I just got my late father's watch back from service. It's the first time I've seen it since his passing, and I've never seen it in a wearable condition before. 

"71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors" (adamprotter) 04/10/2018 at 13:08 • Filed to: None

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The watch got pretty wrecked through years of disuse and sun damage, and even Breitling said that they wouldn’t repair it, but through cannibalizing another broken one I found on eBay and a friend who owns a jewelry store, I now have a fixed Breitling Navitimer Quartz 3300. My parents won this watch this in an Air Rally in 1985 where they flew single seat engine airplane (I think a Mooney Bravo) from New York to Paris.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > 71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors 04/10/2018 at 13:38

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This watch looks incredible. Treasure it.

71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 04/10/2018 at 13:43

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I really truly will. I have a few other watches, but this one feels really special already. It has a really nice feel to it, and I really love the band. It was originally metal, but I much prefer leather ones.

ttyymmnn > 71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors 04/10/2018 at 13:50

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Holy crap. The watch, the story, all of it. What a remarkable heirloom.

71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors > ttyymmnn 04/10/2018 at 14:02

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Even more amazing is the fact that I believe this is the air rally where my parents met. My mom ran an FBO in Slidell LA and my dad, who was already signed up for the rally, had his copilot bail and left my dad needing a new copilot. As the story goes, he went up to my mom who was also a flight instructor at the time and said “Hey, I need someone to fly with me from New York to Paris, do you know any pilot’s?” to which my mom replied, “I’m a pilot”. My dad asked if she was any good and she replied: “I just saw your landing, and I know I’m better than you”. So she flew with him to Paris and a few years later they were married. He was a bit of a bastard of a human being, but this is one of the few things I have of his and I fully intend to cherish it. He has another Breitling that I intend to get repaired, but that one should be easier to fix.

He’s not technically dead yet, but he’s a stone through from heart and kidney failure and is currently in end-stage dementia and no longer knows who I am. He isn’t long for this world and I’ve made my peace with things.

average user > 71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors 04/10/2018 at 14:12

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Very cool. Exceedingly cool. My Aerospace salutes you.

ttyymmnn > 71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors 04/10/2018 at 14:12

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Your mom reminds me of Tilly Shilling .

Shilling was awarded the Gold Star for lapping the Brooklands circuit at 106 miles per hour (171 km/h) on her Norton M30 ....Shilling married George Naylor, in September 1938. He also worked at the RAE (Royal Aircraft Establishment). According to anecdote, she refused to marry him until he also had been awarded the Brooklands Gold Star for lapping the circuit at over 100 mph.

average user > 71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors 04/10/2018 at 14:14

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Take it to a Breitling store. A full refresh of the aerospace is about 400 bucks and very much worth the money. I banged mine around and it came back perfect after service. Also the LCD panel is very fragile. I made the stupid mistake of changing my battery at a local high end store and it crapped out of me within the month. Ended up paying Breitling another 250 to fix it.

71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors > ttyymmnn 04/10/2018 at 14:33

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My mom is a cool person. She rode motorcycles all throughout college was into Japanese cars before that was really a thing. I know she bought a new first gen RX-7 when she lived in milwaukee and dove it all year, even though the crazy winters there. After I was born in the hospital, she drove me home in her 300ZX Twin Turbo (which make that the first car I was ever in). She took me in an airplane for the first time when I was 10 days old, and we just taxied around the airport in the airplane they went on that air rally in. A few years ago, she owned a modified 2013 WRX with an intake and a big exhaust, but she replaced that with a Lexus RC-F about a year ago.

71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors > average user 04/10/2018 at 14:34

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Oh, very pretty. I really I like that one.

ttyymmnn > 71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors 04/10/2018 at 14:38

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Sounds like quite a lady.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > 71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors 04/10/2018 at 15:07

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quite stunning

71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 04/10/2018 at 16:46

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Thank you

Captain of the Enterprise > 71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors 04/10/2018 at 17:33

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I’m glad you were able to repair it, what an incredible story!