Parker 45 Flighter

[Glenn-SC]

Just picked this up, but it has no converter.

What kind would it use and where to get one?

Just a Parker piston converter?

[Dan Carmell]

Yup, I think any Parker piston or squeeze converter will work.

 

An interesting little factoid: when the 45 was first advertised as a "convertible" fountain pen, using either cartridges or converter, the converter was a piston filler. This was in the early 1960s, perhaps 1962. This is the earliest piston converter I am aware (for what little that is worth).

 

But the really interesting fact is that Parker fairly quickly switched over to squeeze converters and stayed with them for the 45 well into the 1980s, perhaps into the 1990s, and then of course switched back to a modern version of the piston converter, the one we are all more familiar with. My guess is that the early piston filler was not a hit with customers, who were likely more familiar with the 51s and other areometric filling pens.

 

Enjoy, I think the 45 Flighter is a great pen. I belive Neil did a nice review of one down in the FP Review section.

 

best, Dan

[FLZapped]

Mine came with the slide converter. You should be able to get them from Parker parts. You can also do a google search on "parker converter" and find other places that have them as well. The slide converter usually runs about $3

 

-Bruce

[Goodwhiskers]

The slide converter has a nifty little sliding coil inside to break the surface tension of the ink and make the ink move toward the section every time you point the pen toward the paper.

[KCkc]

Depends if your Flighter was made in UK or US since there is about 1mm difference in the nipple length, the longer one is for UK Made 45, 61, and 65, HTH:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/ebaywatch888/IMG_1215.jpg

[Michael Wright]

Depends if your Flighter was made in UK or US since there is about 1mm difference in the nipple length, the longer one is for UK Made 45, 61, and 65, HTH:

I'm having a bit of a problem following this. In the picture the lower converter is marked "USA." Is the upper one a UK one? If that's so, the lower one seems to me to have the longer nosepiece or whatever, that I'd expect to go with a longer nipple.

 

I guess I'm not understanding this right -- KCkc, could you please make it clearer for one of little brain (I was having trouble with the map and lefts and rights this evening, so it needs to be *real* simple).

 

Best

 

Michael

[KCkc]

I'm having a bit of a problem following this. In the picture the lower converter is marked "USA." Is the upper one a UK one? If that's so, the lower one seems to me to have the longer nosepiece or whatever, that I'd expect to go with a longer nipple.

Yes, it is a little confusing from the photo due to the country marking.

 

The bottom one, though marked US is the one that came and fit my UK Parker 45, 61, 65.

 

Not sure why but seems like the longer nipple sit better on the pen.

If I use the shorter one, the pen has air and ink leak from the converter area.

 

HTH.

Edited April 19, 2006 by KCkc

[Garageboy]

Any of my converters work with mine (XF nib)

I generally prefer the aeromatic style, but I use the modern ones these days

[Michael Wright]

I'm having a bit of a problem following this. In the picture the lower converter is marked "USA." Is the upper one a UK one? If that's so, the lower one seems to me to have the longer nosepiece or whatever, that I'd expect to go with a longer nipple.

Yes, it is a little confusing from the photo due to the country marking.

 

The bottom one, though marked US is the one that came and fit my UK Parker 45, 61, 65.

 

Not sure why but seems like the longer nipple sit better on the pen.

If I use the shorter one, the pen has air and ink leak from the converter area.

 

HTH.

Thanks for that. Odd. Maybe it's a question of generations? They have been being made for a long time.

 

Best

 

Michael