Jump to content

A fleet of flighters


ParkerBeta

Recommended Posts

The brushed stainless steel body and cap with black section 'flighter' may well be Parker's most enduring contribution to pen design. Every important Parker (except, I guess, the Duofold, but I could be wrong) model has appeared in a 'flighter' variant, and since I have now acquired three such flighters, I thought it would be fun to line them up and take pictures. Individual FPN reviews of these flighters are here: 45, 50, and 180.

 

From top to bottom: 45 (M), 50 (XF), 180 (M/XF)

post-22502-1228899384_thumb.jpg

 

All my flighters have gold trim, and the 45 and 180 have black plastic sections (the 45's is smooth, the 180's is a great-looking crosshatch). The 50 section, being integral with the nib, is necessarily metal, but that metal has been sandblasted or ground in some way to offer a grip at the section part while being smooth and shiny at the nib part. The overall effect is very impressive indeed!

 

post-22502-1228899557_thumb.jpg

above: 50; below: 180 (M-side)

post-22502-1228899580_thumb.jpg

 

In terms of length, they are all comfortably long to write with without needing to post the cap. The 45 has the widest cross-section, followed by the 50, while the 180 is really very slim, sort of like the Sailor Daks Slim. The 45's cap closes by friction alone, whereas with the more expensive 50 and 180 models, the cap snaps closed.

 

I bought the 45 new many years ago for the equivalent of $16 in the transit lounge at Heathrow (it is made in the UK), and recently acquired the 180 as NOS and the 50 in mint condition, both from a "well-known auction site," for about $75 each. The 50 and 180 are both made in the USA. The 45's nib appears to be gold-plated steel, the 180's nib was advertised by the seller as 14kt gold (but there are no markings on the nib to confirm this), and the 50's nib is stainless steel, just like the rest of the section.

 

The 45 is the most "conventional" nib of the three, while the 50's integral nib and the 180's nib (which can be turned a hundred and eighty degrees to write with a different width) are unusual both in looks and function. Together, they show the gamut of what Parker was capable of in its heyday. The 45's M and the 180's M-side nibs are both wide, as Parkers are in my experience, both both are very smooth indeed. On the other hand, both the 50's XF nib and the 180's XF-side nib are somewhat scratchy, though the latter is slightly smoother than the former. Again, they run a bit wide -- the equivalent of a Japanese F.

 

post-22502-1228900790_thumb.jpg

Summary: the 'flighter' design is durable, streamlined, and classy. I want to enlarge my collection to include a 51, 61, and 75 flighter, if possible. Meanwhile, these three are all fun to write with and likely to last forever!

Edited by ParkerBeta

S.T. Dupont Ellipsis 18kt M nib

Opus 88 Flow steel M nib

Waterman Man 100 Patrician Coral Red 18kt factory stub nib

Franklin-Christoph Model 19 with Masuyama 0.7mm steel cursive italic nib

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 15
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • ParkerBeta

    2

  • lovemy51

    1

  • gyasko

    1

  • andy1m

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

Nice to see a Flighter 50. The first pen that I bought with my own money was one of those. Alas, the clip did not withstand the rigours of university life, and it being insufficiently well-secured to my person therefore, the 50 was lost in my honours year. :crybaby:

 

Mine was also an extra fine. I remember it being reasonably smooth, despite the fineness of the nib, but that could just be nostalgia talking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good review, good comparison shots too!

 

Oh, if only we all had a Falcon of our own... :)

 

I'm not sure why, but I really love the look of the gold trim flighters- the contrast between the gold and the titanium/brushed chrome color adds so much more depth to GT for me, even one a cheaper pen like a non-flighter GT 45.

 

Makes me want to trade my rolled gold 51 for one with the GT on chrome cap! :)

WTB: Lamy 27 w/ OB/OBB nibs; Pelikan 100 B nib

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a Falcon in gold, but it doesn't write as the previous owner seems to have caused some separation of the tines.

 

Does anyone know who can fix it?

 

Makes me want a 180 too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the comparison, I have two of the featured pens (the Falcon and the 180) and consider them both to be exceptional examples of design. The pictures are fantastic and the handwritten comparison is a very worthwhile addition to the post!

 

 

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of nothing at all...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have 45, 51, 61, 75, & 180 flighters. One of the reasons i like the 180 is that it has metal section threads. I like the nib, too. I think it's a very underrated pen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have 45, 51, 61, 75, & 180 flighters. One of the reasons i like the 180 is that it has metal section threads. I like the nib, too. I think it's a very underrated pen.

 

You're right about the metal section threads on the 180, and about its being generally overlooked or underrated. It really is a superb example of design and engineering.

 

BTW, you've achieved my dream of procuring 51, 61, and 75 flighters. Did you just wait for them to appear on ebay? Or do you have a 'source?' I'd really love to acquire a 51 flighter that matches (gold trim, flat barrel bottom) my other flighters, but that may prove difficult.

S.T. Dupont Ellipsis 18kt M nib

Opus 88 Flow steel M nib

Waterman Man 100 Patrician Coral Red 18kt factory stub nib

Franklin-Christoph Model 19 with Masuyama 0.7mm steel cursive italic nib

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Very nice review that includes one of my favorites, the 45 Flighter. Thanks for your work.

Let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose.

There is no snooze button on a cat wanting breakfast.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Falcon is an awesome pen! Lots of fun to use, and it writes much smoother than the fine line it lays down would indicate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have 45, 51, 61, 75, & 180 flighters. One of the reasons i like the 180 is that it has metal section threads. I like the nib, too. I think it's a very underrated pen.

 

I have a 35, also with metal section threads. However, I'm not sure it quite qualifies as a flighter since it does have a gold colored barrel tassie. Posted it would fit right in with the collection shown.

 

 

I came here for the pictures and stayed for the conversation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

very nice pens, and nice review. thanks and congratulations!

Fountain Pen is for people who have a delicate taste in writing

 

Pens Actively In Use

MB 149-f; MB Solitaire SS (FP-ef,BP,MP)

MB (LE) G.B.Shaw (FP-m,BP,MP); MB LeGrand (RB,BP,MP)

Parker Duofold Presidential Esparto sol.SS (FP-f, BP)

Parker Duofold PS SS (FP-f, RB)

Parker Doufold Marbled Green (FP-f,BP,MP)

Parker Duofold Marbled Gray (FP-xf)

S.T. Dupont Orpheo XL Platinum Diamond Head (FP-m)

S.T. Dupont Orpheo XL Platinum/ChinLacquer Black (FP-f)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

In support of Parker 180. One of the smoothest writing pens in my collection. I have two of them one a simple flighter and the other with an engraved harlequin type pattern. Definitely under rated.

Mohammad Salahuddin Ayubi

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...