The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Any Helicopter pilots out there? My son has been accepted into Marine flight school !! He wants to fly helicopters...What would be a good watch to get him as a graduation gift? He graduates from OSU in March and starts OCS on June1. I am so proud of him and I want to get a nice watch that works. I am afraid of the navitimer after reading about all the problems,he really does not need all the headaches( even though Thomas doesn't seem to think there is a problem).He has a Casio Gshock right now( recommended by the Marine recruiters for OCS and Basic) Where is the best place to buy a Breitling. It sounds like there are so many good Fakes it is scarey. I really don't want to spend $4,000- $5,000 on a fake. But I would love to spend less of course if there are safe places to buy one for less. Is a used watch a bad idea ? Is the warrenty still honored? Any and all help would be great!! CJ

Welcome!

Can't really advise on a watch per se. I've heard some chopper pilots say that Breitlings aren't the best at standing up to the vibrations and the like. Eitherway from what I've read the Navitimer World sounds like it experiences more problems than some of the other Navitimers.

As for where to buy one, if it is your first time buying a Breitling then check out your nearest authorised dealer. Any reasonably sized city should have one. The Breitling website has a list of dealers
http://www.breitling.com/en/retailers/
You should be able to get 15% off MSRP pretty easily at an AD.

Hi, welcome ....nice Idea with the Watch, but an used i think is not really the best



Greetings

Micha

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Micha
Have a nice day

A bit of a blanket statement...the watch the son might like could be recently discontinued for example, or be a classic.

thanks for the replies. I agree a watch is a nice idea.Are there any pilots who can tell me what watch they use or their experiences/good or bad with watches so I can get pointed in the right direction.My son wants a watch with the slide rule bezel.Are these very helpful or just for show. What about the chrono features on different models.I read the skyracer has a dual visualization of measured time.Is this helpful or unneccesary...At the moment I am comparing the Airwolf and the Skyracer.Unless someone with experience can tell me of another watch that works better for Chopper vibrations. thanks again

The Airwolf and Skyracer are very similar in appearance / dimensions, both with sliderules...maybe (I'm not qualified to say) the SuperQuartz Airwolf would survive chopper vibrations better ?

I'm a fixed wing pilot and love my Navi-World. It's a bit much for day to day use though.

A slide rule on a watch is going to be very difficult to read with the vibrations produced, and the fact one hand is on the collective, and the other hand on the control stick, no matter how large the dial is.

If you want to keep cost a minimum, I would recommend a Citizen Skyhawk AT or the Nighthawk. Both have slide rule features. They retail around $450-599.

Links: http://www.citizenwatch.com/COA/English ... JY0000-53E

Links: http://www.citizenwatch.com/COA/English ... BJ7005-59E

Without the slide rule, bang for the buck with VERY luminous hands, I would recommend a Fortis.

You can own a nice Fortis chronograph for less than $1400-1700.

Flieger chrono


A Pilot Professional for $900


Link: http://www.fortis-watch.com/en/index.html

Don't get me wrong, the Breitling is a functional brand, and is the quality is superb but, expensive for day to day use. I would be afraid to wear mine being very active, but that's just me.

Best of luck-

~Brian

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Breitling Super Avenger
Fortis Flieger Chronograph
Rolex Submariner Date

Correct

HI there,

I am a Helicopter pilot Flying Sikorsky S76 Ambulance.
I have two watches, a Breitling Skyland Blacksteel, and a Fortis B42.
I use them both for doing my job.
Both of those watches are so called "pilot watches" but it's kind of funny cause the only feature I use is the time.

So for all those watches with fancy bezel, dual time, emergency feature, the only purpose I imagine is too look like a cool pilot at the bar....

In my job there is something called a GPS - like a Garmin 530 - who will replace you bezel for all calculation, cause in the real life you don't have time to play with your watches + those tiny numbers are difficult to read in flight, and therefore increase the chance of making mistakes. ( and I strongly advise to keep your right hand on the cyclic....

For the emergency beacon, it's kinf of cool, but for a real crash I would rely more on the more powerfull ELT you have onboard your aircraft, specially the new generation of beacon will transmit on the 406 MHZ directly to a sattelite. and off course a SAT phone + and hand held GPS (I flew in the canadian artic and trust me it's the only thing I would take time to save before my chopper burns...)

So all in all, get a watch who gives you time and date. something simple and easy to read, avoid busy dials ....
Choose a watches with muliple bracelets... like a metal one or leather for cruising the girls after a hard day flying and a rubber one for when you fly...

anyway should be a good gift...

I lost my reply I think so I am starting over.
Colsman,
Thanks Canada! The most useful and honest reply I have received.I wondered how you boys used all those gadgets while flying.My son has great eyes but playing with that bezel seemed nuts, So now it makes sense.A lovely object to attract the ladies and set the fly boys apart at the bar. No surprise there,my son loves the ladies,but he can stand on his own. So if your Mama was buying you a nice graduation watch what would you pick? Within reason please,lets not get crazy! I value your opinion as you are doing what my son wants to do ,emergency evac or some sort of ground support,but in the air..helicopters. He is at the very beginning so I believe he thinks he needs all the stuff on the watch.
Thanks again!

congrats to your son!

I would def recommend the AVENGER SKYLAND with the diverpro band. I also believe theres another member on the forums that is a heli pilot as well with the same set up only with the blacksteel version.

Well, since it's a Breitling Forum I would say the Skyland Avenger, backsteel would be perfect.... that's what I use mostly cause, he will come back with many scratches on the bracelet or the watch itself... got to put you hand in between the turbine when you do a pre- flight. The blacksteel don't scratch, thanks to a special alloy.... but unfortunatly they are hard to come by.... (well I may sell mine sometimes soon...).
It's really a tough watch...
Overwise I would recommande strongly the Fortis B42 Flieger (mine is with the white dial) looks stunning.
The Blacsteel new is 5000$
and the Fortis is 3000$
But well, if depend how crasy you want to go, but for sure the Fortis is a really good choice....
Cheers

Colsman,
Thanks again. if you decide to sell your backsteel anytime in the next 30 days or so let me know( have you had any issues with the watchin general,with all the vibration? How long have you had that watch?-what band do you have) You said to not get the steel bands ,right. A rubber one for flying and then others for leisure. How hard is it to change the bands? One guy said You would have to take the watch to a jeweler to change the bands...that seems crazy and I think not right. Does the fortis have a rubber band ? Someone else said a Casio Skyhawk A-T is a good everyday work watch and then get a nicer Breitling or Fortis for show.
Have you seen that watch?it is about $450.He has a G-Shock now,reccomended by the marines-actually on his list of what to bring for O.C.S(3 green shirts,1 pair running shoes less than one month old, a G-shock watch,...) Let me know and thanks .you have been super,
CJ

CJpipoly
To answer your questions, I have one rubber strap for the blacksteel, that I use in the summer or when it gets dirty and one leather strap that I usually wear any other time. They are very easy to change, you just need a sharp tool and it takes about 1 sec. For the Fortis, I only have a bracelet, cause I like to wear the bling when I go out and if you want to change the bracelet you need a tiy screw driver. (the screw are very fragile and brakes easely)... but you can have all type of bracelet, croco strpa, leather straps, rubber.... check out their site www.fortis.com.

I bought my blacksteel in august 2007, in Toronto (Laswiss) and no I didn't have any vibration problem with it... (imagine if it does that to your wach, what it does to your brain...) it's till in pristine condition....
Are you in canada? Ontario? Toronto?
Send me a private message if you want even more details "PM"

oops http://www.fortis-watch.com/index.html
that would be the correct adress.....