My Parker 61 flighter model. This is a British model with a C/C filler.
I think Parker 61 is the only pen I prefer as C/C and not with Capillary filler. Not that the Capillary filler is so bad but I guess the C/C simplicity suits me better in this case.
Flighter means in Parker terms that this is the steel body model and the only part made of plastic is the section. This is good because like many know Parker 61 has a tendency to crack and the steel body and cap solves this problem, just the section still can crack.
I always preferred Parker 61 over the 51, not sure why but the fact is that at this time I don’t own any Parker 51 and few 61’s

Parker 61 has the same basic design of the 51 with its slip cap and hooded nib. To me the 61 looks and feels like a slightly smaller and slimmer version of the 51 but more modern looking and more comfortable in the hand.
A nice advantage I found with these hooded nib pens is that while other pens need a high lever of ink to be sucked in this pen needs very little ink in the bottle. I have very little Pelikan 4000 blue ink left in the bottle and the 61 sucked it with no real problems.

The nib on this pen is a real treat, it’s a very wet B nib and the moment I put the nib on the paper it feels like the pen just want to leave its mark. A real juicy pen.!!!
The nib will write effortlessly and as smooth as skates on ice. To my surprise even though this is a FAT nib it doesn’t disconnect you from the paper, you still can feel what’s happening on the paper, for me this is a very important thing with a pen.
The C/C filler take a nice amount of ink and the pen needs it with the generous nature of this nib.
Because it doesn’t have a filler this pen is very well balanced and is light weight.
It feels very comfortable in the hand and you can just as easy write with it posted or unposted.

Parker 61 can make both a great writer and a great collection theme since so many different models and colours were made.
I wouldn’t be afraid to buy the capillary fillers but remember if you decide you don’t want to use the pen for a while you must thoroughly clean it from ink and only then store it. If you let the ink sit and dry in the filler you are in for a lot of work cleaning it.

Thanks, goodguy. Another great review of a great pen. I happen to be partial to flighters, but even so this one seems to be a real winner.

Best,
Summer

Thanks for the review.

The only thing I can add is that I believe the flighter to be the nicest finish of the P61's. It's got a wonderful tactile finish that just makes you want to stroke it.

The UK made nibs seem to be more generous in their tipping than the US ones, and write a little broader and wetter for the same marking.

Regards

Richard.

Personaly I like both pen weather made in the USA or UK.