As far as I know, the Fortis Flieger* has been around since 1987. Fortis has been under new ownership since 2018.

In 2020 I first became aware of the NEW Fortis Flieger F-41.

Here I’m talking about the Fortis Flieger F-41 automatic with metal bracelet and black dial. There are other versions available, too.

Personally, I have a close professional connection with aviation.
And I used to be a private pilot, but that was a long time ago.
Today, I still enjoy flying as a passenger on both large and small aircraft.

When I saw the Fortis Flieger F-41 for the first time, I knew right away, that I had to have this watch.

Clear design language, nothing unnecessary and apparently it looked like a tough tool that can take a beating. The asking price also seemed very reasonable.

I’ve owned the F-41 for two years now.

And it has to suffer a lot with my hobbies. These are, and the list is open, mountain biking, motorcycling, R/C model flight, working on my vintage car, metal concerts in the front rows without fear of the mosh pit.

And not to forget my Insta hobby, where I try to photograph my watches in all situations at Frankfurt am Main Airport.

Also unforgettable, at least for me, my wingwalk on a Stearman Biplane with the fantastic AeroSuperBatics Wingwalking Team based in Cirencester/UK. 

The Fortis Flieger F-41 does it all with ease.

I am particularly impressed by the following details:

– brushed stainless steel case
– perfect readability and also excellent bright greenish lume
– all functions are marked in orange
– super crisp 24 clicks bezel action in both directions, for example to set a different UTC
– water resistant to 20 atm
– the non-tapering metal bracelet with adjustable clasp
– overall simplicity

And then there are those nice little details like the orange 13 in the date window or the saying “Ohne Flieger wäre der Himmel nur Luft” (“Without Flieger, the sky would only be Air”) on the caseback.

I didn’t like one little thing with the F-41. This was, that some links of the bracelet got stuck against each other from time to time. But this problem went away by itself after wearing it for a while.

To come back to my first statement in the headline … yes, if i could keep just one of my numerous watches, it would without a doubt be the Fortis Flieger F-41.

* Flieger translated means Plane/Aircraft

https://open.spotify.com/episode/12SJzCJ0PzTUbQhqTcfxA2?si=2d28432ad94b48b8