We had a look at Brian Jones’s Breitling Emergency in a previous article. Today, we hear from another pilot, this time Jacques Bothelin, Leader of the Breitling Jet Team, who offers his opinion on why the Breitling Emergency is a serious professional tool, with particular emphasis on the new features of the recently launched 2013 version: the Emergency 2. (See Video Below:)
The previous version of the Emergency transmitted on the analogue 121.5Mhz frequency and when activated, only had a geographical range of 90 nautical miles wide and 20,000 feet high. While useful, it depended on search and rescue personnel being within these parameters for any signal to be received.
The Emergency 2 however adds a new digital frequency of 406Mhz on top of the analogue 121.5Mhz. Together, both transmitters offer a more reliable signal, with the digital one able to be launched into space to a network of low orbit or geostationary satellites. This ensures now that no place on earth is off-limits for a distress signal to be received.
Jacques Bothelin certainly knows the value of a watch like the Emergency 2, and I had the pleasure of speaking with him recently at the launch of the new Breitling boutique at the Palais Renaissance in Singapore. As a fan of Breitling watches long before his partnership with Breitling began in 2003, he knows what the essential tools are to have in the cockpit. In fact, I’ll be posting a later video where he talks about his favourite Breitling watches. Look out for it!
