Stories

‘This is My Watch’ with Don Nocito

“If you get into aviation you are going to deal with two things: numbers and time, and I enjoy both.”

There was a time in the not so distant past where relying on a wrist watch when flying a plane was essential. It was required to for making sure one could track the four essential times on any flight: Out, Off, On, and In. Sure, cockpit clocks were available, but they were not a replacement for a wristwatch. A watch was required to track time on the plane, and many of todays most collectable vintage watches were originally marketed and sold to pilots.

It is interesting to consider the charm and idealistic dreaming many watch lovers feel when they think about the golden age of piloting; a time before computers reigned supreme in cockpits and a trust GMT wrist watch sat on the wrist of most pilots.

What must it have been like when stainless steel watches by Rolex were available at retail, used by professionals, and under $500?  What must it have been like to use a watch everyday, not as an exercise in trying to connect to a fanciful past, but because a wrist watch was the best tool available?

One man who knows what this was like because he lived and worked during those days, is Don Nocito.  Originally from the Philadelphia area, he moved to the Wood River Valley in 1992 after getting married.    

Don told me that he knew he wanted to be a pilot since he was a child. Piloting was in his blood, his father piloted bombers during World War 2, and he recalls fondly watching his father pause many times during the family’s dinner conversations in order to watch a plane take off from the airport next to his home.  The whole family would stop, look up, and watch whatever plane was starting its journey onto an unknown (at least to Don and his family) flightpath. 

Don started his airline career at World Airlines in 1971, and worked there until he retired in 2001.  During his time at World Airlines he visited over 160 countries and flew countless miles transporting goods and people all over the world.  One of the more notable accomplishments of his career was partaking in the Craft Services operations for the US Military. 

The United States Government has a program in which they pay monthly stipends to airlines in order to have access to aircraft if, and when, they might need them for government use.  Any airline that agrees to partake in this program is required to provide a functioning aircraft that meets the government’s requirements and timetable.

So, for example, if the Army needs an aircraft that is capable of transporting troops in eight hours, then the airline is required to provide said plane in the exact working shape they request it in, and on time.  These aircraft serve to augment the militaries fleets and have played large roles in many of the conflicts that the United States has taken part in. According to Don, over 80% of World Airlines business came from their contracts with the government.

Don was there with World Airlines in 1973 when the United States pulled out of Vietnam; he was part of the group that extracted boat teams off of various waterways throughout Vietnam. Don describes it as the work he was made to do; being in the world tangibly taking part in events as they unfold, not sitting on the sidelines as a mere spectator.  “No day was ever the same,” he tells me recalling the time in Vietnam, “And I can’t sit at a desk…” 

After Vietnam he flew the world over doing traditional airline business, and in 1989, he decided he needed a watch. He wanted a watch he could use as a tool on the plane and would fit his constantly traveling lifestyle.  He decided on a Glycine Airman quartz GMT. He felt this particular watch would serve all the functions he needed and would help him track time where he was working and the time at home.  From that day forward it became “the only watch I ever wore, it became part of my life.”

This watch was the perfect tool for his life; it was easy to wear, accurate to within 3 seconds a month, and allowed him to conduct all the essential time related business that being a pilot required.

According to Don, this watch traveled around 500,000 miles, or 800-900 hours, a year (he kept the records of every single flight he conducted after purchasing the watch in case you were wondering if this is an accurate figure) from 1989 to his retirement in 2001.

Soon after he purchased this watch the Gulf War kicked off and Don and World Airlines was thrust into the conflict in Iraq. His job? To coordinate the the entire Craft Service program supporting the Gulf War out of his base in Cairo. He made sure that each and every plane and person participating knew where to go and what to do.

Some missions were straight forward: dropping off supplies or troops and others were not. Often he would only be given grid coordinates to a landing site in the desert somewhere to airports that were not listed on any official maps and were nothing more than disguised dirt airstrips with berms covering the hangers so they could not be seen from the air. And on his wrist through this entire affair was his trusty Glycine GMT 2000.

In 1999 Don partciapted in the US and NATO involvement in the Yugoslavia. He helped to evacuate people from the war torn Kosovo region, again his Glycine was on his wrist.

There seem to be few people in the world who can say they lived the life they dreamed of, working a job because they loved it, not because they needed a paycheck, and Don is one of those people. The fact that a watch such as his Glycine could have lived this life with him, is icing on the cake for all of us who love watches.

Oh and his father that flew bombers over Europe? He also had a great watch, a Hamilton Chronometer. Here are some pictures of it that Don was kind enough to share with me. His father gave it to him, and in turn, he has since given it to his son who supplied these photographs. Thank you Don for taking the time to share your story with me!

And stay tuned, I will have more of these stories coming in the future!