On Time

In this episode we explore why time is so important for aviation today and in the Best Aerospace Era.  What did early aviators use to keep track of time?

Transcript

Paula: 0:00

For the Best Aerospace Era this is mansplaining. Here is the host Anthony L. Sealey Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. In aviation, safety and security are the number one priorities, especially in the airline business. Just behind these two principles is time. Here's a phrase that has stuck with me all these years from my first airline I worked at on time, if not before, time. I once had a supervisor who would say it just like that. Today I want to cover why time and keeping track of it is so important today and how those aviation legends I profile from the best aerospace era, kept track of it more than 100 years ago. If you have listened to episode five of series one, you can't fly like that, then you may remember I talked about some valuable new instruments that were developed to make flying safer, particularly in adverse weather conditions. Which paved the way for future airline business. I also profiled one of the greatest aviators of all time in that episode, Jimmy Doolittle, who tested these new instruments in dangerous conditions. If you haven't listened, then you're missing out on some quality content I bring this up because at the end of that episode I mention one valuable tool that early aviators used since the beginning of flight, but it wasn't actually attached to the airplane itself. This device. Was worn on the wrist by most, if not all of the earliest aviation legends that I will profile here on Mansplaneing Yes, we are talking about why keeping track of time was so important to aviation during the best aerospace era and today. This is how aviation led to the advent of wristwatches. I will also talk about a few specific wristwatches that were used over a hundred years ago and some contemporary examples. You can find today First, here is why time is so paramount for the airlines today. And why those agents on the ground, you see loading bags onto airplanes and why those at the gate boarding passengers are so important to the airline business. Here's an example for you. If a flight bound for, let's say Denver pushes the gate at, let's say BWI at or before departure time, then all of his passengers in cargo get to where they're going on time. Right. Sounds great for those passengers and cargo customers, but it also means the airplane ain't his crew. Can make his next leg or flight to, let's say Las Vegas, and so on to the next leg on time performance is tracked by the Department of Transportation. You can go online at their website transportation.gov and look up at each airline's on time performance numbers. I don't know if your average air traveling passenger T to check these numbers, but investors and shareholders do. The air transportation business would not exist if it was not profitable. Excellent on-time. Numbers matter. But only if on time performance is made safely and securely. This is one major reason the global airline industry is projected to exceed$1 trillion in revenue in 2025. According to one article I read, time is money. And timing is even more important in regards to the military. Here's an example from World War II in my episode, last Combat Mission. I talked about the bombing raids by US forces over Japan and World War ii. It was a complex operation that needed to be executed on time. Squadrons of P 51 and P 61 fighters stationed in Iwo Jima needed to take off at the right time in order to carry out their mission, which was to protect and escort the B 29 bombers. The B 29 bombers would take off from islands like Guam early in the morning. And head for the Japanese mainland. The squadrons of P 51 and P 61, fighters needed to take off later that morning at the right time in order to rendezvous and escort the bombers to their targets. If the fighter squadrons reached the Japanese coast too early, then they would have to fly around in a holding pattern waiting for the B 20 nines. This would cause a squadron to burn too much fuel, potentially causing them to reach the point when they would need to head back to Iwo Jima. If they did not rendezvous in an optimal timeframe then the B 20 nines would have to defend themselves against the fierce Japanese empire fighters and interceptors alone as awesome and well armed as a B 29 was defending itself against squadrons of small, fast, agile Japanese fighters was not ideal. Timing. These rendezvous and attacks of the fighters and bombers correctly saved many of our servicemen and our airplanes. In World War ii. As you can see, time is invaluable in aviation. However, there was a problem in the earliest days in the aviation when it came to keeping track of time the way men in the century leading up to the best aerospace era was not ideal for aviators. One scene you might imagine straight out of the 18 hundreds. Will be a train conductor or a businessman reaching into his vest pocket to pull out a pocket watch to check the time. This kind of parallels how people check the time in recent years. If you wanna know what time it is, do you reach into your pocket and pull out your smartphone to check? Well, then you're just like those people in the late 18 hundreds, right? And yes, I know smartwatches are a thing, but just follow me on this one for the earliest aviators in the air. Taking one of your hands from your controls or a handle to pull out and look down at a pocket watch. Made an already dangerous endeavor. More daring. This is just like looking down at your phone while you're driving because you get a text. Don't be that person. Now, one early Aviator wanted to solve this problem, and he just happened to have a friend who can make what he had in mind. This brings us to a man named Alberto Santos Dumont. Alberto Santos Demat was a very interesting man in his time who had a keen interest in flying and he was certainly was a contender to beat the Wright brothers and being the first man to fly a heavier than air flying machine. Born in Palmira, Brazil in 1873. Santos Dumont was wealthy, smart, and was an ideal adventurer around the turn of the century. You can say he was an adrenaline junkie. He climbed mountains and raced bicycles, but for him, the sky was the ultimate adventure. At the time, balloons and airships were the only way up. He famously flew a football shaped airship. Around the Eiffel Tower in 1899 before turning his efforts to heavier than air flying machines. Santos Mont knew pocket watches were not going to be practical for him to tell the time in the air. So he turned to a friend of his to make something more ideal for an aviator. This friend he turned to was named Louis Cartier. Yes. Vet Cartier of the company that was founded in Paris, France in 1847. That company whose watches, jewelry or fragrances, they come in a red box that you buy to impress your spouse, the jeweler of kings and the king of jewelry from the company that ranked 56 in Forbes, most valuable brands today, that Cartier Louis Cartier made a timepiece like could fit around Santos Doumont's wrist with a leather strap. Now with much fanfare in 1906. Santos Dumont flew his flying machine called a 14 Biss, with his timepiece on his wrist. There are videos of this flight on the internet, by the way. After this, it became a theme that men who wore watches on their wrist accomplished great things. I'll be profiling Alberto Santo Dumont in the future. So standby for that. Now for the watch, Cartier's most popular and well-known watch is probably the iconic Cartier tank, but this watch predates that iconic timepiece. There are modern versions of this. Watch the Santos de Cartier. I have tried on the large 39 millimeter and the medium 35 millimeter size of the Santos de Cartier on my wrist. They're very interesting and different as the case is more square in shape. They were larger on your wrist than you would imagine, and the case curves around your wrist vary comfortably. The watch has Roman numerals as most Cartier watches do. It looks more industrial in design than other Cartier watches. And this is a really good recreation of the watch that Alberto Santos, Dumont War More if you are a watch enthusiast and you have the book, a man and his watch, then you already know this story, but this is only the beginning. There are many more watches and companies that have profound aviation history. For the next watch, I need to introduce you to a man named Louis Bleriot, born in Cambria, France. In 1882, he became a successful businessman, making headlamps for early automobiles. However he banked all of his wealth on his aviation endeavors. The research and development of his early airplane. Aply named the Bleriot cost, him greatly. You may have actually heard or seen one of his airplanes. His efforts paid off when in 1909, he flew across the English channel, the first man to do so. There's a fascinating story behind why he did this. It was not just for bragging rights, but I'm gonna save that story for another time, probably its own episode. Now, the watch on his wrist. During this historic flight was a Zenith, Not a very well known brand. Outside of watch enthusiast Circles. Zenith or Zenith i've heard it pronounced multiple ways. Zenith was founded in Le Locle, Switzerland. Zenith has a really good slogan, the Future of Swiss Watchmaking since 1865, zenith is probably more well known for their chronograph watches like the El Primero. The watch that was on Louis Blariot wrist when he flew over the English channel. This is the watch that set the standard for what a pilot's watch would be. The circular dial has bold white numerals instead of Roman numerals. These bold white numerals are set against a very dark black dial, which makes it very easy to tell a time at a glance with just a quick turn of the wrist. It also has very distinctive and legible cathedral hands. The crown of this watch was very large, which made it easy or easier for a pilot with gloves on to be able to operate. It can get very cold up in the air, so gloves were definitely needed. Just a few years ago, in 2012, I believe Zenith produced a watch very similar to the one Blariot had on his wrist during that famous flight over the English channel. It was called the Zenith Pilot Type 20 Extra Special. A very good looking watch. It definitely appears to be from a time when the world was changing fast to a more modern industrial setting. The Type 20 with this bronze and titanium case was available at 45 millimeters and 40 millimeter sizes. It has the word zenith Pilot, extra special on the dial. The original only said Zenith and special. There is an engraving on the case back of this watch that shows Blariot flying his mono plane by the way, if you own a watch company and you release a watch with a word pilot on the dial, then I'll must warn you, Zenith lawyers will be calling you shortly. Zenith is the only watch brand who can legally have the word pilot written on the dial of their watches. Founder of Zenith named Jacot, trademarked the word pilot all the way back in 1888. More than two decades before Blariot's historic flight. There are many awesome watch brands that have existed for well over a century. This next brand on my list has been in business on the very same site since 1904. This one is another lesser known brand, Oris a watch brand that was founded in Holstein, Switzerland in 1904. Today. Oris is bestselling and most popular watch is probably their dive Watch the aquas. The watch out profile here is a reissue of a watch that Oris manufactured all the way back in the 19 teens.

17:02

Now, what was going on in the 19 teens oh yes. The war to End All Wars as it was known at the time. It's the Oris Big Crown 1917 that was released in 2017 to markets 100th anniversary. I have put on the Oris Big Crown 1917 on my wrist. The dial has bold yellow numerals. With cathedral hands. A major distinctive feature of this watch is this case. The sides of the case are rounded, and this makes the watch look kind of thicker than it really is. I get the impression that the case was originally intended to be a pocket watch that was modified during wartime to be attached to a leather strap to fit on a pilot's wrist. But that's just my observation. Let's find out if that's actually true. I'm gonna give Oris a message. Standby. I sent them a message in the Oris Help Center. Sent me back an article. The article says an Oris employee was researching deep in the archives one day and found something unexpected. And this contradicted their own history timeline of their press releases. The article states the round brass case watch had a big crown and aluminum dial and a pin lever movement. It was essentially a pocket watch with wire loop lugs, soldered on its case. This was common practice during the First World War. As officers look for practical ways of wearing watches as aerial warfare developed, I find stuff like this fascinating. And as I said before, this very watch contradicts Oris's' own timeline. They state that the first wristwatch they made was, I think in the 1920s in the first pilot's watch all the way in the 1930s. The modern watch, which this is based off of, is the Oris Big Crown 1917. Another interesting feature of the Big Crown 1917 is how it is wound and set. You can turn the crown to wind up the watch just like any other watch. However, you don't pull out the crown to set the time like other watches. There is a button at the two o'clock position that you must press down first to set the time using the crown. The worst big crown 1917 is a limited edition and there are only 1,917 pieces made. And I want to mention here that the watch industry is similar to the car industry in that there are many manufacturers like Cadillac and Chevrolet that are owned by a parent company like gm. Oris, unlike these other brands on this list are independent and can make whatever kinda watch they want whenever they want to. Especially one that was lost in the archives long ago. By the way, this is a random but relevant example of a pocket watch modified to fit on a pilot's wrist and the movie Wonder Woman also released in 2017. The character Steve Trevor has a pocket watch how in a leather bunt strap to fit on his wrist. It is shown on the screen a few times, and especially at the end of the movie. Also because I'm sure other enthusiasts spotted this. There's a picture of Trevor standing in front of a Spad biplane fighter with the hat in the ring. Gang emblem on the fuselage. The same squadron Eddie Rickenbacker served in. Next, we go to Germany. In a decade or so, leading up to World War ii, Germany prioritized aircraft development and production. They did this in secret and hit squadrons of aircraft in nondescript warehouses. The thousands of German pilots being trained for the Luftwaffe needed reliable watches. Five companies were commissioned. And the one I will profile here is Laco. Laco is a cool name to say, right. 2025 is the 100th anniversary of Laco, so this is the perfect time to talk about their watches. Laco was founded in the city of Pforzheim in Germany. If you are into watches, you may have come across the term fleger watches. What does fleger mean? fleger is German for pilot. I won't go into details about just one of their watches here because there are a variety of flea watches from their catalog and they all look the part. The dials are bold and legible, and they have big crowns. Some of the watches do not even say the words of Laco on the dial, which is a characteristic of the ones that would've been issued to the German pilots. There is no need to advertise the name brand on a military tool. It just needs to be until the time accurately and be legible. Their watches come in at 45, 42 and 39 millimeter case sizes and also use different movements. So you have some options here if you're in the market for a watch from a brand that has some real aviation heritage, I suggest you give Laco a look. So far, I've only talked about Swiss French and German watch companies. I'm not going to let the Europeans get all the glory here. What about an American pilot Watch There used to be a number of awesome American watch companies. That brings us to World War ii. American pilots needed a watch with a military specifications. That watch was the A 11 known as the watch that won the war. There were three watch brands that made the A 11 military spec watches. I wanna bring this up here, but one major reason the US won World War II was that the American workers at home out manufactured everyone else in the world by making more tanks, Jeeps, ships, submarines, airplanes, and watches. The three companies that made the A 11 were Elgin, Waltham, and Bulova. Bulova is the only watch brand that is really still going today, so that's the one that we will profile here. Bulova, which was founded by Joseph Bulova in 1875 in New York City. This year. They're celebrating their 150th year in business. Their bestselling watch, according to their website's. Best sellers tab is the Marine Star. but the watch we're gonna talk about here is the A 11, which was very simple but functional. This watch had a movement that allowed the hands to hack. Hacking is when you pull the crown out and the hands stopped moving. This allowed pilots and ground personnel to synchronize their watches. The watch itself only had numerals set on a black dial with simple hands. The modern recreation on Bulova website, the A 11 hack watch looks just like the one used during World War II with the addition of the word Bulova on the dial. I've not yet talked about prices here today, but I will say the A 11 hack watch from BVA will probably hurt your wallet the least. So if you're looking for an American Watch company, with aviation heritage, have a look at the Bulova. A 11 Now there are many watch review videos on YouTube that can give you an up close look at these watches. I've spent too much time watching these videos myself. Just a word of advice, always trying to watch first before buying it. Now, as you can see, watches are more than just a flex or something to show off during the best aerospace era. There are a few companies that made watches with truly significant real aviation heritage behind the dial. Obviously, I'm into watches myself. And I'm wearing a watch from one of these brands I mentioned before. It's an Oris, an Oris Big Crown pointer date. A very cool pilot's watch, and I believe it's stated on Oris's website to be their first official pilot's watch, not a modified pocket watch like the 1917 was. It has a dark blue dial that could symbolize when an early aviator would see coming in for a landing just before dark like the sky, just after sunset, where you can still see some blue in the dark horizon. It has a big crown as the name implies, and is very legible with bold white numerals in simple hands to tell the time. Also, like the name applies. It has a third hand that points to the date along the edge of the dial, Oris has been making pointer dates since 1938. I believe this is modeled after a 1940 example. It is a very interesting watch and it size fits my wrist, unlike other pilot's watches. Now, are there any pilots out there wearing any of these watches today? Probably not. They're most likely wearing smart watches. Now for you watch enthusiasts out there who are shouting at me right now saying, I should have mentioned Longines, Breitling, or IWC. There are many more watches with aviation heritage that I want to talk about in the future. Now, I know many of you listening come to mansplaining for airplanes and rockets and those who design and flew them. I want you to keep in mind that almost all of the aerospace legends that I cover here, most likely had a watch on their wrist while achieving things like flying over an ocean for the first time, or breaking the sound barrier or flying in the largest aerial dog fights in history. And what about those watches that were used in space? Yes. That's the subject for a future episode as well, so standby for that. Until then, thank you so much for listening and remember there is always a light at the end of the runway.

Paula: 29:12

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