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Which Watch?

CoachTom
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CoachTom Collaborator

CoachTom

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Would anybody care to share which watch they fly with?  


If so, and what are the benefits of that particular watch?


 


What prompted me to ask this question of this esteemed group is that I flew with a fellow at work the other day who had his Breitling Navitimer on.  What a beautiful watch!  I wish I had some coin to drop on a watch like that, but alas, I could only look at it and wish...  But it brought up a question: had he ever used the E6B on that watch face that this watch is so famous for?  He said in the 15 years he had the watch.... no.


So, don't be shy and if you have an E6B function on your watch, tell us if you use it. ( I need to use the "really" big one I got in flight school because I can read it...)


All the answers I get will help me decide what to buy.


CHEERS! 

MattS Rising Star

MattS

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Get yourself a stainless steel quality watch (rolex, tag, etc....)It will last a lifetime and goes well with a suit or casual clothing....Why would you need an E6B?  We are dorks anyway for owning/flying our own aircraft, no need to advertise it when we are not aviating. 

carusoam Grand Master

carusoam

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I use the Seiko my mom gave me for graduating college (decades ago, it still works perfectly).


Warren Buffet told me don't waste money on nice watches or expensive cars.   


He said something about airplanes too.  But, I think he owns a portion of netjets so we are OK there.


Clearly the Breitling is my favorite.  But it is 4AMUs for the one I want.  So many things get priority in front of that.... They did have the 121.5mhz beacon.  Have they changed that to 406mhz yet?


There are so many handheld items that perform as good back up, radio/vor/ils and GPS.  My watch probably will pale in comparison.  Using an E6b while flying is about the equivalent of texting my buds while driving.  We can do it, but it can't possibly make good sense.


Best regards,


-a-

Kwixdraw Rising Star

Kwixdraw

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I used to wear a Tag GMT and found the zulu time hand helpful to me for flight planning but now that the coukpit has grown a bunch of sources for timekeeping I find I never wear a watch. My goofy tan line has gone away too. I guess if I was going to spend crazy money on a watch it would be the Rolex GMT just 'cause I've always wanted one. The Tag still works but the bezel tends to corrode to the case and it loses the ability to show the different time zones. Tag changes models too fast too.

M016576 Grand Master

M016576

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Jerry- You'll want the watch when you lose your generator in IMC: trust me on that.


I have a "bottom of the barrel" Brietling Professional Aerospace: it's survived one ejection and only needs to be reset to GPS time once every 4-5 months or so (after that, it's about 2-3 seconds off).  The GMT window is nice for when you're calling in your flight plans, and it keeps excellent time.  It's very light, fairly discreet and looks good both casually and dressed up.  I highly recommend it!


                       -Job

Jeff_S Grand Master

Jeff_S

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Timex Ironman of some sort...there are too many to fully ID. But it has a stopwatch AND countdown timer, is backlighted for night, and it even has a compass in case my three GPSs, two moving maps, alternator and battery all crap out and the vertical card compass falls off the center post.


Oh, it tells time, too.

rob Experienced

rob

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Another Breitling guy here. I wear a B-1. I like the digital display which includes three timezones (TZ1, TZ2, and Zulu), the timers, the E6B (Yes, I know how to use it and have on occasion, mostly to convert Kts to MPH for people who ask how fast x speed is). I also like the luminescence at night, and the fact that the display is NVG readable. That really comes in handy for my late night stealth runs in the Mooney (removing tongue from cheek).


I also enjoy that people don't really know what it is, so you don't seem like a pretentious snob wearing it.

rob Experienced

rob

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I also have a Tissot T-Touch that I sometimes wear. It has a compass and altimiter. I never used either one in the airplane. Did use them elsewhere though.

Piloto Grand Master

Piloto

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I have been using the Citizen Eco-Drive for 7 years without any problems. It uses a solar cell to charge the battery, so you never have to worry about finding a replacement battery. A very handy feature when you travel abroad. It continuosly display GMT time in one of the small dials. Very handy for checking weather reports and others in GMT time. Mine gains one second per month. It can switch time zones at the push of a button without disturbing time settting. Mine has the the Titanium case which I strongly recommend for watches of this size, it makes them much lighter.


José 

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Jerry 5TJ Grand Master

Jerry 5TJ

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Quote: M016576

Jerry- You'll want the watch when you lose your generator in IMC: trust me on that.

                       -Job

Jeff_S Grand Master

Jeff_S

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All this talk of Breitlings led me to their website. Awesome footage of the Reno air races. And I fell in love with the Professional Aerospace in Red Gold with the black rubber bracelet. Then I checked the price and decided for $2500+ I'd rather get new shock discs, fix my muffler shroud, fix up my placards, etc., etc., etc. It sure it a beauty, though.

DaV8or Grand Master

DaV8or

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Quote: Jeff_S

Timex Ironman of some sort...there are too many to fully ID. But it has a stopwatch AND countdown timer, is backlighted for night, and it even has a compass in case my three GPSs, two moving maps, alternator and battery all crap out and the vertical card compass falls off the center post.

Oh, it tells time, too.

MattS Rising Star

MattS

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Quote: GeorgePerry

That's good advice...My watch is worth almost as much as my daily driver (95 BMW).  1 out of 2 isn't bad I suppose.

Hank Grand Master

Hank

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I still wear the thin Omega I bought instead of a ring when I graduated from college. Keeps great time and is on the 5th or 6th battery in 22 years. Stainless steel looks good with everything, and the gold highlights are nice when dressy. Thought I wanted sub-dials, but am now glad I don't have them.


When flying, I always look at it before takeoff, to set the clock in the yoke right after I wind it. Then I move the little red hands to match the time, and I always know how long the engine has been running. For timing approaches, if it's either a long one or an awkward number or starting time, the transponder has a really nice timer built in. If power craps out [bTDT], the yoke clock keeps right on ticking. Yes, WIND/SET CLOCK is on my Pre-Takeoff checklist.


Works for me. Don't know what I'll do when my Omega gives up the ghost.

FlyDave Veteran

FlyDave

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Quote: Jeff_S

All this talk of Breitlings led me to their website. Awesome footage of the Reno air races. And I fell in love with the Professional Aerospace in Red Gold with the black rubber bracelet. Then I checked the price and decided for $2500+ I'd rather get new shock discs, fix my muffler shroud, fix up my placards, etc., etc., etc. It sure it a beauty, though.

Barry Community Regular

Barry

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I coveted the expensive watches in the past; but 30 years ago, I had just bought a sailboat and was taking a course in Celestial Navigation. I needed a watch which would keep accurate time over weeks/months and discovered that the Seiko would do this for only a few hundred dollars. I have been wearing Seiko and Citizen watches for decades with fantastic results.


At about the same time in history, I worked in a TOC (Television Operations Center) for ATT. We had a guy who had a passion for Rolex watches. He used to come into the TOC everyday to set his Rolex to our clocks. I used to do a countdown with my Seiko for him to set his multi-thousand dollar Rolex!! My Seiko was within less than a second when it came time to adjust for daylight savings, year after year after year.


Over the years I have lost my desire to spend thousands on a watch.

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