TRIED & TESTED
SIMON DAVIS, 42, HAS BEEN A PILOT SINCE 1990 AND A CAPTAIN FOR THE PAST EIGHT YEARS. FLYING LONG-HAUL, HE WANTED A RELIABLE WATCH THAT WOULD WORK FOR HIM ON AND OFF THE PLANE. SIMON SHARED WITH US HIS LOG ON THE CHRISTOPHER WARD C60 TRIDENT GMT.
Monday December 12th LHR>>
Heathrow depart 22:00 (20mins behind schedule)
Funnily enough, the airline does not actually specify that a pilot needs to wear a watch, but it would take a dim view if you didn’t. We pride ourselves on punctuality and as captain I am responsible for the entire crew, which might be up to four pilots (including myself) and 10 or 11 cabin staff. It’s my job to decide if they have time to go to duty free before we prepare for the flight! I picked up the C60 from Christopher Ward only yesterday. By tonight it will be in Argentina. I can’t believe how good it feels. The flight to Buenos Aires is a regular one for me, all 6,920 miles of it. In the Boeing 777s I fly these days, it’s a 13-plus hour flight. The Ministro Pistarini airport is in Ezeiza suburb of the Argentine capital, hence its airport code EZE. Since last summer we have been getting volcanic ash warnings coming in to EZE because of a volcano erupting in Chile. If it goes into your engine, the ash is melted by the heat, then crystallises on the blades at the rear of the engine. You don’t want that to happen…
Tuesday December 13th
Buenos Aires arrive 12:09 (49 mins late. 09:09 local time) Aeropuerto Internacional Ministro Pistarini, Buenos Aires AR (EZE)
EZE>> Thursday December 15th EZE>> Buenos Aires depart 17:40
(On schedule. 14:40 local time) Flying west, you are always chasing the sun. Buenos Aires is three hours behind GMT, so it’s one of those places at which you think you can keep going. Getting into a sleeping pattern is not easy. To make matters worse, when we got to the hotel there was some industrial dispute going on and the foyer was filled with strikers playing drums. I was trying to get some sleep when they started letting off fireworks which seemed to be exploding outside my window on the 9th floor. They started at 05.30 in the morning, but that was 08:30 UK time, so it was not so bad! Christopher Ward has really got me in into watches. I grew up with early metal digital watches like Beltime and Casio. I have always been sporty and seemed to be forever smashing my watch on a rock face or losing it over the side of a yacht, so I never went for an expensive one.
I am into extreme running and ultra-marathons, like the 150-mile, six- day Marathon des Sables across the
Sahara, or running round Mont Blanc in a day. In my time I have worn heart rate watches, but I don’t need them now as I know my own performance so well. I used a Citizen dive watch for a long time.
As I get many opportunities to dive around the world, it is useful to have something I can take down with me. However I found the Citizen a little cumbersome for everyday use. I am really surprised how light the C60 is as it looks much heavier. I have never been attracted to steel bracelets, but this one has surprised me as it is so light and so comfortable. It’s surprisingly easy to open and close too. I have got a black leather strap with orange stitching as an alternative, but I’m sticking with the bracelet for now.
Friday December 16th
Heathrow arrive 06:55 (5mins behind schedule)
LHR>> Saturday December 24th
Gatwick depart 11:21 (11:20 was scheduled take-off time. Within 3 mins is deemed to be on time) The resort of Cancun, on the Yucatan Peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico, is 4,950m from Gatwick and the flight takes 11 hours. We are regulated about how many hours we can fly, so we have three pilots for the flight. ¯
LGW>> 37
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