View Full Version : Stopwatch
BigGrecian
23rd Mar 2005, 13:55
Does anyone know where I can get a stopwatch similar to those used in the RAF for civilian flying? Obviously one which isn't quite as pricey as the ones featured in RAF ac but similar.
It'd be nice to have hands rather than digits for Nav!
Razor61
23rd Mar 2005, 15:03
These expensive ones you mean?
Must be a few cheaper 'versions'....
www.breitling.com/
Soiled Glove
23rd Mar 2005, 16:16
Find an airline mate who goes to Shanghai and get him to get you the £10 special Breitling or Rolex etc. Alternatively try www.silvermans.co.uk for military replica stuff if you can't get your hands on an RAF watch.
The RAF - the only company who make you give your watch back when you retire, rather than present you with a watch when you retire!
SG
FJ2ME
23rd Mar 2005, 16:38
The current RAF pilot's watch is a cheap Pulsar. I couldn't find anyone selling it online but its similar to the MWC shown here for £59.95:
http://www.army-surplus.co.uk/
... and the Nav watch (also issued to single seat pilots) has the 3 chronographs in the middle and is made by Seiko. See here:
http://www.anchorsupplies.com/Qseiko.htm
I really wouldn't bother with the Pulsar its cr@p and gets scratched really easily. Much better available elsewhere.
If its a dash-mounted stop watch you're after, a lot of the military ones are actually TAG Heure and are probably very expensive. In my experience (with Brietling in this case) you rarely get what you pay for and you would be better off with something, accurate, reliable and generally Japanese.
See here for a really good timepiece:
http://www.suunto.com/suunto/main/product_short.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673939862&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723697223384&bmUID=1111599739277
GPS, preprogrammable route, activity log, barometer, altimeter, thermometer and rechargeable Lithium battery. My favourite watch.
Quote:
'I really wouldn't bother with the Pulsar its cr@p and gets scratched really easily.'
The RAF must specify cr@p. My Pulsar (£50) but not that MWC version, has stopwatch, dual time/alarm and can have an elapsed time bezel on some versions, oh and it is analogue as you want. PLUS a glass/crystal that has seen hard work without scratches!
If you are looking for a watch to do a job, rather than pose, then don't bother getting one that can stopwatch to the nearest 1/100th of a second. You can't hit the button that accurately and for what benefit? The nearest second is more than close enough for the vast majority of aviating.
As you can read in other posts on the subject of military purchasing, just because its RAF issue doesn't, sadly/unfortunately, mean its the best available.
BigGrecian
23rd Mar 2005, 18:29
I meant the stopwatch is already fitted inside the aircraft - not the on on your wrist - already got the Breitling from the guy in Newark :D
Any ideas about the stopwatch fitted in the ac then?
Mach 2.2
23rd Mar 2005, 19:30
Chief,
To which aircraft stopwatch do you refer? I'm surprised the Yankeedoodles haven't given you one either....
Dan Winterland
23rd Mar 2005, 22:11
The JPs Tucanos and Hawks had Tag Hueur Monte Carlos. Saw one on e-bay recently. The bidding had topped $1000 with a day to run!
Ah, remember those good old pre-quartz days. Did a bombing run during a competition a few years back and both crew watches and both aircraft watches were synchronised on take off. By the time we reached Nordhorn we had 4 different times spanning some 30 seconds. The RSO had a fifth time which, fortunately, coincided just perfectly with our bomb strike.