Most aviation businesses start with a product. Beau Garrett’s started with 1,800 pilots telling him exactly what they wanted. That difference is worth an hour of your time.
Garrett is a commercial pilot, a former flight instructor to Navy and Air Force officers, and the founder of Call Sign, formerly known as Bravo Golf. On Tuesday, April 7th, he joins Tim Jedrek live on The Aviation Business Podcast for a conversation about building something real inside one of the world’s most passionate, skeptical, and tight-knit communities.
A Brand Built From the Cockpit Up
Garrett didn’t start with investors or a marketing agency. He started with a survey. Before designing a single watch, he asked more than 1,800 pilots what they actually cared about in a timepiece. The answer surprised nobody who has spent time in a cockpit: less is more.
The result was the Discovery, Bravo Golf’s first aviation timepiece. It shows local time, UTC (Zulu), and the date. That’s it. No Bluetooth. No notifications. No bulk. Just a clean, readable watch that belongs in the flight deck and at the dinner table.
AOPA Pilot Magazine reviewed it and put it plainly: it doesn’t scream “I’m a pilot.” It whispers “I’m an aviator.”
From Bravo Golf to Call Sign
The brand’s original name was not an accident. Bravo Golf spells out the founder’s initials, B.G., in the phonetic alphabet. But the brand grew beyond its origins. In 2025, Garrett rebranded to Call Sign, a name built around what aviation’s culture of identity and belonging actually means.
A call sign isn’t given. It’s earned. It comes from a story, a moment in training, a mistake you’ll never live down, or a skill nobody can deny. That’s the meaning Garrett wanted the brand to carry.
The rebrand also opened the door to a collaboration that started with his son’s homework. After a school report on the Wright Brothers led to a chance conversation at Sun ‘n Fun in Lakeland, Garrett partnered with the Wright Brothers Family Foundation. The result was the Wrights of Passage collection, three limited-edition timepieces tied directly to the Wright family’s history, shipped in wooden chests handcrafted in Ohio by the same toolbox maker Orville Wright used in his workshop.
Why This Episode Matters for Flight School Owners
Beau Garrett didn’t build a watch company. He built a community around a shared identity. That’s a lesson every flight school owner can use.
Your students don’t just want to learn to fly. They want to belong to something. They want to earn something. They want a story they can tell. The schools that grow the fastest are the ones that understand this and build their brand around it.
This episode is about more than watches. It’s about what happens when you stop selling a product and start standing for something.
What You’ll Hear in This Episode
The survey that started it all. Garrett polled 1,800 pilots before building anything. Hear why that move changed everything about the product and the brand.
The rebrand decision. Going from Bravo Golf to Call Sign wasn’t just a name change. Learn why Garrett made the call and what it cost him to do it.
The Wright Brothers partnership. A kid’s school project turned into a limited-edition collection backed by a historic American family foundation. The full story is worth hearing.
Brand building inside a tight-knit community. Aviation people know when they’re being sold to. Garrett talks about earning trust in a community that doesn’t hand it out.
Tune In Live
The Aviation Business Podcast
- Guest: Beau Garrett, Founder, Call Sign (formerly Bravo Golf)
- Live Recording: Tuesday, April 7, 2026
- Time: 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM CDT
- Join the live audience here: riverside.fm/studio/podcast-40nqk
Beau Garrett built a pilot’s brand by listening to pilots first. This conversation is for anyone who wants to do the same thing with their flight school.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Beau Garrett? Beau Garrett is a commercial pilot and former flight instructor who trained Navy and Air Force officers. He founded the aviation watch brand Bravo Golf, which rebranded to Call Sign in 2025.
What is Call Sign watches? Call Sign is an American watch brand that makes purpose-built timepieces for pilots. Products include the Discovery, a clean analog pilot watch with Zulu time, and the Wrights of Passage, a limited-edition series created in partnership with the Wright Brothers Family Foundation.
What does this episode cover? Tim Jedrek and Beau Garrett discuss brand building inside the aviation community, the origin story of Bravo Golf and Call Sign, the Wright Brothers collaboration, and what flight school owners can learn from building a brand pilots actually trust.