Pilot wrist watch, is it a good thing or BS

[ahramin]

I guess it's time to explain about the elephant and the mouse in the jungle.

While going for a walk in the jungle the elephant hears "Help me help me". He walks in the direction of the cries and comes across the mouse, who has fallen down the hole. The mouse says "Help me help me get me out of here." The elephant replies, "Ok, but what am I going to do? I don't have any thumbs." The mouse says "That's ok, just stand over the hole and let your dink hang down and I'll crawl up it and out of the hole."

The elephant complies and everyone goes home happy ... until a week later ...

While going for a walk in the jungle the mouse hears "Help me help me". He walks in the direction of the cries and comes across the elephant, who has fallen down the hole. The elephant says "Help me help me get me out of here." The mouse replies, "Ok, but what am I going to do? I'm not big enough to get you out of there." To which the elephant replies "I don't know but you'd better get me out of here." The mouse thinks about it a bit and then, telling the elephant he'll be right back, leaves the jungle, grabs his Cadillac, and drives to the hole. He then ties a rope to the bumper, passes it down to the elephant and tows him out.

The moral of the story obviously being that if you drive a Cadillac you don't need a big penis.

I prefer to have the best of both worlds, and drive the biggest Caddy made in the last two decades. Similarly, due to a natural endowment that Doc sadly has to go through life without, I don't find it important to wear a big pilot watch on a day to day basis. I do appreciate a timepiece that makes my life easier when I'm working, for the reason's listed in the quoted post.

So Doc, please get over yourself. I'm sure you'd like to impress all the kids here with how cool you are because you don't wear a pilot watch, but unfortunately the reality is even without the watch you still aren't driving a Caddy and you still have a picayune pecker.

The man didn't ask whether or not he should buy a pilot watch, he's decided to buy one and wants to know which one. I know it's hard to understand the difference, so perhaps you could let us continue the discussion and stick to something more in line with your capabilities: like getting inebriated .

Panama, a friend of mine recently expounded at a wedding the theory that when getting married the man should receive a watch equal in value to the lady's ring.

SuperchargedRS, I think you are just going to need to accept the new reality. For most of us getting our first watch was a big deal. Nowadays kids are getting cell phones at the same age we got watches. Entire generations are growing up with no practical use for a watch, so they never develop that familiarity or dependency. Face it, a watch is a single use device, and for most young people it's an obsolete one.

[SuperchargedRS]

Kinda stepped on a landmine with that comment eh?

I wouldn't call a person unprofessional if they didn't wear a watch per say, however they arnt starting off the the best possible foot, like I said you show up for a interview wearing slacks and sneakers, doesn't make you less of a pilot, but it doesn't help with the first impression ether!

I've given my students shit about for not wearing a watch (doesn't have to be fancy, just a watch in their case), many of the aircraft I have been flying are a little on the basic side, so I like the reminder for them to keep a eye on the time in the air, time left in the air and time it will take to get back to the barn.

[Osiris]

Whatever you get, make sure it lights up sufficiently to use in the dark. Any watch that doesn't have indiglo or an equivalent feature (light up hands don't count) is a dress watch, and a dress watch isn't a flying watch. It might be an aviation themed dress watch, but it's not a flying watch.

I'm a big fan of the Timex offerings that have both an analogue and digital display on the face. Digital goes to GMT, analogue on local.

[Aviatard]

Here's my watch. It's a 10 year old Tag that my wife bought me when she got a bonus from work. It probably cost a couple thousand bucks. I use it to tell the time in my current timezone, and sometimes the date. It has a spinny thing and some buttons. I never use them. The really sucky thing about this watch is the battery costs $250 to replace, if you let them send it back to the factory. Some nonsense about replacing the seals so it keeps the waterproofness. I went to Sears last time and got one for $12.

I also don't own a Cadillac.

[Maynard]

This is my watch, hasn't let me down yet.

[Doc]

So Doc, please get over yourself. I'm sure you'd like to impress all the kids here with how cool you are because you don't wear a pilot watch, but unfortunately the reality is even without the watch you still aren't driving a Caddy and you still have a picayune pecker.

Ouch! All that because I don't happen to believe a pilot really needs a "pilot" watch? I don't believe a pilot needs to wear Ray Bans either, or carry a big shiny flight bag, or have "I'd Rather Be Flying" licence plate holders.....etc.
BTW, I wouldn't be caught dead driving a Caddy. A Porsche 911? Different story!

[cptn2016]

Haha...it seems I've unwittingly become one of those "Look-at-me-I'm-a-pilot!" delta-bravoes because I wear a big pilot watch
In my defense - I only bought this watch because my old one broke about 6 months before I began my pilot training and I found it annoying to have to pull out my cellphone to check the time. I wanted UTC and/or multiple timezones and this one fit into my budget and had the features I wanted. I didn't set out to buy a 'small penis badge'. I just like nice watches. Also, yeah it's a tad large, but it's definitely not a Flava Flav clock. It's not uncomfortable or heavy and I don't keep hitting stuff with it. Nobody yet has asked about it, aside from friends who noticed I had a new watch the next day.

IMO a cellphone isn't exactly a 'reliable timepiece' - what if the battery dies, as these things tend to do?

Anyway, I think as long as I don't go and buy ridiculous Ray-Bans or a pilot shirt with bars on the shoulders, or pull my pilot's license out 'accidentally' to use as ID, I can keep the douche-baggery to a minimum.

[fish4life]

Kinda stepped on a landmine with that comment eh?

I wouldn't call a person unprofessional if they didn't wear a watch per say, however they arnt starting off the the best possible foot, like I said you show up for a interview wearing slacks and sneakers, doesn't make you less of a pilot, but it doesn't help with the first impression ether!

I've given my students shit about for not wearing a watch (doesn't have to be fancy, just a watch in their case), many of the aircraft I have been flying are a little on the basic side, so I like the reminder for them to keep a eye on the time in the air, time left in the air and time it will take to get back to the barn.

why would you give a student shit for not wearing a watch? IMO any modern phone is 10x more useful than any watch, hell most of these new phones can give you a six pack of instruments using it's GPS info and internal accelerometer albeit not as good as real instruments but much better than any watch can ever do.

[TG]

"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten"

Yeah, OK...

Don't forget the classic answer too:
"Why the f@ck are these jeans $400!?"

[SuperchargedRS]

why would you give a student shit for not wearing a watch? IMO any modern phone is 10x more useful than any watch, hell most of these new phones can give you a six pack of instruments using it's GPS info and internal accelerometer albeit not as good as real instruments but much better than any watch can ever do.

Because for a primary students learning how to fly in a narrow 7 series taildragger (because that is what we teach on) I rather not have them reaching in and out of their pockets and fidgeting with their iPhone 8Gs Mk2 super-phone, One hand on the stick other on the throttle, watch on the wrist, the panels of our planes dont have anything with the time or a chrono on it.

Now once they move on to something with a few more instruments then the choice is theirs.

[CpnCrunch]

A simple analog/digital watch works best for me. I discovered when I was learning to fly that a wristwatch was much simpler and easier to use than a timer strapped to my kneeboard. Use the digital display for recording times, and the analog second hand for quickly determining 1-minute turns or holding patterns.

Unfortunately ALL of the expensive pilot watches fail due to dumb design - the hands cover up the digital display. I use a 20-year old watch that cost me about $50, and it works perfectly for me...the digital display is completely underneath the hands and they never cover it up. I've been looking for a replacement watch for years, but haven't been able to find one that meets this very basic design criteria.

Also, the Skyhawk is very busy...too much crap on the display and a very small digital display, so you can't quickly see the exact time (which should be a pretty basic function).

[jump154]

My 2c on the skyhawk (which my loving wife bought me).

Love the looks, does tend to get knocked (especially until I was used to wearing it)

No light is a serious design flaw. Alarm is so quiet I can miss it while awake.

Worst aspect - the buttons to scroll through the digital display get pushed inadvertantly very easily - so with multiple timezones setup, often it will switch from UTC to Pacific without noticing. somewhat irritating. Also when i'm in date mode (in the office) it can slip to a far off time and I get the date wrong.

Slide rule useful fro day to day, never used it flying though, I prefer the big one.

Still love the watch, due to who bought it for me

[ahramin]

Unfortunately ALL of the expensive pilot watches fail due to dumb design - the hands cover up the digital display. I use a 20-year old watch that cost me about $50, and it works perfectly for me...the digital display is completely underneath the hands and they never cover it up. I've been looking for a replacement watch for years, but haven't been able to find one that meets this very basic design criteria.

This must be a fairly common complaint as some watch makers are getting on board. All of the citizen watches I've seen have had a feature for moving the watch hands to the 12 o'clock position but it's usually complicated to get to it. I recently saw a watch (can't remember what brand sorry) that had a button dedicated to this so obviously they realize it's a problem.

Doc, what about a big sailing watch?

[Adam Oke]

why would you give a student shit for not wearing a watch? IMO any modern phone is 10x more useful than any watch, hell most of these new phones can give you a six pack of instruments using it's GPS info and internal accelerometer albeit not as good as real instruments but much better than any watch can ever do.

Because for a primary students learning how to fly in a narrow 7 series taildragger (because that is what we teach on) I rather not have them reaching in and out of their pockets and fidgeting with their iPhone 8Gs Mk2 super-phone, One hand on the stick other on the throttle, watch on the wrist, the panels of our planes dont have anything with the time or a chrono on it.

Now once they move on to something with a few more instruments then the choice is theirs.

I'm going to chime in and agree that a "smart phone" is 10 times more useful than any watch on the market. With all of the apps including time, UTC, E6B, Unit Converters, GPS nav with VNC's (hell google maps is good enough alone), GFA's, Metars and Tafs, Radar and texting, it is a pretty valuable piece of equipment in the cockpit. To give anyone shit for not wearing a watch and choosing to use a cell phone instead is asinine....I am willing to bet I can convert 10x faster using a smart phone then anyone fumbling for their reading glasses to dial in some numbers on their microscopic wiz wheel on a watch that is so big it hangs half outside the window.

You take your hand off of the controls momentarily to read the time, so what is the big deal about taking the hand off momentarily to read the time on a different device that is not attached to your wrist? Much like reaching for a map for example -- My phone is not in my pocket, but on the dash or in storage in the aircraft for easy access. If you can not reach for a phone and read the time, then there is a BIG problem with the aircraft you are flying -- or YOU. You're trying to create an argument over nothing, considering your reason for not allowing a student to check the time via cell phone is not ok because they are removing their hand from the controls, but if their are more instruments then it is ok .... Keep digging. I only fly taildraggers from the 40's to today and they are not fire breathing dragons that you are trying to portray.

Times are changing and you soon see other things like the sun's true bearing, Loran, DME, NDB's etc slowly disappear.... older is not always better.

I say if you really want a watch, buy a cheapy watch that tells one time and invest in a pen and paper. For the amount of money you can spend on a watch, you can get a top of the line device for probably less! Save up for that super 10G2 Mk 7 Super-Ultra phone. You'll just break the damn watch anyways if you fly 702/703 where you actually work for a living .

I will admit that I do not wear a watch. According to the previous posts, I am either A) A lunatic or B) I am properly equipped

[SuperchargedRS]

You take your hand off of the controls momentarily to read the time, so what is the big deal about taking the hand off momentarily to read the time on a different device that is not attached to your wrist? Much like reaching for a map for example -- My phone is not in my pocket, but on the dash or in storage in the aircraft for easy access. If you can not reach for a phone and read the time, then there is a BIG problem with the aircraft you are flying -- or YOU. You're trying to create an argument over nothing, considering your reason for not allowing a student to check the time via cell phone is not ok because they are removing their hand from the controls, but if their are more instruments then it is ok .... Keep digging. I only fly taildraggers from the 40's to today and they are not fire breathing dragons that you are trying to portray.

Meh, not getting a simple point, THERE IS NO WHERE TO PUT THE DAMN PHONE, the dash is short and rounded, there are no side pockets and if you drop anything it tends to go rearward where you really are SOL when it comes to retrieving it in any safe manner, last option is putting it between your legs, however I really dont like having a cell phone wedged under my balls while I am flying...I'm not quite that addicted to my phone A chart will stay on the dash or infront of the seat, but anything with any weight goes into the abyss the moment you hit any turbulence, land/take off, or even bank much over 30. This aint rocket science it's easier and faster to just look at a watch in tight fitting aircraft, hell >$20 at walmart, not that difficult.

Also your 702 comment, very rarely do I post a "lol" and actually laugh out loud

[Adam Oke]

You take your hand off of the controls momentarily to read the time, so what is the big deal about taking the hand off momentarily to read the time on a different device that is not attached to your wrist? Much like reaching for a map for example -- My phone is not in my pocket, but on the dash or in storage in the aircraft for easy access. If you can not reach for a phone and read the time, then there is a BIG problem with the aircraft you are flying -- or YOU. You're trying to create an argument over nothing, considering your reason for not allowing a student to check the time via cell phone is not ok because they are removing their hand from the controls, but if their are more instruments then it is ok .... Keep digging. I only fly taildraggers from the 40's to today and they are not fire breathing dragons that you are trying to portray.

Meh, not getting a simple point, THERE IS NO WHERE TO PUT THE DAMN PHONE, the dash is short and rounded, there are no side pockets and if you drop anything it tends to go rearward where you really are SOL when it comes to retrieving it in any safe manner, last option is putting it between your legs, however I really dont like having a cell phone wedged under my balls while I am flying...I'm not quite that addicted to my phone A chart will stay on the dash or infront of the seat, but anything with any weight goes into the abyss the moment you hit any turbulence, land/take off, or even bank much over 30. This aint rocket science it's easier and faster to just look at a watch in tight fitting aircraft, hell >$20 at walmart, not that difficult.

Also your 702 comment, very rarely do I post a "lol" and actually laugh out loud

You're right, this certainly isn't rocket science. I even agreed in my previous post that a simple cheap watch was sufficient. That what I used when I started out. My dispute was regarding your comments of how unprofessional it is to fly without a time piece on your wrist, and how you ream out students who do not conform. That to me is absurd as I already stated. A phone is a reasonable alternative.

As for finding a place to stash a phone -- these things are no longer briefcases, but the size of a notepad, if not smaller. You can not tell me that there isn't a place to wedge it aside from warming your nuts .... we're talking something that is a cm thin and merely a couple of inches wide and a 4 inches tall at best. Most students have knee boards big enough to pack an overnight bag in. Have an open mind, I guarantee you will come up with something ... it's not rocket science. Where does that map, e6b, knee board, and all the other trinkets students bring with them go?

Come on now, you don't like a little joke here and there? Come by the mix rig at an ag operation and you won't leave with clean hands or clean tools -- hell I'll even buy you a beer at dusk

[JMACK]

Pilot watches are like guys with big trucks

The size of your watch (truck) is inversely proportional to the size of your *&^$^

This is unbelievable I actually have a big truck too............

Well maybe.................is an F250 with 7.3L Diesel Big.

[Maynard]

The man didn't ask whether or not he should buy a pilot watch, he's decided to buy one and wants to know which one. I know it's hard to understand the difference, so perhaps you could let us continue the discussion and stick to something more in line with your capabilities: like getting inebriated .

From what I understand reading the title, and his post, he is wondering if he should buy a pilot watch, not that he is and which one. Just my observation.
Happy Flighting.

[ahramin]

Saw that earlier today. I read the post, not the title.

[Doc]

Doc, what about a big sailing watch?

That thing is just silly! I can see a sheet wrapping around it when I sheet out. OUCH! Never done any racing, but there are really nice watches with good count down features. If I raced sailboats, I'd get one. You need one. As for a pilot's watch, the best one out there is a Timex Ironman.
....god, I wish I was sailing again....

[Rudy]

You know this Subaru has a sticker price of $71750 right?

[ahramin]

I'm still bruised and bleeding from last night's race but we placed well. One good thing I can say about this freshwater sailing business is you don't need to wash everything when you get home. Only occurred to me half way through the first race.

Unfortunately Timex doesn't make a watch with racing timers. Most reasonable sailing watch I've found is the Gill Regatta Master $170. Suunto makes a beauty, the Elementum Ventus, but it's 1k, not sure I want to spend that.

[FenderManDan]

The man didn't ask whether or not he should buy a pilot watch, he's decided to buy one and wants to know which one. I know it's hard to understand the difference, so perhaps you could let us continue the discussion and stick to something more in line with your capabilities: like getting inebriated .

From what I understand reading the title, and his post, he is wondering if he should buy a pilot watch, not that he is and which one. Just my observation.
Happy Flighting.

Thanks Maynard, that was exactly my question. In any case a lot of interesting comments that can help make a decision.

Not looking to spend big bucks, just something nice enough to do a good job. The issue, that i had with my watch (the one that just went kaput) was that the time was drifting a lot monthly and the damn date was never correct and it was a $200 watch. My $50 rubber band Swatch did better job.

I am totally opposed to "posing", however as soon as I get the PPL I am renting one of those airline suits with four bars on the shoulder and everything for the show for my missus. You know that women like men in uniforms.

Thank you so far for the information

Dan

[SuperchargedRS]

I'd recommend one of these two citizens, they are ecodrive so they basically doesnt require a battery changes, not a automatic but also not automatic watch $$ , also a big fan of a maratac zulu or NATO strap, goes through both spring pins so if one breaks you dont looks your watch.


http://www.princetonwatches.com/shop/AT0200-05E.asp


http://www.princetonwatches.com/shop/CA0020-05E.asp

Strap (they have many colors)

http://www.broadarrow.net/maratac.htm

[DanWEC]

I actually like that first Citizen. Does the job and looks functional. Anyhow- This is mine. Yes, it's expensive, however it's not ostentatious, and it works very, very well. Has a stopwatch, date, and loses less than a minute every 2 months. It was also worn on the moon.
The only thing I wish it could do is uncouple the 24 hour time dial and use it for UTC time.

Watches can be a guilty pleasure.... I'm proud of what mine represents... as long as they're not an end in themselves.
A pilot watch should just plain work, and from there can be as personal as you want. Bottom line is if you feel like you want a nice watch, then freaking buy one. To me it shows some personal pride in what you've accomplished.

We pilots seem to be an odd bunch, some people are almost aggressively humble about our trade. Yet most chefs I know have a very nice set of knives....and most electricians a nice set of snips.....


Now.... if you buy the most complex byzantine thing aimed at a wannabe with too much money, then you're a sucker and a showoff. If you're ever in the situation where you're trying to use the freaking half inch e6b on your watch in an emergency, then you're probably already a goner.