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FLYBACK

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LONGINES
SPIRIT
FLYBACK

Pioneering Flyback Chronographs

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In the air around the world

Hans von Schiller was a zeppelin captain at a time when simply mentioning the profession filled people with awe. A pioneer in air tourism, he flew over the Arctic and crossed the Atlantic to the United States and South America countless times.

In 1929, Hans von Schiller was aboard the famous German airship, the LZ 127, named Graf Zeppelin. The 236-metre-long airship travelled around the world in 12 and a half days. Accompanying him in the cockpit were two Longines instruments. At the end of this extraordinary voyage, the captain congratulated Longines by telegram for the accuracy and reliability of the chronometers and donated the historic pieces to what would later become the Longines Museum.

Longines also equipped the largest commercial airship ever made which was assigned a regular route between the United States and Europe: the famous LZ 129 Hindenburg. The zeppelin offered dozens of passengers the comfort of an ocean liner at a cruising speed of 80mph (130 km/h). The main room even had a piano. The cockpit was equipped with three Longines chronometers, displaying legal time, Greenwich time and Greenwich sidereal time. Unfortunately, this zeppelin had a fatal accident in 1937. Hans von Schiller managed to survive as he missed the departure, due to a delay in his previous trip…

The LONGINES SPIRIT collection continues the tradition of precision instruments created by the brand to accompany the greatest explorers in their conquest of the air, sea and land.

It has now been extended to include a chronograph with flyback function, testimony to Longines' pioneering role in developing this technology.

Discover how Richard Byrd crossed Antarctica wearing the Longines Spirit Flyback

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Story behind the pioneers

L’explorateur Richard Byrd et son équipage décollent avec leur avion pour tenter le survol du pôle Sud. Une mission périlleuse de plus de 1290 km (800 miles) à travers les paysages hostiles de l’Antarctique.

L’équipage se dirige plein sud, équipé d’une boussole solaire et de montres Longines, reconnues pour leur extrême fiabilité. Des obstacles naturels, à l’instar du Massif de la Reine Maud culminant à 3350 mètres, obligent à des changements de direction fréquents.

Equipé de sa Longines flyback (retour en vol), l’explorateur enregistre avec une précision inégalée chaque période de vol à chaque nouveau cap. La fonction flyback a été inventée par Longines et permet par une seule pression de remette le chronomètre à zéro et de suivre le cap indiqué pendant la durée requise.

Mission accomplie pour Richard Byrd et son équipe : le pôle Sud est atteint. Grâce à la précision des montres et instruments de bord Longines et de la fonction flyback, les pionniers retournent à la base sans encombre.

Au terme de l’aventure, Longines reçoit le radiogramme suivant: « Les instruments Longines et les chronomètres mis à disposition par la société Wittnauer de New York ont fourni un service hautement satisfaisant. Avec toute notre reconnaissance, l’expédition antarctique de Byrd »

Flyback is an additional function of chronographs that is particularly useful in terms of time and speed.

Indeed, a simple press of a pusher instantly resets the chronograph’s second hand, which immediately restarts timing from zero.

A single press enables three operations (stop, reset and restart), in contrast to conventional chronographs, which require the stop and reset functions to be activated before restarting the timing function.

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THE FLYBACK:
AN ICONIC FUNCTION

How does
this
function
work?

start the
chronograph start the
chronograph PAUSE THE CHRONOGRAPH PAUSE THE CHRONOGRAPH

activate FLYBACK function activate FLYBACK function Reset the Chronograph Reset the Chronograph

How does
this
function
work?

With centuries of watchmaking expertise, Longines has played a pioneering role in a number of technological advances and continues to display an unwavering commitment to innovation.

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An exceptional timepiece

Linking
history
with
innovation

Longines equipped the most important pioneers in aviation with professional instruments for time keeping and navigation.

And
Longines invented
the flyback mechanism

Flyback is an additional function of chronographs that is particularly useful in terms of time and speed. Indeed, a simple press of a pusher instantly resets the chronograph’s second hand, which immediately restarts timing from zero.

A single press enables three operations (stop, reset and restart), in contrast to conventional chronographs, which require the stop and reset functions to be activated before restarting the timing function.

A key task for aviatiors is precisely measure flight stages and start new ones while flying at high speed.

Exact timing is essential for navigation or to calculate gasoline reserves.

Richard Byrd

Longines has indeed been the constant companion and friend-in-need for many of our great pioneer aviators

A pioneer : Richard Byrd

world’s first flight over the south pole lasting nearly 18 hours and 51 minutes.

The explorer must travel about 1,290 km (800 miles) to reach the South Pole.

The rugged landscape below them is made up of glaciers, massifs and crevasses.