Pens That Fly Well

[GnaRocksTheWorld]

Which pens fare well on flights in your experience in any orientation? It's a little difficult keeping all my pens upright, so I wanna know how your pens fare with ink leakage in flights nib up, nib down, or nib sideways (like in a pen case).

 

Also, I'm not sure if it's safe bringing my Pilot Custom 74 with the Con-70 up to the skies...

[Icywolfe]

Vacuum pens.

[AndrewC]

Part of the trick is to keep as much air out as possible since that is what expands and pushes out the ink. I twist a converter until the air gap is gone and have not had one leak. I also have great luck with my Pelikans. Visconti Power Fillers, the ones with the two chambers where you open the back to fill the first chamber are great because you can empty that chamber andlock it shut, so no worries there. I have not had the best of luck with my vintage pens, though. P51s have made a flight, but there was also the time I uncapped a P51 and had a capful of ink.

[Notgatherox]

An empty pen XD

 

Jokes aside, a fully inked pen should do alright, since there isn't air inside so no expansion which results in expulsion of ink.

 

If you still are worried, put the pens in a Ziploc bag.

 

Just don't use the pen during takeoff or landing for that's when the pressure changes. Midflight (ie in the air) is okay!

 

 

~Epic

[Cryptos]

I find goose feather work quite well. Four or five taken from the same wing (this is important for aerodynamics), carefully trimmed and superglued to the blind end of the barrel in a nice even arrangement. If you try to put the feathers on the cap and then post it the cap tends to fall off when you launch the pen. YMMV of course, but that's my experience. http://www.dharmawheel.net/images/smilies/guns.gif

[de_pen_dent]

I have had very few pens leak in flight - aerometrics and lever fillers aside.

 

I suppose if you want the most secure option, one of those Visconti power fillers, where you can empty the inner reservoir, would be the best of the lot.

 

I fly 4-6 times every month, and just shove my pens into my carryon I try to keep them upright but dont always succeed. Very rarely there is a drop or two that needs to be cleaned off.

[sandy101]

Rollerballs and biros.

 

My Cross Century 2 covered everything in black ink during a flight.

 

Never again.

 

I have a couple of Parker jotters and roller balls for the overseas stuff.

[Algester]

Lamy 2000 and TWSBI mini it's also great that I have the clear one so I can see immediately if ink or no ink next to the vaccuumatic pens

[Elyptic]

I've had some ink spitting issues during flight, but generally they've been minimized as I've tried to fly with completely full ink chambers.

 

However, I did purchase a couple of TWSBI Vac 700 pens specifically for this purpose as they can be sealed off during flight. It's worked very well so far, and as an added bonus, I really like the pens.

 

The other option is to fly with cartridge pens and just insert the cartridge when you arrive at your destination. However, if you don't use the full cartridge then you end up either tossing the rest, or flying with a half full pen on the way home.

[Portia_of_Belmont]

I recently flew with my TWSBI mini and Levenger True Writer. Neither was fully inked and neither leaked a drop. I did put them in a zip lock bag just to be safe.

[Tojusi]

Danitrio eye droppers with shut-off valve should be pretty safe!

 

I have flown with a number of different pens. No matter the ink level (ink/air ratio), I do not recall any mishaps. Then again, I have kept them nib up and have not written with the pen in flight. I usually have had only one or two pens with me in a one or two pen case, so keeping them nib up has been easy.

[AndrewC]

I find goose feather work quite well. Four or five taken from the same wing (this is important for aerodynamics), carefully trimmed and superglued to the blind end of the barrel in a nice even arrangement. If you try to put the feathers on the cap and then post it the cap tends to fall off when you launch the pen. YMMV of course, but that's my experience. http://www.dharmawheel.net/images/smilies/guns.gif

Ha! Well done! Although I prefer wild turkey feathers as I have a flock of them that that comes through the property and leaves lots of primary feathers all over the place. They are fun to use.

I was going to say ANY pen flies well as long as you throw it hard it enough. It's the landing that's the hard part.

[GnaRocksTheWorld]

Ha! Well done! Although I prefer wild turkey feathers as I have a flock of them that that comes through the property and leaves lots of primary feathers all over the place. They are fun to use.

I was going to say ANY pen flies well as long as you throw it hard it enough. It's the landing that's the hard part.

Haha I expected something more like, "My Pelikans fly well..." XD

[Cepasaccus]

Safeties.

[Icywolfe]

Haha I expected something more like, "My Pelikans fly well..." XD

I'm sure Pilots fly planes well too.

[Shangas]

I've flown with Swans, they seem very stable.

 

Seriously speaking though...I've flown with all pens from all eras. From brand new off the shelf, to antiques 100 years old.

 

The trick is to keep them FULL, or EMPTY. And nib-UP.

[Newjelan]

Never had a problem with any pen and fly internationally every few weeks.

[Algester]

Sailors sail boats, Pelikans fly, Pilots do their job well and sometimes crash with tragic results... I dunno...

[Drone]

I had a crummy Jinhao pen that flew perfectly - from my hand right into the trash bin!

 

Joking aside...

 

The TWSBI Vac 700 and Pilot 823 are two vacuum fillers that seal the barrel when the filler knob is locked down. These two pens are designed to fly safely. But because the barrel is sealed, to write for more than a page or so, you have to loosen the filler knob slightly to crack the seal. Otherwise, when your feed runs out of ink, you won't be able to write any more.

 

See the picture of the Pilot 823 filling system below, it shows how the seal works. The first picture on the left shows the pen sealed. The second picture from the left shows the filler knob unscrewed two millimeters to allow the ink to flow past the seal.

 

Note: Not all vacuum fillers will seal when the filler knob is screwed down.

 

 

You may download a high-resolution .pdf of these filling instructions from here:

 

http://www.namiki.com/aboutNamiki/penCare.php

 

[Kuscer]

i have never experienced a leak in my life. To be fair, I've only flown once