Hands-On With The Omega Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified [With Video]

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Robert-Jan

·Dec 10, 2024·#SpeedyTuesday

It’s here! The Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified debuted as a pilot-only watch a few months ago, but Omega decided to make a slightly different version available for people like you (assuming you aren’t a US military pilot) and me. Originally for US military pilots At the end of September, we showed you the US military […]

Visit Hands-On With The Omega Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified [With Video] to read the full article.

 

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dsio

·Dec 10, 2024·Ash @ ΩF

Looks great, didn’t actually realise these were Cal 9900 initially. The changes from the military version are pretty subtle but look good.

 

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4011021

·Dec 10, 2024

Nice one! Colors and orange pieces kind of remind me of the Tag Heuer Carrera Skipper.

 

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Fickle

·Dec 10, 2024

The left subdial colouring makes the right subdial look a bit like a big eye without being one at a glance, which is clever.

 

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SpeedyPhill

·Dec 10, 2024

1:35 in video...
that 9 o'clock subdial is not a target sight but represent an artificial horizon also known as attitude indicator, the yellow subdial hands even match the yellow color of the miniature wings in an attitude indicator instrument! Important for IFR flight.
#Moonwatchuniverse
.

 

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MTROIS

·Dec 10, 2024

I think the Omega mothership needs to stop smoking whatever they are inhaling these days, and get back to earth when it comes to their never-ending price increases!!
The entire industry is due for a reckoning IMO.

 

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spacemission

·Dec 10, 2024

Robert, like a speedmaster purist, will you purchase it?

 

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Jakeys

·Dec 10, 2024

SpeedyPhill

1:35 in video...
that 9 o'clock subdial is not a target sight but represent an artificial horizon also known as attitude indicator, the yellow subdial hands even match the yellow color of the miniature wings in an attitude indicator instrument! Important for IFR flight.
#Moonwatchuniverse
.

You'll have to blame Omega for that one, Fratello probably pulled that straight off the press release. Here's Omega's product page:

I thought the same thing when I saw it today when I got the email from them about it.

Anyway, cool watch, but I'm not a pilot and I feel like you'd need to be a pilot to really appreciate this one.

 

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SpeedyPhill

·Dec 10, 2024

Indeed an interesting watch but this example clearly shows what's wrong in the wrist watch world. Facts don't seem to matter, it's a subject that I quote repeatedly during talks I give on GTG meetings... pointing out these "inaccuracies" to an educated aeronautical public of pilots & wrist watch aficionados alike...
Edit: image added
.

 

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STANDY

·Dec 10, 2024·schizophrenic pizza orderer and watch collector

bsowers34

Are mere mortals allowed to buy one? Or just Pilots?

This is the “Mere Mortals” version…

Bit thick for my liking… but all the twin registers have never interested me.

 

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bsowers34

·Dec 10, 2024

As soon as I say I'm done for awhile.........But Omega is dropping 10k watches like Swatches.

 

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Archer

·Dec 10, 2024·Omega Qualified Watchmaker

SpeedyPhill

Indeed an interesting watch but this example clearly shows what's wrong in the wrist watch world. Facts don't seem to matter, it's a subject that I quote repeatedly during talks I give on GTG meetings... pointing out these "inaccuracies" to an educated aeronautical public of pilots & wrist watch aficionados alike...
Edit: image added
.

I think "inspired by" grants them a great deal of latitude. If one wanted to be super pedantic about this, the "small wings" that you mention in the attitude indicator have a dot in the middle of them - to me this looks just like open sights. So there's a lot of mixed themes here that calling out inaccuracies could be a never ending drill down, and for no particular reason, at least IMO.

But we all see these things differently I guess. In the end it's just a different colour scheme for the seconds counter - not a big deal.

 

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SpeedyPhill

·Dec 10, 2024

@Archer
Of course but I wonder what their " Target " clients (aviation aficionados) will think about this... sorry pun intended 😉

 

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A320Driver

·Dec 10, 2024

I really like it. I would've liked the running seconds subdial to have the lower half in brown to perfectly represent and artificial horizon/attitude indicator. Maybe a bit on the thicker side but that's probably due to it being an automatic movement. Can't wait to see it at the boutique.

 

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bsowers34

·Dec 10, 2024

SpeedyPhill

@Archer
Of course but I wonder what their " Target " clients (aviation aficionados) will think about this... sorry pun intended 😉

Asked and answered by @A320Driver

 

J

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justonwo

·Dec 10, 2024

MTROIS

I think the Omega mothership needs to stop smoking whatever they are inhaling these days, and get back to earth when it comes to their never-ending price increases!!
The entire industry is due for a reckoning IMO.

With prices across all brands generally increasing while overall volume decreases, the economics do not look good for the watch industry long term.

This specific watch doesn’t call to me exactly. Too much going on. Not a pilot anyway!

 

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MoonTimer

·Dec 10, 2024

The "Official" version looks much better

 

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Omegafanman

·Dec 10, 2024

First off, the block impression is that I like, and nice if you want some colour on the wrist without scratching an old vintage Fightmaster, hard (impossible:0) to get that factory polishing back. The 9900 also gives you a local time GMT feature on the sub dial with the two hands.
The Speedmaster Racing never really spoke to me. I like the straight lugs and lack of crown guards.
This + the new FOIS + the white dial.... hard to keep up this year.....

 

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S.H.

·Dec 10, 2024

Feels like they lifted off some aesthetics from the Flightmaster and the other chronos from the period (winged sweep hand ~ central minute counter hand, blue subdial ~ am/pm indicator) but left the original functions behind.

 

T

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thatone

·Dec 10, 2024

I would have liked to see an upgrade to the X33, a watch that would seem more sensible for today's pilot.

"Only seldom did a watch put me off with its dimensions. In my 25 years of collecting Speedmasters, I’ve never heard anyone complain about the thickness of one. "

This had me scratching my head. So many of the speedmaster variants are way too thick. The 2014 DSOTM and the variants the biggest culprits.