Horology
One of the symptoms one often develops with prolonged exposure to aviation is some obsession with horology. This is going to fall under my craft topic, much as aviation does, because while there is science at the root of both they are still art forms.
For most of my double-digit life I have had some kind of watch. As it did for many, the wrist watch fell by the wayside when I got a smartphone that itself could tell me the time at a glance. Then I started flying airplanes, and suddenly I did not want to have to wake my phone up to see how much time had elapsed. A rabbit hole appeared.
First in the line of automatic winding mechanical watches I found myself needing was the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer. Having always preferred clean and simple lines in a watch this one fit the bill perfectly. The pilot's bezel serves to time duration between checkpoints. For a VFR checkride, where one is to be within minutes and not seconds, it fit the bill perfectly.
More than a year went by before I started seriously looking at getting my instrument rating, and with it a need to be within seconds. Clearly, I would need a chronograph next! Instead of focusing on chronographs, I ended up falling all the way into the rabbit hole. There, I "learned" I would actually need an "Every Day Carry" watch, and a proper "Dress" watch as well. The chronograph would surely also be required, but in an incarnation fit for purpose as a pilot tool.
I still do not have the pilot chronograph, but I do know which one I will save my pennies to get eventually. That said, there are now three automatics in my collection:
- In the EDC slot: Seiko SRPG31
- In the Dress slot: Tissot Carson Premium Powermatic 80
- In the VFR Pilot slot: Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer
