Parker Flighter Questions

[MSA]

Certain Made in England Parker's (stainless steel) 45's and 180's have Harlequin shield or circlets type engraved patterns. Can these be classified as Flighters ?

 

Second question is a bit different, any one over here has experienced a loose nib on a Parker 65 ? Does not move while writing...but moves left and right if you move it. Any easy remedy to tighten it up ? Not many 65's come up for sale (this is a flight - a bit rarer). So I am a bit worried about doing something bad to it.

 

Thank you

[langere]

It appears we have no "wise men of Parker" - do we have any "wise women"?

 

Erick

[FarmBoy]

Certain Made in England Parker's (stainless steel) 45's and 180's have Harlequin shield or circlets type engraved patterns. Can these be classified as Flighters ?

In my opinion no. A Flighter is an unadorned stainless steel Parker Pen with gold trim. More strictly, a Flighter is a specific "51" all others (even the Parkers) are a Flighter like or Flighterish pen.

[SquelchB]

I agree with FarmBoy.

 

From what I read here the term 'Flighter' (of course noting it is not an entirely precise term as per FarmBoy's reply) refers to all-steel pens with gold-colored furniture.

 

However, the usage of the term varies, so I think there isn't any definitive answer.

 

Regards, Bohdan

[Glenn-SC]

Certain Made in England Parker's (stainless steel) 45's and 180's have Harlequin shield or circlets type engraved patterns. Can these be classified as Flighters ?

In my opinion no. A Flighter is an unadorned stainless steel Parker Pen with gold trim. More strictly, a Flighter is a specific "51" all others (even the Parkers) are a Flighter like or Flighterish pen.

+1

[Rockyrod]

Parkercollector on the 75 says: "in 1970 the Flighter DeLuxe was introduced. It was made in stainless steel with gold filled trim and the thin cap ring was made in gold."

 

and also this: "In 1970 a Flighter deLuxe in brushed stainless steel with rolled gold trim was introduced for both the Parker "61" and Parker "65" lines."

 

about the 45: "The Parker 45 in 1964:

Colours:

Black

Burgundy

Grey

Light Blue

Dark Blue

Green

Models:

Classic (plastic body, metal cap)

CT (aka Arrow) (plastic cap and body)

Flighter (steel cap and body)

Insignia (goldfilled cap and body)

[icardoth]

Second question is a bit different, any one over here has experienced a loose nib on a Parker 65 ? Does not move while writing...but moves left and right if you move it. Any easy remedy to tighten it up ? Not many 65's come up for sale (this is a flight - a bit rarer). So I am a bit worried about.

 

I think it's broken. The Marshall & Oldfield "Pen Repair" book (2nd Ed.) recommends never twisting the 65 nib, as a small peg inside the shell can be broken. This peg avoids nib turning.

[Shaughn]

The Parker 25 stainless steel is announced to be a flighter, by the Parker Company itself:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/140116-parker-25-variations/ (see post #12)

 

So we can safely take 'flighter' as a name for all stainless steel pens, no matter the trim, I think.

[streeton]

The Parker 25 stainless steel is announced to be a flighter, by the Parker Company itself:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/140116-parker-25-variations/ (see post #12)

 

So we can safely take 'flighter' as a name for all stainless steel pens, no matter the trim, I think.

 

Thats good enough for me, straight from the horses mouth. I have similar advertising material with a Parker Classic Flighter .. the paperwork that came with the box/pen.

[ceejaybee]

I personally think that if Parker didn't originally market the pens as 'Flighters' then it's incorrect to call them by that name. The engraved 45 pens you mention were marketed as the 'Harlequin 80' and '45 Harlequin' and surely they should be recognised as such? The original Flighter was the Stainless bodied 51 but many models had an official Flighter version, the models I know for sure were the 75, 65, 61, 50, 45, 25, 15, Jotter ballpens and Classic ballpens, AFAIAA all of these were plain all stainless bodies with gold trim (AKA Flighter deluxe) or chrome trimmed. I'm not sure about the 21, 35, 88, 95, 105, 180, Arrow, Jotter and Classic fountain pens, Vectors or other more modern all stainless models as I can't recall seeing proof, it appears that Parker dropped the flighter name at some point in the 80's in favour of the 'Stainless GT' or 'Stainless CT' definition. :hmm1:

[encremental]

The Harlequins also come in the painted versions, which by no stretch could be called Flighters ...

 

It's the GT / CT thing which confuses me more - I've got a steel 61 and a 75 which both have chrome trim, yet I have always regarded them as Flighters as much as my steel 65 with gold trim. And is there a Sonnet Flighter that is not at the bottom of the range? I keep looking out for one, but am never sure if the brushed finish on the one I occasionally see is quite right (and I think it has a steel nib).

 

John

[OldGriz]

Certain Made in England Parker's (stainless steel) 45's and 180's have Harlequin shield or circlets type engraved patterns. Can these be classified as Flighters ?

In my opinion no. A Flighter is an unadorned stainless steel Parker Pen with gold trim. More strictly, a Flighter is a specific "51" all others (even the Parkers) are a Flighter like or Flighterish pen.

 

BINGO.... the only true Parker Flighter is the 51..... flighter has become a pen collectors term for any all metal (stainless) pen even to the point of using it for other manufacturers.... just like Xerox machine has become the common term for virtually all copy machines...

[Xing]

I would not say that Harlequins and etc are flighters, as all Parker never, as far as I know, gave that designation to pens with engraved patterns on them. However, like ceejaybee, I also don't agree with restricting the descriptor to "51"s, or gold trim only. It is true when "51" Flighters were first introduced,they were all (or almost all) gold trims, and that when the 61 came out, the stainless steel finish were chrome trimmed and called "Jet Flighter". But later the jet flighter descriptor were dropped in favour of Flighter DeLuxe and Flighter for GT and CT respectively, and even later, the DeLuxe descriptor were dropped also. The "Flighter" itself were dropped around early to mid 80s in favour of "stainless steel", at/around the same time that other descriptors such as "Imperial" were dropped for "rolled gold". The 50 and 180 were marketed as Flighters, but I don't think the Arrow/95, 88, and 105 were. The Classic is special as the Classic FP were introduced in 1983/4 as a cheaper replacement for the 180, and as far as I know, not marketed as Flighter; but the Classic ball point were introduced much earlier, and definitely were sold as Flighters. (Unless otherwise stated, I refer to the stainless steel version of each model).

 

The 1979 Parker catalogue still calls all the stainless steel models as Flighter, including the 50, 180, 45, 25, and the Classic (BP).

 

This second file (1982 Parker brochure) is especially interesting as the advertisement only calls the jotters "stainless steel", but in the later price list part, all stainless pens are called "Flighter"s. I'm of the thought that this is around the time Parker dropped Flighter, as a descriptor. The "Parker 45 Flighter II" mentioned in another post also makes an appearance here. Confusingly, you'll notice, there is a model called "Flighter CT Floating Ball Pen" in both of these files, making it sound as if "Flighter" is being used as a model name. Though I don't think so, as there is also an "Special Floating Ball Pen". (floating ball pen is what Parker called rollerballs when they first made them)

 

On the third page of this 1983 issue of the Shoptalker, there is an Parker Arrow that names the finishes as stainless steel, rolled gold, and matt black, and in nowhere is it called a Flighter. As this is the year that the Arrow was introduced, I think the Arrow and Parkers introduced later never got the Flighter descriptor.

 

About the OP's second question, the Parker 65's nib is attached to slots on its collector. The way to repair it is to remove the collector carefully, adjust the nib to seat securely, (replace the nib if you must), and then insert and secure the collector (with the nib on it) again. I would recommend a professional repairs person for this though.

 

Anthony

[streeton]

I believe Parker named their pens differently in different countries. I have a Parker Classic GT (1982) from the UK that with the papers clearly showing "Parker International Flighter" ("Classic" is nowhere to be seen) yet in the USA the term "International" had finished (at least in advertising form) in 1971, a full 11 years earlier than my UK version.

[OcalaFlGuy]

I would argue that in the strictest sense of the usage, a Flighter could have silver toned trim.

 

I believe there are Argentinian P-51 Flighters made from Parker parts at the very least without GT.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL -they looked ok to me but just not quite right and I'm not usually that picky.

[MSA]

Thank you

[richardandtracy]

As for the P65 nib wobble problem, you may be able to take the connector out and tighten up the collector in the shell. I seriously recommend that you get the Marshall/Oldfield book first, as it'll show you which tool you need to make before you can do it. If the wobble isn't fixed by tightening the collector, then the pen is stuffed.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[OldGriz]

I would argue that in the strictest sense of the usage, a Flighter could have silver toned trim.

 

I believe there are Argentinian P-51 Flighters made from Parker parts at the very least without GT.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL -they looked ok to me but just not quite right and I'm not usually that picky.

 

Later year US Parker 51 Flighters do not have the gold ring on the cap and are considered a more collectible version because of the scarcity...

Most Argentine Flighters do not have the gold ring caps because of the time period they were made...