Worth mentioning are two popular timers targeted specifically for cockpit use, including the $50 ASA Flight Timer. The ASA has no shortage of features, including three simultaneous timer functions, audible and visual alarms, a stopwatch and a digital notepad. There’s even a dedicated approach timer mode for storing up to 12 approach times.
The $27 Flight Timer from Sporty’s is more basic and has useful flashing LEDs to announce timer expiration and two independent count up and countdown timers, each with a unique alarm. We have the Sporty’s model and found that battery life isn’t great, especially since we don’t use it much.
Are the features on these aviation-purposed timers more than many pilots will use? We think so. We also think the ASA’s push-twist setting mode can be cumbersome, especially when one-handing the timer in turbulence. For that reason, we give our kitchen timers the edge, thanks to their direct-entry feature set and low cost. After all, it’s only a timer.
