Well....it Finally Happened

[penguinmaster]

I just got done with flying to San Jose, CA for a conference for work. I brought 3 pens, filled them up per normal air travel instructions (or so I thought). I opened them just to double check and was frustrated to see both my Pilot Myu 90 and Parker "51" Flighter threw up in their caps. The Edison Pearl arrived no worse for wear (chalk another on up to Edison pens!).

 

Not sure what happened though, My guess is they shifted in the bag to a horizontal position instead of the vertical one I had them originally in. Luckily the caps stayed on and the ink stayed in them. I would not have been a happy camper otherwise!

 

-Tom

[stevlight]

Was the Edison Pearl used as an eyedropper or a C/C filler? I have been using mine as eyedroppers and have never flown with an eyedropper so I want to know the best way to travel with them.

[dizzypen]

The last time I flew I had a Pilot Petit 1 that I'd converted to an eyedropper throw up Pilot Blue Black all over my bag. It had ended up horizontal without me knowing it. So, I know the feeling. Be careful on the return trip.

 

Whatcha in San Jose for? I spent a bit of time there a few year back.

[wheezur]

Though I have inadvertently flown with a fountain pen with no incident, my normal routine when traveling is to take a c/c pen and a few carts. Pop in a fresh cart when I arrive and simply discard whatever remains before leaving. It's a bit of a waste but I prefer to not tempt the fates. It's the only time I use carts, but I always keep some around.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I've got an old MB 234 1/2 with original papers, and it said full or empty, and up stored up right, old DC-4 prop plane shown or driving up a mountain.

 

Next time use your shirt pocket like the paper work says. :blink:

 

Carry empty....if you got to write, use the matching BP/RP in there has to be a use for them...some time, out side of lending them to ham fisted people.

Edited July 7, 2010 by Bo Bo Olson

[PatientType]

I may be excessively paranoid about ink leaking when traveling by air. The consequences just don't seem to warrant taking any chances. I also worry about losing one of my more valuable pens, so I don't take those.

 

Most often, I'll travel with my pens, empty and protectively wrapped, in my carry on inside pocket. I insert an ink cartridge once I've landed and use only cartridges while away. Then I just remove and toss the partially used cartridge that's in the pen right before the trip home. I usually take Pilot pocket pens for trips - either M90s or an Elite - they're small, reliable, and sturdy.

Edited July 7, 2010 by PatientType

[jniforat]

I was thinking of taking my "soon-to-be" "51" flighter on a trip. not now!

 

thanks penguinmaster,

 

j

[sotto2]

I've flown several times with several different fountain pens. I put them in my shirt pocket, nib up, and never had a problem.

[tmenyc]

The only two pens I have ever been able to rely on to not leak in a flight were the Rotring Initial and Lamy 2000. Everything else needed the flight bag.

 

Tim

[penguinmaster]

Was the Edison Pearl used as an eyedropper or a C/C filler? I have been using mine as eyedroppers and have never flown with an eyedropper so I want to know the best way to travel with them.

 

It was used as an C/C.

 

 

The last time I flew I had a Pilot Petit 1 that I'd converted to an eyedropper throw up Pilot Blue Black all over my bag. It had ended up horizontal without me knowing it. So, I know the feeling. Be careful on the return trip.

 

Whatcha in San Jose for? I spent a bit of time there a few year back.

 

I'm in San Jose for a work conference. I was looking for pens shops, looks like there is one...on the other side of town and I don't feel like taking a taxi to it. As well walked the downtown for antique shops, nothing to be found!

 

 

I was thinking of taking my "soon-to-be" "51" flighter on a trip. not now!

 

thanks penguinmaster,

 

j

 

I would still take it if I were you. Just make sure to keep it up right and you should be fine! I'm pretty sure it was just me not watching the orientation of my pen case close enough.

 

-Tom

[duna]

I had with me FPs on every flight in last 2 years - that makes for some 20 planes in five trips. Never had an issue with them (modern Pelikans, mostly, than Lamy 2000s, a Stipula and a Pilot VP IIRC). They were stored inside proper pen cases (Pelikan or Piquadro) inside my bag. Vertically or (mostly) horizontally as chance and overhead baggage space allowed. I always took them out in order to actually write with them while flying. Sometimes I noticed wet flows but nothing really serious. Have I always been lucky? The only pen I had problems due to altitude was a Hero and it was not a plame but s mountain pass in Switzerland, the pen leaked like crazy when I used it in front of my amazed customer.

[voop]

I just got done with flying to San Jose, CA for a conference for work. I brought 3 pens, filled them up per normal air travel instructions (or so I thought). I opened them just to double check and was frustrated to see both my Pilot Myu 90 and Parker "51" Flighter threw up in their caps. The Edison Pearl arrived no worse for wear (chalk another on up to Edison pens!).

 

Not sure what happened though, My guess is they shifted in the bag to a horizontal position instead of the vertical one I had them originally in. Luckily the caps stayed on and the ink stayed in them. I would not have been a happy camper otherwise!

 

-Tom

 

Not sure where you flew back from, but I hopped from NZ through Japan and Beijing back to Europe (business trip) about 2 weeks ago, and was so confident in my M90 that I simply left it in the suit inner pocket when not using it, without checking fill etc. The jacket was hung up, so I assume that the pen was vertical and nib-up, though, for the entire flight.

 

In 2010 the M90 has done about 100K BIS miles, as it's been a fixture in my suit jacket for the past 3 months.

 

I discovered on the last leg (PEK-CPH) on arrival that my briefcase with my Duofold was horizontal (as so were the pens). Not a single drop of ink in the caps or elsewhere from them.

[FrankB]

I can say with certainty that I am paranoid about flying with filled FP's. I have pens I have designated for flying. They are all c/c fillers, and I use cartridges for travel. So I fly with the pens empty, use a cartridge at my destination, and remove any cartridges with ink before my return flight. I have avoided mishaps altogether.

[psfred]

I have only had trouble once, and that was with a Parker "51" this spring. I was using the pen to work a crossword in flight and got a drop of ink in the cap.

 

This was a particularly painful to the ears flight, so I suspect poor pressurization control caused the collector to flood. This was a Vac, not an aerometric, so it would be more likely to drip as the pressure cycled up and down.

 

No other problems, either with other P "51"s or Snorkels, but I usually don't use them during flight.

 

Peter

[Feanor]

I've flown several times with several different fountain pens. I put them in my shirt pocket, nib up, and never had a problem.

 

+1

[FarmBoy]

I just got done with flying to San Jose, CA for a conference for work.

-Tom

Tom,

 

So the Pan Pacific Pen Club meets on Sunday the 11th in Danville. I'm sure you could find a ride from San Jose with one of the regulars. I'd come get you but I'm going to be fully loaded since FarmFamily is coming along.

 

See you at PPPC one way or another?

 

Todd

[beluga]

I just got done with flying to San Jose, CA for a conference for work. I brought 3 pens, filled them up per normal air travel instructions (or so I thought). I opened them just to double check and was frustrated to see both my Pilot Myu 90 and Parker "51" Flighter threw up in their caps. The Edison Pearl arrived no worse for wear (chalk another on up to Edison pens!).

 

Not sure what happened though, My guess is they shifted in the bag to a horizontal position instead of the vertical one I had them originally in. Luckily the caps stayed on and the ink stayed in them. I would not have been a happy camper otherwise!

 

-Tom

 

 

 

On average I take about 8 flights every month and I customarily take more than one fountain pen on these trips with me.

I have never experienced anything that could even be remotely described as an "explosion", an event that is usually associated with violent shattering and fragmentation of the object involved.

 

On very limited number of trips I have noticed some drops of ink that had accumulated in the cap, but all it took to remove these traces was a paper tissue.

 

If the nib is kept upright, and the pen is either completely full, or completely empty it will minimize the risk of ink spilling, but even if these simple precautions are not observed it is usually not a big deal.

 

 

In a nutshell; the risks of travelling by air with fountain pens are frequently exaggerated and terms like "explosion" may easily give fountain pen novices the wrong impression.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B.

Edited July 8, 2010 by beluga

[rx170]

As I am writing this I am waiting at Munich airport and I am happy to report that both pens (Waterman Expert and M200) have managed the flight with no problems at all. I secured them in a plastic bag, since this topic made me really nervous.

[koa]

When I used to work as an assembly line welder, we were warned about bics actually exploding. Lighters, not the ballpoints, but just the same. Supposedly, a white hot ball of molten metal could melt through that plastic and cause the butane to go off, with supposedly lethal force. Makes a pen leaking a bit seem like not such a big deal.