The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi,

I am creating this post to try and gather as many pilots as possible!

Let me know how your Breitlings help you in your day to day life of aviation, and tell me which models you use

After all " Instruments for Proffesionals "

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Instruments For Professionals

Hi, the reality is that you don't really need a posh watch in the cockpit. Especially in the more automated stuff, i used a Red Arrows Nav. in small aircraft for years but to be honest the way a C152 etc.. jumps about its virtually impossible to read it. The most useful function is a stopwatch, but you cannot read the digits as they are too small. The CRP can be useful on the ground. The B1 was much more useful as it could be read.

I've used allsorts in many types and found the CA and B1 to be the most useful purely because they could be read. However if your doing lots of small aircraft stuff a shiny watch can get REALLY scratched.

The irony is the bigger the aircraft the more likely it is you only need a watch as a backup clock. However all us pilots still love our Breitlings !! The most useful function i needed was a clear good chrono. stopwatch for nav. work etc.. However the latest small plastic planes ( Diamond etcc ) are glass cockpit and have everything in your vision straight away on some form of HSI etc..

Wear the watch because its just an amazing thing !

I only ever fly wearing my Navi. No real advantages over a $10 timex if i'm honest.

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Men are from Mars, women are from Hell.

I have a Wolf and the feature I use the most is the day of the week, which I often can't seem to remember flying through different time zones.

I fly the A319/320/321....I just bought my Navitimer world...and I don't really use it for anything related to flying...and I still don't know how to use it anyway....but I love looking at it that's for sure...

I guess its the same whether you use alarms etc on a less expensive watch. Some use them others don't. I use the slide rule for fuel calculations then use the timer to remind me when to reconfigure the fuel. The copilot on my airwolf is used for cumulative flight times & for sign off times. The alarms & dual time zone for waking me up in the mornings, & the copilot UTC to help to orientate my time zone to the weather forecast for departure. I fly a modern B737, & use most of its functions daily. Yes I could make do with a simpler watch, however when you're use to using the Breitling, it does make these tasks much simpler & quicker. The watch would be near useless to use on general aviation light aircraft though due to them bouncing around. On a semi-non automatic jet though its very useful when you practice with it, & get use to it.
cheers

I never fly without my Cosmonaute. I set it to UTC and use it for weather briefings and filing flight plans. In the air, I use the chrono to keep track of time for switching fuel tanks. I rarely use the slide rule though. I have two GPS units that provide more information than I will ever be able to use, so the watch is relegated to somewhat mundane tasks. Yes, small planes do get bounced around a bit but you eventually adapt to it.

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1809 Cosmonaute
1903 Navi
Navi Olympus
Super Avenger

Used my Airwolf with Co-Pilot for almost the exact same things yesterday when puttering around the wet parts of the Pacific Northwest in a Diamond. Only diff was I used the timer to remind me it was time to turn for home so I could have the plane back in time for the next person!

I guess the biggest motivator is the fact that the Breitling flying team exists as a direct result of the financial contribution of the funding they receive from Bretling buyers indirectly lets face it by the time most pilots can afford Breitling watches with our mediocre salaries, we are 40+ years of age... and by then the majority of us wear magnified reading glasses just to be able to function the E6B slide rule... With the beautiful satin finish on the shinny stainless steel or the easily scratchable Titanium watch bands are impractible to wear in the abundent metal construction of flight decks and hell holes, where we must take extra measures to keep the watch protected inside our shirt sleeve... If any of the other watch manufactors had flying teams, and kept the accuracy of the super quarts, I would seriously consider there products.... I guess its my way of contributing to the flying team....

By the way I own a Rolex Submariner and a Master GMT,
Omega Seamaster GMT,
A Fortis B42 Official Cosmonauts and one Spacematic GMT, both automatics,
Several Seikos Automatics and Quartzs Diving watches,
and 3 Automatic Tissots and 1 quartz Analog Digital Diving watch.
and of Course my prized Professional Aerospace Titanium and Airwolf Stainless Steel which my wife gave me

....And had I beeen able to afford years ago the Flying Team Watchs, I would have not have the above watches, well not exactly accurate statement I still would have bought the Rolexs.

Great post, nice to hear from the professionals!

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Breanach78

A Few Breitlings.

Really cool to hear these stories from the pros...excellent topic!

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Alex
Breitling - Navitimer
Breitling - SuperOcean
Breitling - Chrono SuperOcean

There's a member "wildblue", he flies the C-17 in combat in Afghanistan. He could probably tell us a bunch of stories about his airwolf in action. There are pics in the gallery page btw.

Wildblue, where are you?!

I currently fly the 767 and have extensive experience in military, general aviation, corporate and airline flying. The only thing I've ever used on a watch while flying is the second time zone and that is just a convience, not a necessity. Even then it is just so I can keep one time on "home" while I set the other to local during the layover.

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Breitling Montbrillant Olympus
Breitling Navitimer World
Breitling Chronomat
Breitling Colt GMT
Omega Seamaster GMT "Great White"
Omega Speedmaster X-33
Rolex GMT Master IIc
Bremont ALT1-ZT

use my swc to ensure the clocks in my jet are synchronized to atomic utc on start up. otherwise, just nice to look at on long flights.

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Bs: Code Yellow, SW Ti, B1
Seikos: Sumo/SBDC001, Baby Tuna/SRP231, and Big Orange/SNM037
Citizen Eco-Zilla!

I have the New CHronospace.
But I hardly wear it at work..because it gets bang around the flight deck too much.
and also because while you are on the road...ex: on a layover..you might take the trolley/ bus/ subway..in NYC etc.. to go to do some sight seeing..and i don't like to have a nice watch on my wrist..and get mugged. So that's one thing.

So I usually wear a citizen or something else...

BUt I do use the watch a lot. The wheeze wheel, for ratio..like money conversion..if I am trying to find a price in euro etc... or calculating my pay etc...it is just like having a calculator on your wrist.
because I am too lazy to do the mental math.
I also use the wheel to work out my rate of descent and to see how I am doing on certain profile..
when when we get direct to a certain way point to cross at a certain altitude..I always double check the Flight management system, as it can be slow.
So I work out how many miles a minute I am doing to see how many minute to get to the way point.. and then work out how many feet I have to lose in how many minute...from there I am able to tell if I am too high..and should start descending now..or if I have time.
Something we do every day..and mental math I do. Save me pulling the calculator out and more accurate than mental Math.

Use the second time zone to leave it on my home time, for meal time, and time to go to bed and make phone call to the family to say good night.

I also use the calendar a lot cos i never know what day it is. As a Pilot you never work the same schedule from month to month..it 's not a 9 to 5 Monday to Friday...so i never know what day it is.
I have a couple a watch non Breitling that have the internal bezel wheel for Calculation.

But I must say I love my Ling.
And must also tell you guys that most pilots are cheap..and because we travel the world we can get knock off every where.
SO you see a lot of pilot with fakes out there..that they buy in Shangai/ hong kong, Canal street or else..most common type are Rolex and Ling..
Sorry buy that is the truth.
Only 5 % of people who wear Breitling are Pilots. Low number really.

Sorry for the long post...trying to type while my wife is talking to me??