Airplane clock time?

What time do you set your airplane clock to?

  • Local Time

    Votes: 14 38.9%

  • Zulu

    Votes: 6 16.7%

  • Local time at home

    Votes: 7 19.4%

  • Something else

    Votes: 4 11.1%

  • NA - I don't have a clock

    Votes: 3 8.3%

  • It's always Happy Hour somewhere

    Votes: 2 5.6%
  • Total voters
    36
lancie00

lancie00

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lancie00
I was just looking at airplane clocks and see that some of the digital ones can be set to different times. I had never thought about it but wondered if anyone sets theirs to zulu if you're in the system a lot?

*Edit* I forgot to say that our plane is set to local time but I might change it to zulu as I proceed with my instrument training.
 
I usually prefer to keep our digital clock on time of flight. Doesn't really matter what the watch says, but I'd rather know how long I've been running and how much time I have left to dry tanks.
 
I was resetting the EFIS clock on my last flight and gave this subject some thought. Conclusion; I’ll be setting to Zulu as soon as I figure out how (couldn’t figure it out while flying!). Some thoughts...

It doesn’t usually matter since ATC will generally express things relative to the hour and one unavoidably becomes adept at Zulu/Local time conversions when working with preflight weather. Plus most of my flying is within the eastern time zone.

However when the workload goes up, anything that eases the load is good. Zulu is universal in the air so it’s one less thing.

My iPad is always displaying local time (at takeoff only?)

Standalone clocks typically require resetting for daylight savings. (My EFIS gets GPS time but not sure if it handles daylight savings when set to local time, heck it may adjust local for GPS location for all I know so it’s either study the manual or use Zulu).

Zulu on the EFIS for me.


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Zulu. Bonus is you don't have to reset it twice a year for daylight savings changes.
 
Neither and both. With the Davtron M803, I start off on ET but I have to cycle through both to switch to FT anyway.

m803_5x2.jpg
 
12 noon or midnight:) Old wrist watch hanging on a fuselage tube, to time fuel and speed. Start the clock after starting engine.
 
Zulu. I got everything I use in the plane set to it, like this thing right here I’m using now. Tip. Reykjavik, Iceland. They’re on Zulu and they don’t save daylight. That’s how you set your computer stuff to Zulu.
 
I set my yoke clock to match my watch. Part of the Engine Start checklist is "Wind and Set Clock," so I do. I'm very close to Eastern Time, and most of our families live there; I don't always reset my watch when we visit . . . Then again, I lived for many years in Eastern Time, very close to Central, working for companies whose HQ was in Central. It's not really that big of a deal.
 
Lots of the digital clocks had local and Zulu, if I had to choose only one I'd go Zulu, as I have local time on my wrist.
 
Only one? The EFIS displays both. The GPS, cell phone and tablet all show local time. My watch shows local time at home, unless I'm staying somewhere in a different timezone for a couple of days or more.
 
Clock in panel is Zulu. That way I don’t have to convert when getting ATIS or clearance void times or anything else given in Zulu.

I always wear a watch with local time and have local on iPhone / iPad.
 
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