I’m in the middle of my IFR training and have been looking for a watch for holds and timed legs. I have a real problem forgetting the timer or excluding it from my scan when I’m doing a hold entry while descending and talking to ATC, and can’t mount anything in the plane. Bought an Apple watch, and while the vibrating alarm on my wrist is what I need, there’s some usability issues that I just can’t get over. From what I can tell, the watch will always go to sleep in 70 seconds requiring me to press the watch face to view my time when on a long timed leg, the timer won’t count up after it reaches zero, and while a timer is running, I can’t set up another timer (for if I’m in a hold but have a timed leg coming up). Guess I’m being picky about this, but really trying to reduce my workload in the cockpit so I can be confident passing the checkride. Anyone have any recommendations for a vibrating watch that has actual good usability for IFR timing?
Not a watch solution, but are you using ForeFlight? The timer solution there might be of help. Once it counts down to zero, you can have an audible and visual notification
Tried using Foreflight initially. I don't normally include the kneeboard in my scan so was not an ideal solution. A vibrating watch is really the way to go for me.
Tape this to your leg/kneeboard? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002XQ2JSA/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_WJJ94H4ZMTHFKQQG84G9?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 Half joking, but if you absolutely have to have something that vibrates, maybe you can make it work? And if not, hey you are only out $12 and it looks like a fine kitchen timer.
https://www.amazon.com/Timex-Ironma...+alarm+watches+for+men&qid=1633552780&sr=8-10 The Timex watches do very well for vibrating alarms, including count-down timers. Zulu time a plus.
Concur. Recently helped a friend get through a training program where no alarms were allowed: "You will wake when we tell you to wake, Candidate!" Said friend needed a few extra minutes to pass muster, so to speak.
When doing IFR flight training with Ron Levy, he saw my expensive ASA flight timer and how much trouble I had trying to make sense of it. After the flight, he took it from me, buried it in my flight bag, and then took me to the Dollar General for a basic basic kitchen timer that was very easy to set and made very loud beeping when timer ended. That plus a patch of hook and loop solved my needs for a timer. Thing was loud enough to be heard over the engine and did the job. 6 years and a AAA battery or two later still have and use it.
https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Coun...child=1&keywords=timer&qid=1633573392&sr=8-12 I got this when I started flying something I need to use for tank switch reminder. It’s loud. Very loud so you can hear it when flying with headset on. .
