The main problem with tech is that it gets replaced so quickly! Once upon a time my D2C was the bee's knees... mind you, it can do almost all of that (minus the pulse ox and the touch screen!) Also, and this has nothing to do with watches, but I passed my CPL flight test on Tuesday, so in 4 months time when my licence actually arrives in the post, I'll be a commercial pilot!
Hey PubliusNaso, huge congratulations on passing your CPL. I know you've been a part of this channel for many years now. I'm grateful for the support and really happy for you. I sincerely wish you all the very best with your flying career. Hope to be a passenger on one of your planes in the future.
@@StefanDrury Thanks Stef! It's definitely been a worthwhile challenge, and you were certainly a corroborating inspiration of the doing it for its own sake, whether employment comes from it or not. My main hope currently is that one day my bank balance recovers 😂😩
yeah but you get what you paid for, a newer more modern one doesn't make yours worst, it's still the same as you bought it and thought it was a fair price for what you were getting
In a pressurized airplane it will be useless anyway and the screen in the seat will be as usefull for your position in flight. Good luck also to get a satellite fix in a airliner cell far from any windows. ;-)
Fantastic Real World Usage Video ✈️ there are literally so many Features of the Garmin Aviator watch I love and use daily. Recently USAF Retired, I received 2 Amazing Retirement Gifts, a 2023 Jeep 4XE and a Garmin MARQ Aviator Gen 2. Absolutely treasure both “Tools”😂🙏
Stefan, the D2 mach 1 only works in GA type aircraft. Inside corporate and commercial heavies, the watch does not receive a signal. Mine is going back.
It would be interesting to pull the Alt. Static Source lever and then compare your altimeter with the watch. You’d expect a somewhat different reading inside the cabin from the external static port.
Thanks for sharing! I was really hoping to hear the pros/cons vs the Air X10. I'm planning to get one of two as a present to myself for passing my PPL check ride soon. :-)
It's tempting to buy but I just can't get past the fact it's like 3 flight lessons and all the info is on your iPad. Maybe as a present to myself when I pass my PPL.
I like classic analogue watches, auto and or quarts depending on the design. I have a Junkers 40mm Flieger GMT now but this Garmin is calling to me! There are also Seiko dive watches calling my name. It's all so hard! I don't know what to do!
The only thing I hoped they did differently was the band's end links! I purchased Garmin's titanium one with the curved end links, so it fits like a glove on the watch and makes it look more of a normal watch. With the straight end links, it looks like it's aftermarket, and essentially one of those "one size fits all" type of bands. Anyways, I love that the D2 Mach 1 is touchscreen, that's a huge selling point in aviation, in my opinion. It doesn't look AS fluid in some menus as you're scrolling through them, but you're getting a lot of information packed in a watch, so it's forgiving. Ultimately, the appearance of this watch is truly, in my opinion, the reason I went with one of MARQ's for surfing/boating. It doesn't look like a piece of gear. Instead, it's a watch.
Do you reckon this would be usable as an airline pilot (granted we don't need the database + VOR/ILS stuff) would would be good to have a good watch to fly in? Would it update as i assume if it uses Bluetooth from a phone at 41,000ft we don't get too much signal
Hi Stefan! This is a bit out of the blue and off topic, but I thought it would be worth letting you know about it and extend the invitation. This year marks 50 years since my great great aunt and pilot Max price went missing in a tiger moth and were never found. The flight was to stop the damming of Lake Pedder. On the 8th of September we are planing to run a commemoration flight from Hobart to Canberra as per the plan 50 years ago. I will be flying a plane from Brisbane down to a strip just west of Melbourne to accompany the tiger moth across Bass Strait and then also be accompanying for the remainder of the event. If you were interested in joining in on this adventure I know all of us involved in the saving of lake Pedder would love to have you come along on our support team and other planes. Look forward to hearing from you 🤘
By itself it's an amazing piece of tech. But who is this really for is an interesting question. I mean if you have an iPad in your cockpit it would be hard to argue that the watch adds much functionality. And if you don't you can buy two iPad Minis for the price of such a watch. There is certainly a huge lifestyle factor to buying one.
@@BrettMcNary ehh idk about for pilots but garmin smart watches can be pretty useful. I used mine to navigate me out of a Forrest when lost without any cell reception and was able to buy a beer while my phone charged.
It's already hard to justify paying over $1000 to take instruments already in the cockpit and duplicate them on your wrist in tiny form with no physical controls, such that you need to take your hand off of some other control just to look at them.
Lovely watch. Really torn between the epic 2 and this one. My decision to go with the epix instead was that Garmin told me they don’t update the pilot watches on the same schedule as their base models to prevent interference with the pilot apps. In the past the fenix line got regular updates and the pilot ones didn’t get as many. For $1200 I want them to make sure my watch is up to date on its software. Plus, I have access to all of the features on ForeFlight or on the nav equipment. If they told me they update it as frequently as the base model, I would have gotten it for the coolness factor.
Hi Stefan, you mention you are a Garmin Pilot user, is that in addition to OzRunways / AvPlan or have you switched? Do you have any video that describes, reviews or compares Garmin Pilot? Thanks.
I'd love to own one of these just for the gadget factor. The only real piloting use can see other than playing around might be a last resort backup though 🤔 Edit: Let me add to the second part of that... This could be really quite useful to those in a less complicated cockpit. I'm thinking sailplanes or even paramotors 🤔
Find a cheap Fenix 5 Plus (or 5X Plus) and flash the firmware of the D2 Delta watch to it. (Sadly this doesn't work for newer models as Garmin started to encrypt their firmwares.)
Does this watch require an active subscription to the Garmin Pilot app exclusively or is it compatible with other apps? Asking because I'm not sure if all the features are available otherwise.
I was seriously considering buying one of these, but this video talked me out of it. So, thanks for saving me a fair amount of money. It does not integrate with ForeFlight - sorry, Garmin, but ForeFlight is the real standard. It is not accurate for altitude, so what else? It is a beautiful watch and I really wanted one, but I'll wait until someone gets it right.
Really enjoying your videos, haven't flown in 14 years, but my last two 3.5 hour flights were in a Cirrus with the rego HQQ. Based out of Parafield SA. Hoping to get back in the air and take my wife and children up. Got around 150 hours, but that was 14 years ago. Just trying to catch up on whats been happening in the Aviation world in that time..... Might have to upgrade my Fenix 6 to the D2......:)
Single charge lasts about 8 days on this watch. Less if you're using the GPS heavily of course, but the battery life on this is incredible. Way better than an Apple Watch as a comparison.
Quick question, Stef: I think you have avidyne flight displays. Why do you use Garmin Pilot as an EFB? I always thought that the main strength of Garmin Pilot was wireless integration with Garmin glass cockpit systems, and if you didn’t have one of those then a locally produced EFB like OzRunways or AvPlan (which you used to use?) would be more featureful. Is it because Garmin Pilot has global coverage and you want to fly around the world?
He has Garmin avionics (the GPS/COM are GTN650, and in this video, they were GNS430). The Avydine avionics simply display what the GNS and GTN in position COM1 are sending to him.
Hey Mark, it's for a few reasons but you covered the main ones - a) integration with the GTN650 navigation units I have in EYZ (for iPad to Avionics live data transfer), b) for Worldwide coverage for future projects, c) I use Jeppesen charts and they integrate with Garmin Pilot but not AvPlan/OzRunways (at least not a few years ago when I started using GP). I do still have an AvPlan subscription though and use this for flight planning and local info that I can't get from GP (country airstrip guide, etc).
@@StefanDrury It’s funny: Since I did glass panel upgrades last year, I almost never use the EFB in flight. If OzR had Connext integration like Foreflight so I could use it to fling flight plan updates around that’d be nirvana, but I can’t see that happening any time soon.
I see you are a Garmin ambassador, do you have discount codes? I am an ambassador for Revo and they give me to share, I would love to get a code for the D2 Air x10
Well I would go out and buy EXCEPT what happenned to Solar ? give that option even with more $ and it would then be an absolute winner. (ok, power charging as emeegency option only)
Why do pilots speak so quickly when using comms ? I mean , the one time that clear information is so important , lets see who can convey that the fastest , for no apparent reason .....
It's a cool gimmick. But as a pilot I see no use for this. Give me a Swiss quarts watch for flying. Can do automatic/mechanical as well. (I hate the idea of needing to charge my watch everyday as well)
This video is an immediate turn off for a professional pilot. This is just an overpriced garbage for functions that are already available on any FMS and EFB.
