Are there any "pilot" watches that are actually helpful for pilots?

On Nov 16, 6:31 am, es330td wrote:
I am in the market for a new watch and thought that if I am going to
be a pilot I would see if there was something that I could use to
assist me in flying. My first thought was that something that was
Indiglo with larger numbers so I could see it easily at night would be
good as would one with two time zones so I can have one set to Zulu
and one to local. A countdown timer and stopwatch might come in
handy.

I went looking on the 'Net and found watches with compasses and
altimeters and even an E6-B but I question the value of those. If I
am ever in a situation where my altimeter, gyro, wet compass and both
GPS units , one a battery powered 96C, that show me heading and
altitude in the plane have failed I should lose my license for not
putting down long before I have to rely on a compass or altimeter in a
wris****ch.

For the people who have flown, have any of you found a watch with any
special features that actually helped you in performing your piloting
tasks?

Thanks

Those fancy pilot watches are very helpful to the owners of
the factories that make them. They make lots of money off our desire
to look important. I have owned numerous types of watches over the
years, and found that very few of the features ever get used. A
lighted dial is nice, as is an alarm. I fix airplanes, too, and find
that my work destroys watches so I buy $40 units that serve perfectly
well enough in flight. Who needs a calculator watch when you have a
whizwheel as well? Or a stopwatch when there's one on the yoke? And
who needs a GPS watch? The guys who can't read a map, I suppose. The
watch won't work in the airplane anyway; too much metal in the way.
Petter Garrison once had an article if FLYING magazine about
just this sort of thing. He spoke of the guys around the airport who
sported flight suits and big watches and other pilot stuff, and said
that he noticed that these guys mostly couldn't fly worth poop. As he
sat there observing all this, a cropduster landed with a delicate
squeak, exactly on the TD zone, rolled right down the centerline and
taxied to its truck, turning precisely into position with inches to
spare. No wasted movement, nothing that could be considered remotely
dangerous or embarrassing. A real expert. The guy that got out? Wore a
tattered logger jacket and stained ball cap.
Which pilot do you want to be?

Dan

wrote:
Petter Garrison once had an article if FLYING magazine about
just this sort of thing. He spoke of the guys around the airport who
sported flight suits and big watches and other pilot stuff, and said
that he noticed that these guys mostly couldn't fly worth poop. As he
sat there observing all this, a cropduster landed with a delicate
squeak, exactly on the TD zone, rolled right down the centerline and
taxied to its truck, turning precisely into position with inches to
spare. No wasted movement, nothing that could be considered remotely
dangerous or embarrassing. A real expert. The guy that got out? Wore a
tattered logger jacket and stained ball cap.
Which pilot do you want to be?

If I had only known the choices were so limited....

es330td wrote:

For the people who have flown, have any of you found a watch with any
special features that actually helped you in performing your piloting
tasks?


Maybe it's because my GPS is old, but the altitude displayed is often a few
hundred feet different than what is displayed on my altimeter. I've had a
Suunto altimeter watch for about 8 yrs. now. Its altimeter is more sensitive
that the one in my plane (much better than the Casio version).

I had one occasion to put the altimeter watch to use. I was flying
through a class B when the controller questioned my altitude. His radar was
displaying an altitude 300 ft. lower than I was seeing on my altimeter. So
who was right, the altimeter or the transponder's encoder? The tiebreaker
was the altimeter watch. It assured me that the panel altimeter was correct
and the blind encoder was off.

That said, the altimeter watch is not really very practical. When the
Suunto finally dies, I'll be replacing it with a watch that will show zulu
time. Preferably an analog/digital combo, so you can see both timezones
without having to push any buttons. A friend of mine has a Timex Ironman
Triathalon that looks like it would fit the bill.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

--
Message posted via http://www.aviationkb.com

"JGalban via AviationKB.com" u32749@uwe wrote in message
news:7b50b9de8f98d@uwe...

For the people who have flown, have any of you found a watch with any
special features that actually helped you in performing your piloting
tasks?

I had one occasion to put the altimeter watch to use. I was flying
through a class B when the controller questioned my altitude.

I will admit it. I have used my altimeter watch a few times when I had
"failed" the altimeter for a student. Other than that, I only use it to tell
time. I even find the timer function distracting while flying. If I need to
time a leg I just jot down the time and do the math.

I suppose a Zulu function would be useful.

Vaughn

"JGalban via AviationKB.com" u32749@uwe wrote in
news:7b50b9de8f98d@uwe:




That said, the altimeter watch is not really very practical. When
the


There's such a thing as an altimeter watch?

What next?

Seems to me if they were going to add pilot features to wathces, one that
made coffee would be the only really sensible add-on.


Bertie

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 14:46:31 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip
wrote:

There's such a thing as an altimeter watch?

Useful for serious hikers. The altitude can help locate your
position on a topo map.

My little handheld Garmin 60cs GPS has a barometric altimeter and
magnetic compass to supplement the GPS position.

B A R R Y wrote in
:

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 14:46:31 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip
wrote:

There's such a thing as an altimeter watch?

Useful for serious hikers. The altitude can help locate your
position on a topo map.

My little handheld Garmin 60cs GPS has a barometric altimeter and
magnetic compass to supplement the GPS position.


Hmmm, I've seen lightplane ones that have a GPS alt readoout. The other
would be handy for a loss of instrument situation, of course, but I never
use them in lightplane flying anyway.. Never even use a radio anymore if I
can get away with it!

Bertie

On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip
wrote:

Hmmm, I've seen lightplane ones that have a GPS alt readoout. The other
would be handy for a loss of instrument situation, of course, but I never
use them in lightplane flying anyway..

I usually use the altimeter in the GPS in "barometer" mode, for
weather. It graphically plots the change in pressure for a constant
altitude over time.

The magnetic compass is useful when not moving, as GPS doesn't choose
direction well if there is no movement.

That said, the altimeter watch is not really very practical. When the
Suunto finally dies, I'll be replacing it with a watch that will show zulu
time. Preferably an analog/digital combo, so you can see both timezones
without having to push any buttons. A friend of mine has a Timex Ironman
Triathalon that looks like it would fit the bill.

All of the Timex analog/digital combos make the date change based on
the digital, rather than analog, time. This means that your date will
be wrong unless you program the digital time to be local and use the
analog hands to show Zulu time.

Since this is precisely backwards of what I want (the digital window
is tiny on these watches), the dual display models were eliminated
from my seach, sadly.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote in
:

That said, the altimeter watch is not really very practical. When
the
Suunto finally dies, I'll be replacing it with a watch that will show
zulu time. Preferably an analog/digital combo, so you can see both
timezones without having to push any buttons. A friend of mine has a
Timex Ironman Triathalon that looks like it would fit the bill.

All of the Timex analog/digital combos make the date change based on
the digital, rather than analog, time. This means that your date will
be wrong unless you program the digital time to be local and use the
analog hands to show Zulu time.

Since this is precisely backwards of what I want (the digital window
is tiny on these watches), the dual display models were eliminated
from my seach, sadly.

aww.

Bertie