Best Pilot watches ??
 

Hi,

I'm in need of a real aviator's watch... my other watches aren't suited for exact timing :-))

What do you find the best watch to wear during flights ? The Fortis one ? http://www.fortis-watch.com or are you more of a Breitling type ? And what type exactly and why ?

I don't like the breitlings to much.. it's a rodania interiour anyway (i always love to say that to breitling guys)

Besides most people are buying aviators watches to show off, i would like to have one to fly that reads very clear and has a good quality, reliable.. :uhoh:

Thanks

Wearing a real aviator's watch doesn't make you an aviator.

What a profound statement IRRenewal! Go on then Iceman, do tell us what DOES make an aviator? :D:ok:

The guy asks a simple question about a nice watch to buy for flying and gets a smart ass remark!

Sternone - if you want something nice to treat yourself but not spend a ton of cash, then the Citizen Skyhawk range are a good deal - RRP about £300. It has a 30 world city time selector, which is handy as it can be set to display UTC when the analog hands display local - if you're in another country (I was in Canada) then this is a good function for flight times in zulu.
Breitling are very nice, but rather surplus to requirement with the price tag.

i have the citizen sky hawk, black eagle.

couldnt be happier, UTC is displayed on the facia, and if i want to change timezones (every time zone is in memory) i just hold down 2 buttons on the left and the anologue time changes straight away. I swap to UTC when i jump in the aeroplane, and back to LMT when i clock off.

Simple and cost about $600AUS

The breitlings are nice, but ill leave them for travolta.

M

Aviators Watches:

Rule 1:
Don't rely on one battery powered timing device - the battery WILL go flat at an inconvenient time.

Personally I would (actually I have) invest in one of these:
http://www.transair.co.uk/images/sma...pwatchclip.jpg
along with one of these:
http://www.transair.co.uk/images/sma.../stopwatch.jpg
both available from a well known aviation supplier.

If you really want something to exercise your wrist then try the following (with mini Wiz-Wheels):
http://www.chase-durer.com/ima/w_usaftbirds/main.jpghttp://www.mens-watches-guide.com/im..._50th_anni.JPG
http://www.casio.co.uk/images/products/250/6617.jpghttp://www.creativewatch.co.uk/citiz...ch-220x160.jpg

Alternatively, something altogether more useful, (from someone who owns one of the above) - a watch that provides a practical backup to the most useful instruments a GA pilot has (compass & altimeter):
http://www.sailgb.com/pi/tn.aspx?w=3...VER303x400.jpg

Decide your budget / take your pick.

OC619

I use a simple Swatch, which I keep on UTC. 30 quid.

Not :cool:, but works. Exact, easy to read, date as an added bonus.

http://eu-shop.swatch.com/eshop/uk/e...ent/GB750.aspx

For anything requiring timing in seconds and minutes I use a separate stopwatch.

Something simple
 

Hi Sternone,

I have a Lorus.

It cost about AUD19 and claims to be waterproof – but it possibly isn’t.
My Lorus keeps time very accurately, like all quartz watches, and it has a large luminous analogue display with a sweep second hand that I can easily read in a dark cockpit. My Lorus has nothing else: no multi function digital display, no compass, no altimeter, no GPS, no EPIRB, no rotating bezel, calculator or circular ‘sly drool’, not even a circadian rhythm analyzer.

I’ve been flying for over thirty years so I guess my Lorus is a ‘real pilot’s watch’. And in some places I’ve worked raskals & armed gangs target watches, wallets and jewelry and these folk are welcome to have my Lorus.

Besides, I was told early on in my career that a pilot’s skill/experience/ability is inversely proportional to the speed that she taxys and the size of his wristwatch.

Cheers!

Pithblot

I have a Citizen Skyhawk Eco-Drive watch. (no battery) ;)

It has a mini-whizz wheel around the edge, dual time display, millions of time zones, countdown timer, stop watch, temperature display, two alarms... It's great! I can highly recommend it. :)

but will it get it right from this October onwards - when the US changes it's DST rules???

OC619

I have a Citizen Skyhawk which has a rechargeable battery using light energy absorbed from the face, it will work for 6 months with no light input. I am very pleased with it and the features work well in the cockpit and on business trips etc.

Rod1

I have a Chase Durer Pilot Commander Alarm - looks good and does the job bloody well - about 200 quid with exchange rate as it is, I paid about 270 a few years back. Only downside is that it IS fairly heavy when compared to a mate's Breitling I've worn in the past. But it's not an issue at all - it's not REALLY heavy!

http://www.chase-durer.com/ima/w_pilotalarm/main.jpg

http://www.chase-durer.com/features/..._features.aspx

tKF

Most stopwatches are no good for flying because they have a 60-minute stopwatch dial - the divisions are usually too close together to read.

This leaves only a small % of suitable stopwatches.

For something different, I would check out Traser. These have real tritium hands and markings and you can see them properly in the dark. I use this one (a mechanical one but astonishingly accurate, though not a stopwatch) but a stopwatch is here.

IMHO, most "pilot watches" are overpriced.

Watches with loads of functions, including digital stopwatches, I have always found too small (both buttons and displays) and too fiddly to be actually useful anywhere, especially in flight.

The most useful watch I had was a Sekonda that had a digital display as well as the main analog display. I left the digital display on UTC at all times - very handy. It cost about £25 in 2002, but broke a few months ago - I thought the battery had run out, but a new one didn't fix it. No amount of percussive maintenance would coax it back to life. ;)

So I got a very plain Citizen Eco-Drive (no battery to change :ok:). If I ever need one, I'll buy a big old stopwatch and a clip!

SD

ps - I can certainly recommend buying from the USA at the moment! :)

Well, how about the Seiko Pilot Magazine freebie and a cheap Russian stopwatch. Both either tell the time or measure it well within the required limits :)

Pose value of minus umpteen thousands though.

In short, the BIGGEST ;)

If you want to tell the time any cheap digital does a splendid job.

If you want to look cool get a complicated analogue with a spinny dial, top drawer goes to the ones with no numbers on - guarantees you cant read the time. Although they do serve a purpose in the pub and mark you out from the crowd as a dashing aviator.

So the answer is Breitling for the pub, Casio for the air. If you wear both you have a standby for when the battery goes flat on the readable one.

BTW all you smuggies with the light powered citizens, mine stopped working after three years, just stopped, no reason, no amount of warming it under million candella lamps has persuaded it to work again. :-(

My Seiko ex RAF chronometer bought 15 years ago (I took the non-poxy webbing strap option and bought it with a chrome strap) is still going strong.

It is available now from Pulsar (same movement/appearance: just doesn't have a 24 hr dial) . I bought one from Daily Telegraph shop £50.00 ish last year.

Advantages of both: Black face, numbers instead of batons, lack of totally impractical twiddly calculator/whizzwheel, easy stopwatch and luminous digits that you could fry eggs on.

Disadvantages: small and insignificant: will not act as a totty magnet all crowding round you to ask if you are a pilot: does not disguise small willy.

Cusco;);)

Watches
 

I have a kickass Breitling. It was actually a gift because my girlfriend thought such a hot aviator should have a hot aviators watch.

The earlier post about real aviators don't need aviator watched is cr*p. I used to have a swatch watch but the hands fell off the first time I went inverted. It also serves as the perfect "I am a pilot" label when you're just about to make a move with the laydeez.

I always roll up my sleeves in the flying club ops room, regardless of the weather, to make sure everyone knows I have the best aviators watch money can buy. That look of envy from the instructors at my local FTO as I consult the watch whilst completing the tech log is simply worth every penny. They may have gold stripes and a blue book, but I have a watch which says "this guy is one of the best flyers in the world, and has the ability AND the cash to fly anything with wings"..

As they say, if you want to be the part you have to look the part....

I for one like the citizen series, i dont have the skyhawk or a watch like that, due to i like one watch for all purposes and the skyhawk will problem get some funny looks.

Ive got a stylish and sleek citizen watch, it does me fine!

I've got a Citizen Navihawk Blue Angels (NON Eco-Drive) sitting here never used (boxed, perfect cond) which I'm about to put on Ebay, if anyone's interested PM me with an offer - bought new for £129, my Cosmonaute arrived 3 weeks later (was originally down for a 6 month wait!) :ugh:).

Watches.
 

So Saab and WildDart, Citizen it is.
I've had military-issue Omegas and Seikos, damaged and had 'em replaced.
I've had a Breitling (stolen) and a Tag-Heuer present that lasted just two years and gave up.
The repair bill for the Tag was £200+ ( needed a new special gizmo that only Tag knew the expensive reason for !)
So i saw a Citizen Eco-Drive in an old Argos catalogue for 50 quid - black face, day and date, great luminous hands and numbers. Wow, four for the price of a repair bill !
I've had the Citizen now for 4+ years and no problems, but then, so what ? Just buy another !
I now also own its "posher" brother, an Eco-Drive Chronometer, just for Saturday nights.
How much ? 80quid ! -and both are the most accurate I've ever had.
Yeh, Citizen it is.
Rgds, Sleeve. :ok:
Oh, 18greens, :-
>BTW all you smuggies with the light powered citizens, mine stopped working after three years, just stopped, no reason, no amount of warming it under million candella lamps has persuaded it to work again. :-(<
- must've been all that night Charter. Never got a chance to catch up !!

If you do want to spend money what about these pieces of lovely lovelyness that aren't Breitlings .

An Anonimo Militaire:
http://mytimesquare.net/cat_images/c...787787fly1.jpg

or an Azimuth Bombadier III -so much less obvious than IWC
http://www.azimuthwatch.com/azimutha...duct/15_1b.jpg

or a Mono-Pusher Rattrapante (you have to buy that one for the name alone)

http://www.azimuthwatch.com/azimutha...duct/31_1b.jpg

and a classic Bell and Ross
http://mytimesquare.net/cat_images/4...ntage123_1.jpg

I have an old Breitling Cosmonaute.

It's stainless steel, has a manual mechanism and no date

It is not as accurate as a £10 quartz, since it loses a few minutes per month.

It doesn't look as cool as some of the digital watches an has a 24 hour face, which isn't everyone's idea of a good game.

But boy, oh boy, it has class and is a fine instrument.

And as the name suggests, it isn't a pilot's watch - it came from Project Mercury for those old enough to remember.

Omega Speedmaster Automatic or Professional. First watch on the Moon as worn by all NASA Astronauts.

http://image.www.rakuten.co.jp/bluek...591324067.jpeg

Watches
 

Hi Sternone,

Most so-called pilot watches, with all those extra functions that you will never use, are expensive rubbish, fit only for the club poseur. In fact the average cheap diver's watch from the scuba shop is a much better pilot's watch than almost any of the £130+ pilot's watches. The thing you need most is an accurate watch with a large, clear, uncluttered face that is easy to read in a vibrating aeroplane. That rotating bezel on the diver watch can be useful as well. For PPL (daytime VFR) you don't need a stopwatch or illuminated face anyway. Cheap, quartz watches can be very accurate.

Also, take a look at the German pilot watches from 'Werner's Flying Watches' on-line. They are a fraction of the price of the Breitlings and Fortis's and vastly more practical than the over-complex watches you get from Transair et al that you will be unable to read in flight. At least most of them have a sweep second hand with fly-back re-set.

Broomstick.

Got one of these..
http://www.transair.co.uk/images/sma...pwatchclip.jpg
and these...
http://www.transair.co.uk/images/sma.../stopwatch.jpg

but also have one of these...
http://www.mens-watches-guide.com/im..._50th_anni.JPG

IMHO the navitimer is fantastic. OK, it may be a bit flash for some but as a timepiece its unsurpassed.

Just my 2pworth

Spamcan

Proving beyond all doubt that there are two Bs in Breitling -
the one at the start, and the one before the 'ling'.

The minute dial on the navitimer is genuinely useful - I love it for Freda check intervals :) And the cosmo came in handy on a recent flight to singapore - all the way in the dark so no idea if it was night/morning after I'd changed to Sing time, and I do use the whizz wheel as a gross error check on my (dodgy) mental arithmetic quite a bit (although it would be nice if it had ltr/kg/usg conversions but hey ho).

So not just for show - they do actually work (occasionally)!

First watch on the Moon as worn by all NASA Astronauts.

First watch on the moon maybe, worn by all astronauts I don't think.

http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=4034

Rolex Explorer Ii
 

Buy a used 5-year old Rolex Explorer II...use it for the next 10 years and sell it for double the price you bought it. Works the same for Submariner, GMT-master and Daytona. Trust me, my best friend is a Rolex dealer. But don't buy one when you drive a cheap car...people will think it's fake!:ugh:

I don't believe you need to spend a great deal of cash so you can pose around the local club or pub. Use the money saved to buy some flight time instead. Learn aerobatics, get a new type rating etc etc.

If you really must spend a fortune...DO NOT buy a Fortis...They are expensive junk. My mate has simply given up on his and bought a Breitling. The Fortis "Space Watch" has simply fallen apart on several occasions and appears to be less reliable than the shuttles external fuel tank foam cladding.

It may work in zero gravity but can't hack it here on the surface!

I like my Citizen Nighthawk in black. Looks great, has usefull UTC hand and a flight comp. :ok: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...V67S8A727TWAR2

Fortis to Breitling
 

Fortis are :mad: terrible, at least mine was and I am the friend Sicknote mentions below.

The first problem I had was the GMT hand would snag on the second hand, which made the watch stop. After that had been repaired I had about two weeks without problem and then started to note that the GMT hand would lose about two hours every day (as a GA pilot learning to fly instrument, I do actually use the GMT hand to get the time when communicating with ATC so that was just plain unsafe). It is now sat on my desk with a repaired GMT hand but now the hour hand has become disconnected and just swings around on its own. I may get it repaired again but I'm in no hurry. It is a shame because the Fortis GMT Chronometer Automatic, the model I have, is a damn useful pilot's watch, it looks great and has all the functionality we could ever want.

In disgust I bought a Breitling Airwolf, which works just grand. It looks cool and is a lot lighter than the B1 it replaced. It also has night vision compliant LCD display lights, which will come in very handy when flying a Cessna 172XP ;) I like the slide rule bezel although must confess to forgetting how to use my E6B after I got PPL - hat off to Slopey on that one.

Looks like a Pilot's Watch. Cheap as chips...eBay £0.01p plus postage 49mm face
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k3...Picture2-1.jpg

got a tissot 1853,tactile screen..kinda touch screen.did helped me sometimes even not a specific aviator clockie.
it got its tactile compass...meteo(hpa),thermo,altimeter(m)...and the magic chrono.

have a look at their website www.tissot.ch

For those of you who may be interested in the Citizen Eco-Drive system;

Citizen Eco-Drive watches use the simplest, yet most technically advanced power generating and storage system in the Watch Manufacturing Industry. A Solar conversion panel and energy cell (battery) are the power provider for these Quartz Watches. Eco-Drive's ability to use light from any source to generate electrical power means that the supply is limitless and free. The absence of any added complex power generating machinery that would require additional upkeep is another big advantage.

My Skyhawk works very well. The Battery charge indicator has never moved off “full” which equals six months of charge. The charge indicator is not fitted to the smaller units, but the system works the same.

Rod1

I wear a cheap watch with a minute hand big enough to read minutes, and for when I'm going to be flying IFR and might want to do timed turns then I have a £5 Argos digital stop watch with big numbers and big buttons.

What about a heavily discounted Seiko?
 

PLenty of heavily discounted brand-new Seikos on ebay. Check out Hong Kong and Singapore sellers with good feedback. My most recent chrono sells for £300 in the High Street but mine cost £62 and arrived by courier in 2 days! Good luck anyway.bm:D

I rather like my affordable Lacher....Euro 189
http://www.laco.de/flieger/praezision.aspx
http://www.laco.de/Produktbilder/861177.jpg

I have the Citizen Ecodrive Skyhawk, which my beleoved bought me for Christmas about 5 years ago and it is brilliant.

It's only drawback is that you have to change the Daylight Saving Time (on or off) for every time zone location twice a year and that takes about 10-15 mins.

I have a smallish, neatish, watch made by Wenger, who make Swiss army knives. It's dual time, has a rotating bezel, and has large white numbers on a black face, so easy to read in poor light. This means it looks like a ladies pilots' watch, even though it isn't officially. I bought it cheap on ebay years and years ago. And since pilots' watches for women seem to be non-existent, I rather like it.

But since only 6% of PPLs are female, most of you won't be remotely interested, so feel free to ignore this post.