; some pilots like fast cars, some like to booze hard, some have an enthusiasm for mechanical watches.

Have a look at Damasko or Sinn. Swiss movements in German built watches. Big clear displays, b*****d hard reliability and priced at a fraction of a Bertling or an IWC.

[fatmanmedia]

for posing use this is my watch of choice

Posing (http://www.breitling.com/en/models/navitimer/navitimer-cosmonaute/)

For everyday flying you cant beat one of these.

Day to Day Watch

Fats

[unusualAtitude]

The Swiss Train Watch by Mondaine

Because the second hand touches the minute markers, reading the precise time is quick & easy.


Watches (http://www.mondaine.com/mondaine-watches/display/240)

[dkatwa]

Thanks for the replies...some of the watches mentioned do not have stop watch functionality, although the watches themselves look smart.
I was really wondering if anyone actually uses the stop watch functionality on their watch whilst flying. My Seiko would be difficult to make out to the nearest minute.
If my cheap digital watch, attached to my kneeboard, went AWOL, it would be good to have a back up...which means the one on my wrist should be easy to read. I hardly fly (my fault for losing a bit of interest after getting my PPL) and don't use GPS either. As for my phone, that is in my bag lest the police catch me using it:p

[OpenCirrus619]

I was always told that a clockwork (stop)watch was preferable - it being almost guaranteed that the battery would give out, on my quartz timepiece, at the most inconvenient time possible.

OC619

[Gertrude the Wombat]

some of the watches mentioned do not have stop watch functionality
You don't need a stopwatch for visual flying.


If you're flying on instruments you've got enough instrumentation that that functionality is somewhere on the panel, so you don't need a stopwatch for instrument flying either.


If you had one, what would you use it for?

[Genghis the Engineer]

I was always told that a clockwork (stop)watch was preferable - it being almost guaranteed that the battery would give out, on my quartz timepiece, at the most inconvenient time possible.

OC619

Having owned good quality mechanical and electronic watches, I'd say that the chances of a quartz watch dying at a bad time are considerably less than a mechanical watch. I have absolutely no urge to ever own a mechanical watch again, except for decoration with a suit.

You don't need a stopwatch for visual flying.
I use a stopwatch quite often, including visual flying, but to be fair - yes, rarely for anything you'd do in normal PPL flying. A second hand does the job well enough.

G

[Richard H]

You probably want a quartz watch. To get a mechanical watch you are going to need to spend at least £2k. And even then, it won't have stopwatch complication. Just buy something cheap and basic.

[Above The Clouds]

Just keep in mind with your watch purchase that the size and complexity of your watch can be viewed as inversely proportional to the pilots ability :E

[aerohopper]

I spent months looking around for a suitable 'pilots watch'..


In the end I plumped for a £35 Sekonda - model 3341. ( Black face silver bezel)


Supremely easy to read - to pinpoint exact minutes and a big face.
The vast majority of 'pilot watches' are worn by wannabees and 99% of their functions are of no practical use.( that's the watch not the wannabees,,,)


Forget the rubbish on here about batteries running out - that happens maybe once every 2 years and the average PPL is flying for perhaps 40 hours / year.
..So I make that less than 1 in 400 chance

[ChickenHouse]

There is a stopwatch in the radio controlled clock in the plane, there is one in my iPhone, there is a stopwatch in the iPad and one integrated into the Moving Map Software, there is a stopwatch function in my XPDR, I don't even bother whether there is another in the GNS430, so why should I carry another one on the wrist?

[gasax]

Buy a huge watch which says PILOT on it. Buy some epaulettes and white leather gloves, nasty white nylon shirt and shiny black trousers - then nobody will mistake you for anything other than a PILOT. :ok:

[Heffalump363]

http://i57.tinypic.com/ux190.jpg

[Mach Jump]

Seriously though, if you want a fancy 'Pilot Watch' because it looks cool, then, by all means buy one.

If you want to know what real pilots have on their wrists, take a walk through a busy airport and ask to see their watches. You will find that, almost invariably, they wear an inexpensive watch with a second sweep hand and a large, clear, simple dial that is easy to read in turbulence.

I still wear a 'FILA' watch made by 'Swatch' That a friend found in a scrap car he was stripping about 20 years ago. It keeps great time, has a second hand, and is very clear to read.


MJ:ok:

[dobbin1]

I have had several students turn up for their first cross country navex without a watch. It seems very common nowadays for young people to rely on their iPhones for time - not very convenient in flight. On one occasion the lack of watch was not realised until we arrived at the first checkpoint. I had to lend him mine

You don't need a stopwatch for PPL nav, but it is useful to have one available.

My current watch of choice is a Citzen Ecodrive. Black face, nice big white numbers and a built in stopwatch. Cost around £200, but worth it.
-

[GBEBZ]

I personally use a Casio Retro Digital watch W-59-1VQES like these:

http://www.watchstreet.com/img/users/alexpt/casio/original/590-w-59-1vqes-1.jpg

I think I paid about £10-20 on Amazon for mine.

It has a stopwatch (not yet used in flight!) and it tells the time, and ... its waterproof... incase... well, just in case.

For engine start/stop times and approach times etc the seconds are not important so dont need a huge needle to tell me them.

For Nav timed legs ... well who after their PPL uses timed legs and DR anyway (apart from us CPL students!)

Infact over the years I have owned many of these - since my early childhood competition canoeing days... right up till now (36!)

I only ever wear a watch for flying and on RNLI Lifeboats cause the rest of the time Im slumped infront of a Mac Computer or have the iPhone near me.

If it tells the time. It will do for flying...

[dkatwa]

I still use timed legs and DR to get around.....I fly so infrequently that a GPS is not worth the expense just yet.

[fantom]

I recall that which we used to say in the Royal Air Force:

A co-pilot's watch; big, and mouth to match.

[dubbleyew eight]

seiko make a black faced watch with quartz movement that is solar recharged through the face.
1 and a half seconds a month accuracy.
never needs a battery replacement for years.

I noticed that the nipper who flies passenger jets now went out and bought himself the identical watch after he saw mine.

http://www.yorkshirewatches.co.uk/ekmps/shops/yorkswatches/images/seiko-solar-black-dial-stainess-steel-bracelet-sne095p1-132-p.jpg

[Unusual Attitude]

Just keep in mind with your watch purchase that the size and complexity of your watch can be viewed as inversely proportional to the pilots ability

Slightly sweeping statement! I happen to wear a breitling emergency, I didn't buy it though, my wife did but I'm very happy to have it. After racing my little 0-200 engine at 3500rpm for a week in Spain I can't think of a better watch to have on my wrist for the flight home over the Pyrenees. Pretty sure it doesn't make me any less of a pilot for wearing it.

Prior to that I had some cheap Casio job with big clear hands that glow in the dark and a rubber strap which doesn't get scuffed or absorb fuel or oil.

Wear what works for you basically, if anyone thinks your any less of a pilot because you have a big fancy watch then thats their issue.

Regards

UA

[AndoniP]

Same here. The wife bought me a Garmin D2 for my 40th and I love it. I'm not not going to wear it for fear of looking like someone that hasn't a clue.

[Miserlou]

Had to treat myself to a new watch recently.
Eventually chose this one.
https://shop.laco.de/en/Pilot-Watches/Aachen.html

Others have stopwatch function but I just love the simplicity, clarity, history and heritage.

I ordered on monday afternoon and received the watch before noon on tuesday! That's service.

[OhNoCB]

Miserlou I love the watch.

I have been contemplating getting a watch like this for a while, albeit from Stowa. I have to admit to a preference for the sheer clarity and simplicity of the type A though.

[9 lives]

I was window shopping the watch stores here in Cologne today. I saw a few I liked. I saw a few whose asking price exceeds the value of both of my planes - together! But after all was said and done, I'm still happy with my basic one, with an easy to read face, which costs about the same as two hours of flying time.

[Mach Jump]

Ozymandias

Wow! How would you ever know if a watch like that was working or not???:eek:


MJ:ok:

[what next]

Instead they will just ask you the time and simply reading the watch proves exceptional acuity of vision.

:O And if you can work out your fuel requirement and calculate your denisity altitude using that-built in whizwheel (without using a microscope), you will get instant ATPL theory credit!

[Trim Stab]

Check out the Casio G-Shock GW3500 or GW2500.

It can display three time zones simultaneously. I have local time on the main dial, UTC on the LCD inset, and time back home on the small dial. When going on a trip, a few days before departure I set the small dial to the time of destination and start to adjust sleep patterns towards that time. Once in the air, a couple of button presses swaps the time between small dial and big dial, so I now have destination time on the big dial and home time on the small dial. UTC is permanently displayed (or can be toggled to date with a button touch).

Add to that, 200m waterproof, solar powered, and radio-time signalled controlled, it is a super time piece for a pilot.

The GW3500 can even take 12g, and even if it exceeds that, the hands can reset themselves automatically. The GW2500 has a lower g tolerance, and requires manual reset if exceeded - but I have not needed to do it yet.

It is virtually indestructible - I have had mine for six years or so and have hardly ever removed it from my wrist.

[Simon T]

http://www.christopherward.co.uk/watches/aviation/c8-kvkt-mk2.html

I like watches. This one is my flying companion

Simon

[Flyingmac]

Sensible watch. Silly price.:bored: This Silliness extends into the Diving world. How about a Cartier Diver's watch at £19k.


http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/watches/articles/2015-07/29/best-diving-watches-2015

[Managed Descent]

The most useful watch I ever wore in 32 years of flying was the Casio black plastic. I went through 3 of them, they did everything I needed, that is, told the time in 2 zones, woke me up and there was never any tension about leaving them in a hotel room.

[piperboy84]

For a lot of timing functions I prefer to use the panel mounted equipment if installed, the garmin 330 transponder has excellent count up and down timers as do most GPS's including tanks switch reminders. The bonus of the panel mounted stuff is if it's set up right it gives you audio messages to your headset when the timers are up or tanks need switched

[Camargue]

I like watches and have many.

This is my pilots. Stupidly expensive today but not when I bought it.

Works at 7g and as I do aeros it makes sense.

For me it's perfect balance of form and function. Judging by prices for 2nd hand ones today I am not alone in thinking this.

Tutima | Military Commando II Chronograph Einsatzuhr | Titan | Uhren-Datenbank watchtime.net (http://www.watchtime.net/uhren/tutima/military-commando-ii-chronograph-einsatzuhr/titan)

[semmern]

As a bit of a watch afficionado, I have to recommend the Omega Speedmaster Professional. It's reliable, and has an interesting history as the Moon Watch, and it is one of the most legible watches I've comeback across, with its white markers on a black dial.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y82/semmern/Klokker/IMG_0113.jpg

[Monocock]

Everyone has an iPhone these days. Why do you need a watch?

It's like taking a Filofax or an Address Book with you.

[fireflybob]

For pilot navigation a simple analogue watch does me fine - easier to work out ETAs by visualising the minute hand moving on "x" minutes and then "reading" the ETA.

[Flyingmac]

I got my current watch from Lidl 4 or 5 years ago. £7. Uncluttered black face with white markers and hands. Good quality leather strap.


When I recently took it in for a new battery, I commented to the guy in the shop that the cost of the battery was approaching the cost of the watch.


He lifted an £800 watch from a display and said, "Same movement".:)

[fireflybob]

Everyone has an iPhone these days. Why do you need a watch?


Tried hand flying and looking up the time on your iPhone?

[fl2006]

My main things about a watch are a clear face, reliable and it has to be automatic or solar powered (so the battery won't run out mid flight)

I use a Citizen Eco Drive Chronograph.

Easy to read, not expensive, solar powered, Stopwatch (not that I've ever used it, the aircraft always has a stopwatch), and a simple bezel to put the ATC slot time on to remind me

[Genghis the Engineer]

As a bit of a watch afficionado, I have to recommend the Omega Speedmaster Professional. It's reliable, and has an interesting history as the Moon Watch, and it is one of the most legible watches I've comeback across, with its white .....

You do realise that it is possible to buy and run for a year or so an aeroplane for the price of that?

And, with care, still buy a perfectly good watch !

G

[Genghis the Engineer]

>>>Works at 7g and as I do aeros it makes sense.

Think about that for a moment.

The internal components of any wristwatch have a mass which is trivially small. At, even say, 20g so are any gravitational and inertial forces.

Plus, given the geometry, my wrist probably sees more gs going for a brisk walk than a member of The Blades does whilst flying a display.

Basically, a £5 watch from Argos will be just as able to take aerobatics - possibility better as it has a far lower mass.

G

[flydive1]

You do realise that it is possible to buy and run for a year or so an aeroplane for the price of that?

And, with care, still buy a perfectly good watch !

G

Yes and if you think that some buy a car they like, wasting quite a bit of money, when a simple FIAT 127 would do the same job.

Why do something for your own pleasure or satisfaction when you can be cheap?

;)

[Bushfiva]

Miserlou, the Superluminova on those watches is very good stuff, despite the silly name. It won't fade over the years, unlike tritium-based stuff.

[vee-tail-1]

Fascinating thread :) All human vanity on show here. :hmm:

In 40 years of professional flying I only ever wanted a reliable watch that tells the time. It never occurred to me that a watch could be a status symbol ... but it seems for some the more useless and expensive and unreadable the watch ... the more status!

Ah don't get me started on 'pilot' sunglasses! :rolleyes:

[semmern]

I like watches for the fact that they are amazingly complicated little machines, and sometimes very beautiful. All chronographs time flights equally well, whether they're mechanical or quartz. I just happen to like mechanical watches the best :)

[L'aviateur]

I would say that most of the above is absolute tosh; the only watch you should consider for flying is a Breitling.

I couldn't even contemplate going flying without my Breitling, and I must admit that on the one occasion I did make a disastrous oversight and flew with a naked arm, I managed to end up 280nm in the opposite direction of my original destination and performed the most appalling landing you could imagine.

In the subsequent investigation with the AAIB, I later realised that I had spent the entire flight confusing the DI and chronometer with one another. The similarities were uncanny, but had I brought along my trusty watch, I would have quickly realised the serious mistake. The landing can easily be attributed to the fact that my Breitling, through several turns of the various dials (83 different actions to be precise) can calculate the correct glideslope and Vat. Without the critical feature, the result is self explanatory.

Finally, if I had been wearing my watch, I would have noticed when looking down to check the time that my vision was not as sharp as it normally is, and would have worn my prescription spectacles and subsequently would have identified the correct aircraft at my field of departure, rather then having to call the CFI and explain how he would need a truck to collect what remained of his beloved personal Piper Cub (which I now understand I'm only the second person fortunate to have ever flown it).

If you need any further information on this watch, please do not hesitate to ask.

[tmmorris]

Masterly.

And highly amusing.

[vee-tail-1]

:ok: :ok: :)

[Monocock]

Tried hand flying and looking up the time on your iPhone?

Hand flying? What's that?

[Keef]

I've got a drawer full of watches :( Sad, me. I decided I have an analogue brain, so digital watches don't do it for me. I particularly like my KGB Officer's automatic bombproof "special".

I sold the Breitling - it never worked right anyway, and surprisingly I got a good price for it.

Nowadays I wear a simple Seiko with a nice, clear display and (slightly) luminous hands. There is a stop watch function in it, but waving a magnifying glass in front of the watch while flying in cloud doesn't instil confidence in passengers.

For instrument approaches, I have a very old wind-up sports-teacher-type Smiths stopwatch and a mount that hooks it to the yoke. I use it for IFR flight and for IMCR and IR tests. It has the advantage that the examiner can see it, too.

There was a clock on the panel of the Arrow, but it decided each day whether it would work or not, so I planned on "not".

[Monocock]

I know what you mean about having an analogue brain. I look at a watch with hands and see something that means something. LCD numbers are clear to view, but just don't give a full picture.

[Tay Cough]

Seiko, Breitling or Christopher Ward depending on my mood, two of which were very generous gifts and each as reliable as the other - or el cheapo if I'm going somewhere where it may be requested that I part company with one of the above.

Wear what makes you feel happiest. The only proviso is that it is legible when you need it and can keep passable time. You are not planning a precision bomb run. Life is too short.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Yes and if you think that some buy a car they like, wasting quite a bit of money, when a simple FIAT 127 would do the same job.

Why do something for your own pleasure or satisfaction when you can be cheap?

;)

Oh do that.

But don't pretend that the Breitling makes you fly any better, or the Ferrari ensures that the groceries make it back from Sainsbury in better condition.

G

[fatmanmedia]

i use this when I’m flying, very accurate and never needs winding or running out of power.

http://cdn.instructables.com/FZ7/CIXH/H0OJ15LR/FZ7CIXHH0OJ15LR.LARGE.jpg

or i use this

http://www.flli-consonni.com/F.lli%20Consonni-Fashion-sito%20ufficiale/images/F.lli%20Consonni/Orologi%20a%20pendolo/Gallery%20Big/Art510_2.jpg

Fats

[Flyingmac]

Whether you are one or not. Flashing a multi-function, cluttered face 'Pilot' watch at an airfield is going to suggest POSER to many. Much like the car number plates suggesting you're a pilot.

[Small Rodent Driver]

What people will do for one or even two of 'em:

Stolen Rolex watches recovered inside women?s vaginas at Las Vegas hotel: police - NY Daily News

Blimey, how many hands did they have?!

[semmern]

Funny, all the inferences being drawn from people's interest in watches. I like watches. Some of them are expensive. My Seamaster can withstand a depth of 300m. Will I ever use more than 30 of them? No. Do I care? Nope, because I like the watch. Doesn't have to be any more complicated than that.

[Flyingmac]

You use a watch for diving? How quaint. Most of us use highly efficient wrist mounted dive computers. Designed to fit over a drysuit.;)

[semmern]

No, I don't dive at all, other than down to about 10m every now and then when I'm swimming. That said, it has a clasp extension, so it fits around a dry- or wetsuit if the need ever should arise. I do use it when sailing, so it's close to water every now and then ;)

But hey, I guess the concept of wearing a watch because one likes it is an alien concept? ;)

[The_Pink_Panther]

I like my watches, plain dress watches through to Skygod Blingmaster Pro, but despite a collection in double figures, the best sky timer I've used for VFR work is this:

ASA Digital Flight Timer (http://www.transair.co.uk/sp+ASA-Digital-Flight-Timer+8855)

I've found most of the timers on watch faces too small to get all the info at a glance, and this timer does legs and total time at the same time, also has dual time, and is the cheapest by far!!

[glum]

That's got 7 buttons!

At my stage of learning I can just about manage steering, accelerator and P.T.T! :)

[The_Pink_Panther]

Glum,

Pretty sure I only used 4 of them to complete my SEP(A) training (time, stopwatch, start/stop, and reset), only used "Light" when I added night to my licence.

Really want the new Garmin D2 Bravo though...

TPP

[FREDAcheck]

Real Pilots need proper watches. I recommend this one:

http://www.ablogtowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/MR2129a.jpg

I believe it comes with 4-bar gold epaulettes.

I've never bothered with anything other than a normal watch for VFR, and I have a £5.99 Argos digital stopwatch for IMC. But I'm probably not a Real Pilot.

[ETOPS]

I like my IWC Grosse Fliegeruhr..


http://media2.iwc.com/site_media/uploads/images/2010/12/18/03_Pilots_Watch_Chrono_Day_And_Date.jpg

Nice and clear with an easy to use stopwatch button

[tmmorris]

i use this when I’m flying, very accurate and never needs winding or running out of power.

http://cdn.instructables.com/FZ7/CIXH/H0OJ15LR/FZ7CIXHH0OJ15LR.LARGE.jpg

or i use this

http://www.flli-consonni.com/F.lli%20Consonni-Fashion-sito%20ufficiale/images/F.lli%20Consonni/Orologi%20a%20pendolo/Gallery%20Big/Art510_2.jpg

Fats

I've actually got a portable sundial... Gnomon on a compass card. Works sort of.

[Pontius]

Pontius' timepiece (http://www.fhinds.co.uk/Images/Products/fFullsize1/231737_L_1.jpg)

- Lightweight 'cos of some titanium stuff
- Solar recharged
- Radio thingy updated so it keeps good time
- World times
- Yes, it has a stopwatch
- Doesn't mind getting wet
- Not cheap, cheap but certainly not expensive

[dera]

That's not IWC "Grosse Fliegeruhr"? That's a normal 3717?
The IWC Big Pilots (5009 being the classic one) are not chronographs, they are bigger than the 3717 with the big crown, and so on...

[Simon T]

Why does someones choice of watch elicit so much vitriol, any more than the choice of car, aircraft etc? If you want to spend £5.99 on a watch then why not? same if you want to spend £50,000.
Why all the references to the inverse relationship between the cost of a watch and a pilots skills or worse?

I would expect that sort of trolling on some of the children's inter web forums but not here

Simon

[Monocock]

I agree.

My watch cost me £13,000 and it's really useful when I'm flying in IMC.

[L'aviateur]

Well to explain the point in simple terms for those that don't understand many of the cynicle posts, the issue isn't about the watch. I have several high end watches, however none of them would I associate specifically with flying. Apart from some marketing BS, the concept of a 'pilot watch' is a fallacy.
Buy a watch because you like a watch, but when you are in the air I shouldn't imagine you will have a second thought about what is on your arm...

[ETOPS]

dera

That's a normal 3717?

Well spotted - just a stock photo grabbed from the web..........

Now Sherlock....what about the stopwatch function on a Grosse?

[Tigger_Too]

There is only one true poseur's watch .... but only available to a select few!

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr224/jythill/b184ea12-8ddc-4f50-9e32-f4ddcde034c3.jpg

[Cows getting bigger]

Well, if we're talking decadance. A mere snip at $46000 (yes, three zeros)

http://blogs-images.forbes.com/arieladams/files/2015/03/Patek-Philippe-Pilot-Travel-Time-5524G-001-watch-1.jpg

[FREDAcheck]

Well to explain the point in simple terms for those that don't understand many of the cynicle posts, the issue isn't about the watch. I have several high end watches, however none of them would I associate specifically with flying. Apart from some marketing BS, the concept of a 'pilot watch' is a fallacy.
Buy a watch because you like a watch, but when you are in the air I shouldn't imagine you will have a second thought about what is on your arm...

+1

Nothing wrong with expensive toys. But buy them because you want them, because it gives you pleasure using them, or just pleasure in owning them.

But to say you just need that expensive pilot watch as a pilot? Well, if that's the mental process you go through to justify to yourself spending the money - fine.

[OhNoCB]

I think what makes it complicated is perhaps people like me. I like nice watches, and will pay for a nice one if I want it. I do however quite like the idea of it having useful functions that could be used for flying related things. Whether this is simply a chronograph or something with more than one time zone it doesn't really matter. I do know that I will rarely ever use a lot of the 'features' on so called 'pilot' watches, but I find it interesting to have something that could be relevant.

As such, sometimes when I am looking for a new watch I look at what it could give me in that sense, 'which one of these COULD be a useful tool at work'. The only functions I have ever actually used relating to work are countdown timers, alarms and a second timezsone.

[abgd]

My goodness. So many people still doing stopwatch and compass navigation. I thought everybody was following the magenta line these days. (I have the Casio).

[Ringway Flyer]

We usually flew relatively short legs and I used an analogue watch with a black dial and white luminous numbers and a rotatable bezel. (Also easy to read in the middle of the night without my specs on!)

When over a turning point, it took only a few seconds to rotate the bezel to zero over the minute hand. If the next leg was, say 13 minutes, it was quick & easy to read the time off the bezel. Certainly quicker for me than to add 13 minutes to 14:49 and come up with 15:02, and then write it down....

Assuming your plot included the the time from leg to leg, all that was needed was to rotate the bezel at each turning point.

This was a few years ago, now, so I expect few PPLs today sit down with a map, draw lines on it, use the wizz-wheel and then write it all down...

Oh and yes, I did buy a digital stop watch, but rarely used it, but then I didn't go for an instrument rating - just enjoyed 'plot & bash' on nice days.

I wonder how long the 'pilot's watch thread will take to come round again?

Finally, I bought a Casio digital watch when I retired, because it had the DAY on it as well as everything else. It has a 10 year (claimed) battery life and keeps time to within better than 10 seconds a year. Not bad for £14...:)

[glum]

"This was a few years ago, now, so I expect few PPLs today sit down with a map, draw lines on it, use the wizz-wheel and then write it all down..."

Maybe not post exam PPL's, but that's certainly what I'm doing for my nav training.

[Capn Bug Smasher]

My goodness. So many people still doing stopwatch and compass navigation. I thought everybody was following the magenta line these days

I can only just afford the CAA chart, let alone a magenta line :}

[Ringway Flyer]

The magenta line is fine until you find yourself without a PC/mobile/tablet or run out of volts for one of the aforementioned devices. The same argument applies to GPSs too. In my humble opinion, these devices should be supplimentary to lines on maps. Never lose the old skills! :ok:

[AndrewMcD]

To somewhat drag this back OT...

When I was a teen I first saw the film then read the book "The Right Stuff". This left me with a lifelong interest in space, space flight and NASA. It also gave me an overly romantic view on pilots and aviation.

Fast forward a (lot) of years and I have some disposible cash. I wanted a decent watch - because a good mechanical watch is a thing of engineering beauty - and there was only one choice, Omega Speedmaster Professional. I am a sucker for the whole "flight certified by NASA", first watch on the moon thing, love the history and think the design has never been bettered. Simple, easy to read and discrete by modern standards.

The fact I am learning to fly is driven by the same motives - I'll never be Jim Lovell or Chuck Yaeger but I can take personal pride in a good landing and when I screw up (often) I console myself with the fact that even guys like that had to learn sometime. I'd imagine if it hadn't been for the formative experience of that book I'd probably never have sat in a cockpit or bought that watch.

So some of us are just suckers for the romance of flight, the glamour of the air and enjoy aviation "stuff". Some take it too far (flightsuit in a C172 far) but if you've got a passion for flying it's probably going to come out in a number of ways.

That said I'd never wear a Brietling, horrible blingly bits of chav magnet ;)

[ETOPS]

Dear Santa...

This is what I really want.

http://media.christopherward.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/382x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/c/8/c8-44-auto-skt_1_nf.jpg