Question about Zulu time

[BlackManINC]

I understand Zulu time, but not quite 100%. If I'm planning a flight to depart from Detroit Metro Airport at 1300 local time to Denver International airport, which is an estimated two hour flight, what time am I setting my watch too by the time I reach Denver's time zone? Will it be 2000Z, or 800 P:M by the time I reach Denver?

 

[jimmyjack]

Leave Detroit 1800Z. Arrive Denver 2000Z.

Leave Detroit 1300EST. Arrive Denver 1300MST.

Bask in your time traveling abilities.

Leave Detroit 1300EST. Circle Detroit for two hours. Arrive Detroit 1500EST.

Leave Detroit 1800Z. Circle Detroit for two hours. Arrive Detroit 2000Z.

Time zones suck. That's why Zulu exists.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

I understand Zulu time, but not quite 100%. If I'm planning a flight to depart from Detroit Metro Airport at 1300 local time to Denver International airport, which is an estimated two hour flight, what time am I setting my watch too by the time I reach Denver's time zone? Will it be 2000Z, or 800 P:M by the time I reach Denver?

Well, the easiest time would be to set it to zulu time as it doesn't change.

 

[Cooter]

Why would you set your watch to Zulu when you get to Denver? Is this a trick question? If not, just find out how far off of GMT they are and adjust accordingly, or set GMT before you depart and leave it.

 

[Shawn]

There is an app for that!

Pilot Time:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pilot-time/id360138989?mt=8

 

[BlackManINC]

Leave Detroit 1800Z. Arrive Denver 2000Z.

Leave Detroit 1300EST. Arrive Denver 1300MST.

Bask in your time traveling abilities.

Leave Detroit 1300EST. Circle Detroit for two hours. Arrive Detroit 1500EST.

Leave Detroit 1800Z. Circle Detroit for two hours. Arrive Detroit 2000Z.

Time zones suck. That's why Zulu exists.

Why would you set your watch to Zulu when you get to Denver? Is this a trick question? If not, just find out how far off of GMT they are and adjust accordingly, or set GMT before you depart and leave it.

Well, here is how I got 8:00 P:M local time.

Departure - KDTW: 1300Z 1:00 P:M

Destination - KDEN: 1500z 3:00 P:M

KDTW's (Detroit) time zone is currently five hours away from GMT. So I added five hours to the time of departure to get 1800z, which means my estimated time of arrival in zulu time to Denver is 2000z since its a two hour flight. This is why I set my watch to 8:00 P:M local time since thats the time it will actually be in Denver by the time I arrive. Is this right or wrong?

 

[jimmyjack]

estimated time of arrival in zulu time to Denver is 2000z sicne its a two hour flight. This is why I set my watch to 8:00 P:M local time since thats the time it will actually be in Denver by the time I arrive. Is this right or wrong?

Wrong. Zulu time would only be local time when you're sitting in GMT (greenwich mean time). London for instance is in GMT.

Really. Zulu time is nothing but a time zone. It's just GMT. Zulu = GMT.

Your safest bet is to just use Zulu time while you're flying since everything aviation related is already Zulu.

Then, when you land set your clock to local time. All new phones will update time correctly once they connect to the local towers.

 

[Sac Arrow]

Why would you set your watch to Zulu when you get to Denver? Is this a trick question? If not, just find out how far off of GMT they are and adjust accordingly, or set GMT before you depart and leave it.

The latter.

 

[BlackManINC]

estimated time of arrival in zulu time to Denver is 2000z sicne its a two hour flight. This is why I set my watch to 8:00 P:M local time since thats the time it will actually be in Denver by the time I arrive. Is this right or wrong?

Wrong. Zulu time would only be local time when you're sitting in GMT (greenwich mean time). London for instance is in GMT.

Really. Zulu time is nothing but a time zone. It's just GMT. Zulu = GMT.

Your safest bet is to just use Zulu time while you're flying since everything aviation related is already Zulu.

Then, when you land set your clock to local time. All new phones will update time correctly once they connect to the local towers.

So departing at 1300z in a two hour flight from Detroit to Denver, it would still be 1500z or 3:00 P:M local time by the time I reach Denver?

 

[jimmyjack]

No, it would be the *same* time. Leave Detroit 1300EST, arrive Denver 1300MST.

Yes, you've flown/existed for two hours, but the **local** times are the same.

Note, this only works on a two hour flight westbound through time two zones.

Or, a three hour flight westbound through three time zones.

Or four through four, etc.

Take it to the extreme. You leave New York City at sunrise. You're in a plane fast enough to get to Los Angeles at *their* sunrise. Roughly, **local** times will be the same.

 

[Cooter]

So departing at 1300z in a two hour flight from Detroit to Denver, it would still be 1500z or 3:00 P:M local time by the time I reach Denver?

It sounds like you're a little confused about what Zulu time is. Use either local or Zulu for the t/o and ldg times, but use only one. Takeoff in Zulu 1300, land Zulu 1500. Local time can be figured out from there. Zulu is the standard, local times reference that standard. If that is too confusing, set Denver time on your watch before you depart and know you'll be there 2 hrs later.

 

[BlackManINC]

No, it would be the *same* time. Leave Detroit 1300EST, arrive Denver 1300MST.

Yes, you've flown/existed for two hours, but the **local** times are the same.

Note, this only works on a two hour flight westbound through time two zones.

Or, a three hour flight westbound through three time zones.

Or four through four, etc.

Take it to the extreme. You leave New York City at sunrise. You're in a plane fast enough to get to Los Angeles at *their* sunrise. Roughly, **local** times will be the same.

I see what you're saying, it would still be 1300MST in Denver in a two hour flight since they are two hours behind Detroit.

So how about a departure from KDEN at 1300z to KDTW. Since this is eastbound on a two hour flight, would the time in Detroit be 1500 EST by the time I arrive?

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

I see what you're saying, it would still be 1300MST in Denver in a two hour flight since they are two hours behind Detroit.

So how about a departure from KDEN at 1300z to KDTW. Since this is eastbound on a two hour flight, would the time in Detroit be 1500 EST by the time I arrive?

You leave at 1300Z, two hours later it's 1500z no matter if you travel or not.

1300 Z is 0600 MST two hours later it's 0800 MST -7 hours from zulu

1300 z is 0800 EST, two hours later it's 1000 EST -5 hours from zulu

 

[BlackManINC]

You leave at 1300Z, two hours later it's 1500z no matter if you travel or not.

1300 Z is 0600 MST two hours later it's 0800 MST -7 hours from zulu

1300 z is 0800 EST, two hours later it's 1000 EST -5 hours from zulu

This is what I was basically trying to show in my first few posts. If I leave at 1300 Z for a two hour flight to Denver from Detroit, then it will be 0800 MST by the time I get there. You can get this from various ZULU time conversion charts. I never used the charts, but I still came to 0800 MST using my own method.

 

[Lindberg]

I see what you're saying, it would still be 1300MST in Denver in a two hour flight since they are two hours behind Detroit.

So how about a departure from KDEN at 1300z to KDTW. Since this is eastbound on a two hour flight, would the time in Detroit be 1500 EST by the time I arrive?

I'm not sure whether you are mixing up Zulu and local time, or you're just mistyping. But you keep going back and forth.

Zulu is just another time zone, like EST and MST. Zulu is just another name for GMT. So Zulu time will never be the same as MST or EST. In the same way that EST will never be the same as MST.

Using Zulu time is convenient just because it's a constant reference. You could just as easily use EST for all of your calculations. It's just not the standard.

 

[BlackManINC]

I'm not sure whether you are mixing up Zulu and local time, or you're just mistyping. But you keep going back and forth.

Zulu is just another time zone, like EST and MST. Zulu is just another name for GMT. So Zulu time will never be the same as MST or EST. In the same way that EST will never be the same as MST.

Using Zulu time is convenient just because it's a constant reference. You could just as easily use EST for all of your calculations. It's just not the standard.

Well I was confusing Zulu with local time. 'Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe' cleared up what I was trying to convey.

 

[Lindberg]

This is what I was basically trying to show in my first few posts. If I leave at 1300 Z for a two hour flight to Denver from Detroit, then it will be 0800 MST by the time I get there. You can get this from various ZULU time conversion charts. I never used the charts, but I still came to 0800 MST using my own method.

MST is GMT -7. So when you leave, it's 1300 GMT and 0600 MST. Two hours later, it's 1500 GMT and 0800 MST. But you're now in Detroit, where the local timezone is EST (GMT -5), so the local time where you are is 1000 EST.

1300 GMT = 0800 EST = 0600 MST.
1500 GMT = 1000 EST = 0800 MST.

 

[jrollf]

I have a 'world' digital watch with two clocks, I set one to zulu time and leave it alone. Great reference when time changes our I go to a different time zone.

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

 

[Everskyward]

Well I was confusing Zulu with local time. 'Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe' cleared up what I was trying to convey.

Zulu time is what the time is in Greenwich, England. It's the standard for aviation because, as you have seen, there can be confusion when you cross time zones. If you take off from Detroit at 1300Z and the flight takes two hours, you will land in Denver at 1500Z. To get the local time you subtract 7 hours from zulu time in Denver and 5 hours from zulu in Detroit. That's assuming you are talking about standard time, not daylight savings.

 

[jonnyjetprop]

Then the next step is to bring up Zulu date

 

[BlackManINC]

Zulu time is what the time is in Greenwich, England. It's the standard for aviation because, as you have seen, there can be confusion when you cross time zones. If you take off from Detroit at 1300Z and the flight takes two hours, you will land in Denver at 1500Z. To get the local time you subtract 7 hours from zulu time in Denver and 5 hours from zulu in Detroit. That's assuming you are talking about standard time, not daylight savings.

Yes I was referring to standard time. Its all making sense now.

 

[Doggtyred]

When I was actively flying, I kept the "2nd time" feature on my watch set to Zulu. Never had to guess or do math during planning or flight ops.

 

[S Joslin]

There is an app for that!

Pilot Time:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pilot-time/id360138989?mt=8

Holy crap, there's a lot of apps for Zulu time.

Sorry, back to your regularly scheduled program...

 

[FastEddieB]

Then the next step is to bring up Zulu date

Or to date a Zulu!

 

[MD11Pilot]

Wow! Some of you are making this too hard. Try adding in crossing the international date line twice in the same trip (multiple day trip ). Go from adding to subtracting hours to get to GMT. AND then for fun go to Mumbai and now you have to use 5.5 hours from GMT!

 

[FlySince9]

OMG, REALLY?

It's official! We've run out of things to banter about...

 

[Matthew]

I took a ground school class at a local junior college. I remember the practice questions and other discussions about Z-time. It's made out to be much more complicated than it has to be. It's just another time zone. But when the questions are always about converting local to Z and back to local across multiple time zones it's easy for a beginner to get lost. The hardest part about it for me is trying to remember if I'm on DST or not. I have a dual timezone watch and set one side to Z all the time.

 

[airdale]

I understand Zulu time, but not quite 100%. If I'm planning a flight to depart from Detroit Metro Airport at 1300 local time to Denver International airport, which is an estimated two hour flight, what time am I setting my watch too by the time I reach Denver's time zone? Will it be 2000Z, or 800 P:M by the time I reach Denver?

You're making this too hard. Denver is two hours behind Detroit. That's the change you will be making to your watch. The time in Greenwich is irrelevant. So you'll take off in Detroit at 11:00 Denver time, add the two hour flight and it is 13:00 in Denver when you arrive.

KISS

If you want to find the Zulu time in Denver and it's not daylight time, add seven hours. Bingo! 13:00 + 7 = 20:00. But there is really no need to bother about it to solve the problem you pose. England is not on the route.

 

[BigBadLou]

You're making this too hard.

I agree, this is not rocket science. Basic elementary school math. Heck, probably kindergarten math.

OP, good luck to you (sincerely). Zulu/GMT can be confusing at first but once you understand it, there's no problem. It is the simplest match in flying. It gets only harder from there.

 

[BlackManINC]

You're making this too hard. Denver is two hours behind Detroit. That's the change you will be making to your watch. The time in Greenwich is irrelevant. So you'll take off in Detroit at 11:00 Denver time, add the two hour flight and it is 13:00 in Denver when you arrive.

KISS

If you want to find the Zulu time in Denver and it's not daylight time, add seven hours. Bingo! 13:00 + 7 = 20:00. But there is really no need to bother about it to solve the problem you pose. England is not on the route.

So when I'm looking at the terminal aerodrome forecast for Denver international airport, am I looking at the weather at 2000Z or 1300Z? This is the main reason why I made this thread in the first place. Mind you, this is something I won't really have to worry about in a dispatch center since the computers will give you the ETA both in local and zulu time anyway. We were taught to just go by zulu time when looking at Metars and TAF's. During the dispatch course, they gave us the departure and arrival times for each flight plan but never really taught us how to get the ETA ourselves in relation to the weather reports.

 

[EdFred]

METARS and TAFS are in Z

 

[BlackManINC]

METARS and TAFS are in Z

Well, this is what I wanted to know. A pilot on YouTube explained it the exact same way I did. In Zulu, if I'm leaving Detroit at 1300Z, then by the time I get to Denver, it will be 2000Z. So when I'm looking at the TAF reports, I'm looking for the weather forecast at KDEN at 2000 zulu. This is how he explained it but I wasn't sure if this was correct.

 

[denverpilot]

Well, this is what I wanted to know. A pilot on YouTube explained it the exact same way I did. In Zulu, if I'm leaving Detroit at 1300Z, then by the time I get to Denver, it will be 2000Z. So when I'm looking at the TAF reports, I'm looking for the weather forecast at KDEN at 2000 zulu. This is how he explained it but I wasn't sure if this was correct.

If he's flying a really slow airplane and the flight takes seven hours from Detroit to Dnever. Yes.

(Doubtful since most of the things folks are flying here don't have seven hours of fuel on board.

Zulu to Zulu comparisons require no conversion. Same "time zone" so to speak. If it's 1200Z right now in DEN it's 1200Z in Detroit right now, too.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

if I'm leaving Detroit at 1300Z, then by the time I get to Denver, it will be 2000Z

by airliner?? or GA maybe?

 

[denverpilot]

by airliner?? or GA maybe?

Even GA that's too long without a fuel stop. And I'd assume you neither need a dispatcher nor wouldn't look at the weather again after that leg anyway, so planning it as 7 hours wouldn't be all that useful.

 

[BlackManINC]

If he's flying a really slow airplane and the flight takes seven hours from Detroit to Dnever. Yes.

(Doubtful since most of the things folks are flying here don't have seven hours of fuel on board.

Zulu to Zulu comparisons require no conversion. Same "time zone" so to speak. If it's 1200Z right now in DEN it's 1200Z in Detroit right now, too.

Ok, so on a two hour flight from Detroit to Denver, I'll be looking at the TAF reports at around 1400 zulu then? So there is no need to be worrying about adding five hours or seven hours based on time zones which only adds confusion?

 

[denverpilot]

Ok, so on a two hour flight from Detroit to Denver, I'll be looking at the TAF reports at around 1400 zulu then? So there is no need to be worrying about adding five hours or seven hours based on time zones which only adds confusion?

Correct. If the flight departs at 1200Z and it takes two hours to go anywhere it'll arrive at 1400Z.

Unless it crosses the international date line.

 

[Everskyward]

Just think of Zulu as a time zone. In fact it is the time zone in Greenwich, England.

 

[BlackManINC]

Correct. If the flight departs at 1200Z and it takes two hours to go anywhere it'll arrive at 1400Z.

Unless it crosses the international date line.

Ok, now we're getting somewhere, I honestly have no idea what that one pilot was talking about in that video. This makes it so much easier. Come to think of it, I don't even see why it was drilled in our heads about time zones in the dispatch course if its irrelevant when it comes to getting the ETA for weather reports in the first place. So I only have to worry about adding hours if I'm crossing the oceans. Gotcha

 

[BlackManINC]

Just think of Zulu as a time zone. In fact it is the time zone in Greenwich, England.

Yes I know, I went through all this confusion for nothing.