A good timer recommendation?

[Monpilot]

The ironman watch thread prompted this question.

What is a good timer to use for keeping track of turns that:
1. I can use for the rest of my flying career, not just for training and check ride.
2. Large numbers


My plane has an analog clock and as confident as I was that I could do my times according to it, my Pattern A ended up 90 degrees off when I finished.

I never wear a watch and even if I did I think glancing at my wrist to count 15 seconds or 75 would be cumbersome. So the ironman isn't my first choice. Plus I saw a $10 watch at academy with very large stopwatch numbers.

My iphone stopwatch app would be good except that the numbers are too small, especially when counting time on a new lap.

So I'm considering a stopwatch with a Velcro back.

But what do you use or recommend?

 

[AggieMike88]

So "one-mississippi, two-mississippi, three-mississippi" isn't working for you?

I've seen a few of these in different cockpits, and those pilots appear to be satisfied with their utility and use.

http://www.asa2fly.com/Flight-Timer-2-P599C54.aspx

Yes, a bit pricey over the cheap watch solution, but it's built with aviation functions and various aids to help make the flight a successful one.

 

[murphey]

Go to your local housewares store and get the battery, digital kitchen clock with timer. Big numbers. About $5

 

[gprellwitz]

Go to your local housewares store and get the battery, digital kitchen clock with timer. Big numbers. About $5

And I'm so glad that this thread wasn't about what I feared when I saw the title, though it is talking a lot about numbers!

"For a good time(r) call (212) 233-8450". (For the record, that's Bed Bath & Beyond in TriBeCa, New York)

 

[denverpilot]

So "one-mississippi, two-mississippi, three-mississippi" isn't working for you?

I've seen a few of these in different cockpits, and those pilots appear to be satisfied with their utility and use.

http://www.asa2fly.com/Flight-Timer-2-P599C54.aspx

Yes, a bit pricey over the cheap watch solution, but it's built with aviation functions and various aids to help make the flight a successful one.

I have one of those. It wasn't worth the money. Kitchen timer is bigger and FLAT so it can be velcroed somewhere and left there.

 

[Matthew]

A lot of the kitchen timers I've seen have magnets on the back. Remember to pop them off. I don't know how close it has to be to the whiskey compass to affect it, though.

 

[Sleepingsquirrel]

For a good timer call Suzi!

 

[Z06_Mir]

An iPod nano. Seriously. I clipped it to the little pen/chart clip on the yoke and it was perfect. If you already have one I'd recommend it. The timer has big numbers and is easy to reset.

 

[Jim Logajan]

A while back I bought a Sporty's Flight Timer because I had plans to train for IFR (currently postponed) so have not yet used it in flight. But the count down alarm has come in handy in the office when I have something scheduled but in the mean time I want to concentrate on something else without having to watch the clock. Someone made a video review of its basic operation:

 

[Scott@KTYR]

Walmart kitchen Dept. $2.97 timer.

 

[jonnyjetprop]

The clock in the airplane.

 

[Monpilot]

Thanks for the input!

At first glance the Asa timer looks good but the negative review nixed it. Ill head to target tomorrow.

And already tried the on board analog clock and that didn't work.

 

[poadeleted20]

Go to your local housewares store and get the battery, digital kitchen clock with timer. Big numbers. About $5

Concur. Something like this:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sunbeam-Digital-Timer/16332404
My IR trainees who get on of those Sporty's or ASA gadgets always end up spending too much time fighting with it to make it do what they want. Nobody has any trouble with one of those $5 kitchen timers.

 

[Graueradler]

Go to your local housewares store and get the battery, digital kitchen clock with timer. Big numbers. About $5

Just remember to pull the magnet off of the back.

I got a "Radio Shack" dual timer but I've seen the same one other places. It has an audio alarm that I took out and hooked up wire that plugs into the aux jack of my intercom. It counts up or down. The count down function is good for timed approaches.

 

[denverpilot]

Someone please take one of these on an IFR check ride just as a joke. I want a photo of the DPE's expression when you pull it out if the flight bag.

You cannot screw this one up. It's tiny but if you have limited space on the panel, it'll still fit. It's also loud for what it is. Hell it'll fit right above the six-pack under the glare shield on almost anything.

The big Sporty's one does have one nice feature. In countdown mode it flashes two huge Red LEDs on the face when time expires. That's kinda nice.

The ASA flashes the backlight which in daylight, is useless. At night, works.

Shop around for size. Keeping it in your field of view trumps noise and blinkenlights. Stick it right in front if you.

 

[denverpilot]

Bah. I took a picture of the wrong one for the second one. There's another one that size around here that's minutes and seconds. I thought it was in the kitchen and took the hours/minutes one off the stove hood. LOL.

 

[jonnyjetprop]

We had a timer like the first picture in our DC-8's overhead panel. It was used to time between oceanic waypoints.

Someone please take one of these on an IFR check ride just as a joke. I want a photo of the DPE's expression when you pull it out if the flight bag.

You cannot screw this one up. It's tiny but if you have limited space on the panel, it'll still fit. It's also loud for what it is. Hell it'll fit right above the six-pack under the glare shield on almost anything.

The big Sporty's one does have one nice feature. In countdown mode it flashes two huge Red LEDs on the face when time expires. That's kinda nice.

The ASA flashes the backlight which in daylight, is useless. At night, works.

Shop around for size. Keeping it in your field of view trumps noise and blinkenlights. Stick it right in front if you.