The best mechanical "pilot" watch in the world is not a wrist watch, nor a pocket watch. But it is an IWC! I am referring to the "Camera Watch 10AF/807", based on IWC cal. 89 and derived from the Mark 11. This peculiar timepiece has been described by Thomas Koenig in several articles and also in "IWC Pilots Watches. Flying legends since 1936", Ebener Verlag, 2006. The ultra rare watch was part of a camera recorder, built in a British military aircraft : the Electric Lightning supersonic interceptor. As this watch has never been discussed on this forum, I take the liberty of doing this now. Very detailed technical information can be retrieved from the above mentioned publications. I will limit my report more or less by expressing my admiration for it, in relation to the circumstances in which it served.
The Electric Lightning was a supersonic fighter of the Cold War era. It was the only all- British Mach 2, fighter aircraft. The designer was W.E.W. Petter. A total of 337 of these interceptors has been produced between 1959-1988. RAF pilots described flying this aircraft as "being saddled to a skyrocket". It was capable of climbing to a height of 15 km in one minute. This means a speed of 900 km per hour, but than vertically!
It was more powerful than the contemporary Mirage, Tornado and Starfighter.
In the later versions of the Lightning, 3 camera systems were present. One in the "nose", one in the cockpit and and one on the back of the plane, behind the cockpit. The "spine camera" collected and stored the images taken from the cockpit for analysis after completing the mission. Included was the projected image of a running watch on the radar screen in the cockpit. The watch itself was mounted with the dial down in the spine camera recorder and by using a mirror system the images came on the radar screen. In such way it was possible to measure the time between firing the rockets and the impact on the target as well as the duration of a fight in the air, called "dog fight".
The watch used for this task was a mechanical timepiece that had to be wound by hand before every flight started!
The RAF had used after the ending of World War II, the legendary Mark 11 for decades. The quality and reliability of this navigation watch must have been responsible for the selection to serve in the Electric Lightning. Although the case is constructed like a safe, the cal. 89 movement and the screwed case back are the same as in the Mark 11. The dial is very small and its visible diameter is only 10 mm. The watch was not in the pressurized part of the plane but "outside", completely exposed to temperatures, abnormal for a watch. Nearby the roaring engines the temperature must have been over 40 degrees Celcius at the start, to drop to minus 40 degrees Celsius a few minutes later, if the aircraft made a climb until 15 km height. It was subject to enormous vibrations at the start and during take off . Incredible G-forces and extreme fluctuations in air pressure were transmitted on its movement.. And what to think of the shock wave that occurred, every time the Lightning broke the sound barrier. And finally there was the strong magnetic field evoked by the nearby double engines and the generator. The 10AF/807, of which the ticking heart was made by IWC, withstood it all!
The 10AF/807 watch, including the camera recorder are displayed in the new IWC museum.
One can question why a supersonic aircraft needed a mechanical watch. According to Thomas Koenig it was very common to use these until the 1990ies in military airplanes and vessels. Electronic time measuring systems were more advanced but also more vulnerable. And one needed to know the correct time, especially in emergency situations. Extraordinary on the watch is also the tiny dial. This is covered by a special layer, having electro-illuminating properties. Now, almost half a century later, this layer is still "wet" and if one touches the dial, the digits and markers will be wiped out and repair is not possible.
How peculiar to see a timepiece of which the dial cannot be touched with gloves but that virtually cannot be destroyed by anything else!
Indeed a hell of a watch...
Regards,
Adrian.
