Air Travel Friendly Fountain Pens

[BaronWulfraed]

Strangely, Safeties don't feel that "safe" to me. After all, one is relying upon A) the seal between the end of the section and the inside of the cap, and the seal around the inner tail shaft and the barrel. (And, when used, one has the seal between the nib-carrier and the end of the section).

 

Under really severe pressure changes, I could see ink getting pushed down into the tail cap, whereupon extending the nib results in ink all over the outside of the main barrel. Maybe carry it nib down?

 

Yes, vac-fills and pens with shut-offs also have a shaft going out the tail, but that shaft is often smaller and doesn't get as much wear compared to the distance a safety has to be moved every time it is used.

[Honeybadgers]

Strangely, Safeties don't feel that "safe" to me. After all, one is relying upon A) the seal between the end of the section and the inside of the cap, and the seal around the inner tail shaft and the barrel. (And, when used, one has the seal between the nib-carrier and the end of the section).

 

Under really severe pressure changes, I could see ink getting pushed down into the tail cap, whereupon extending the nib results in ink all over the outside of the main barrel. Maybe carry it nib down?

 

Yes, vac-fills and pens with shut-offs also have a shaft going out the tail, but that shaft is often smaller and doesn't get as much wear compared to the distance a safety has to be moved every time it is used.

 

Definitely a legitimate fear of a vintage safety (my old french red ripple safety is very particular about its environment), but I don't think you'd have any problem at all with a new boston safety.

 

You'd definitely want to be gentle uncapping it though!

Edited May 10, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[welch]

Parker referred to them as 'aerometric fillers'.

 

Yes, just a bag with a breather tube.

 

An aerometric is not a "squeeze filler", and it is more than "a bag with a breather tube", and I have flown many times with a couple of Parker 51 aerometric pens. Never had a problem.

 

Parker began making the Parker 45 in 1960. It was their first successful cartridge-converter fountain pen, and probably the first successful c/c pen that anyone made. The P-45 originally came with a metal converter that an owner squeezed and released to draw ink into the "rubber" sac, which might have been made from the same "pli-glass" material that DuPont made for Parker's 51. The Parker 75 and the c/c version of the Parker 61 used the same filler. Parker switched to plastic years later, and years ago.

 

Legend says that the aerometric 51 was designed to be safe when flying, since Mr. Parker loved flying. Had his own airplane painted with a Parker logo.

 

A previous discussion of the P-51 and flight. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/325676-how-do-parker-51s-do-with-air-travel/

 

User "Markh" wrote:

 

 

It's not the size of the plane. It's that jets compress/decompress faster than prop planes. That's why most pens were re-designed after about 1960, as commercial jet travel took off. Feeds were improved. Sacked pens also have trouble with rapid pressure changes.

Most modern pens have less trouble - though a partially full pen that takes off or lands with the nib down can still leak out.

Parker 51s aren't sacked, and have a collector instead of a feed. So should work better, but experience is a better test than my theories.

Edited May 10, 2019 by welch

[bdd062]

Being of vintage disposition, (and having experimented with a few older lever and plunger fillers somewhat unsuccessfully), my 'go to' aeroplane pen is a half-filled Parker 51 aerometric. Always carried in a ziplock bag, but never an issue.

[como]

 

Definitely a legitimate fear of a vintage safety (my old french red ripple safety is very particular about its environment), but I don't think you'd have any problem at all with a new boston safety.

 

You'd definitely want to be gentle uncapping it though!

 

I agree. Vintage safeties are all around 100 years old, and with often ebonite. There can easily be micro cracks in the barrel due to age which can turn into a leaky problem even without getting on an airplane. They are probably more antique than vintage.

[Honeybadgers]

 

An aerometric is not a "squeeze filler", and it is more than "a bag with a breather tube", and I have flown many times with a couple of Parker 51 aerometric pens. Never had a problem.

 

Parker began making the Parker 45 in 1960. It was their first successful cartridge-converter fountain pen, and probably the first successful c/c pen that anyone made. The P-45 originally came with a metal converter that an owner squeezed and released to draw ink into the "rubber" sac, which might have been made from the same "pli-glass" material that DuPont made for Parker's 51. The Parker 75 and the c/c version of the Parker 61 used the same filler. Parker switched to plastic years later, and years ago.

 

Legend says that the aerometric 51 was designed to be safe when flying, since Mr. Parker loved flying. Had his own airplane painted with a Parker logo.

 

A previous discussion of the P-51 and flight. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/325676-how-do-parker-51s-do-with-air-travel/

 

User "Markh" wrote:

 

 

The breather tube in the eversharp skyline was supposed to make it flying safe too.

 

It didn't work.

 

The problem most pens had was that they flew in unpressurized cabins, so there was a big, dramatic change in pressure several times back in the old days. Most pens should be okay, especially if you are flying from 4-5000ft elevation (most airplane cabins are pressurized to 6-8000) but there's no promises. The shutoff systems are just a way to guarantee.

[eharriett]

To update my previous post,

 

I have landed in DC after a 1 hour flight. I had 3 fountain pens with me in the 3 pen Nock case. Two of them were Noodler’s Safeties and one was the Moonman M2 eyedropper. One of the safeties was black ebonite. The other was the clear demonstrator.

 

The Moonman M2 splattered in the cap. Easy to clean out in the hotel room and easy to identify where the ink was and that there was an issue before I uncapped it.

 

The ebonite Noodler’s: there was a tiny bit of overflow on the threads at the bottom where the feed will come out. Never had it happen on that pen before. Always been a completely clean pen. Since I don’t grip the pen at the bottom where the threads are, I might never have noticed had I not looked for that.

 

The Demonstrator safety: this was the shocker. Nothing. It was the last of the three I checked and I expected that pen to also have some leaking on the threads like the ebonite one. No. The only thing I can think of is the demonstrator pen has to have a light coat of silicone grease on the threads to keep it from leaking whereas the ebonite one does not need that.

 

That’s what I found from taking my pens on a plane today, on May 13, 2019.

[como]

 

That’s what I found from taking my pens on a plane today, on May 13, 2019.

 

eharriett, thank you for sharing your first hand experience. Eventually I ordered a Conid Kingsize Streamline demo version, more for the unique filling system than the reason for air travel (but maybe that's a good excuse too :-) I will consider Pilot Custom 823 in the future too, as I've seen quite a few good reviews about it. Otherwise I plan to take a converter pen and just push all the air out before flying and put in a ziplock bag.

[Honeybadgers]

To update my previous post,

 

I have landed in DC after a 1 hour flight. I had 3 fountain pens with me in the 3 pen Nock case. Two of them were Noodler’s Safeties and one was the Moonman M2 eyedropper. One of the safeties was black ebonite. The other was the clear demonstrator.

 

The Moonman M2 splattered in the cap. Easy to clean out in the hotel room and easy to identify where the ink was and that there was an issue before I uncapped it.

 

The ebonite Noodler’s: there was a tiny bit of overflow on the threads at the bottom where the feed will come out. Never had it happen on that pen before. Always been a completely clean pen. Since I don’t grip the pen at the bottom where the threads are, I might never have noticed had I not looked for that.

 

The Demonstrator safety: this was the shocker. Nothing. It was the last of the three I checked and I expected that pen to also have some leaking on the threads like the ebonite one. No. The only thing I can think of is the demonstrator pen has to have a light coat of silicone grease on the threads to keep it from leaking whereas the ebonite one does not need that.

 

That’s what I found from taking my pens on a plane today, on May 13, 2019.

 

 

Nathan has mentioned that a thin layer of silicon grease around the very lip of the pen (with the nib retracted) is how you keep them completely sealed.

[Mannyonpil]

I fly regularly in an unpressurized airplane with a fountain pen in my pocket. I've never experienced an "inksplosion" . On maybe two occasions, I've seen a drop or two of ink in the cap when I opened it. I think the whole subject is a bit overblown.

 

Interestingly, rotring made a pen with what they called the "APC System". I think it stood for Air Pressure Compensation or some such. It was specifically designed to combat just such changes in air pressure. I have a rotring Initial that is marked that way. I've only tested it to 6000ft, and it did fine. But, so has every other pen that I've flown with.

 

Just keep em nib up and quit worrying about it so much

This is exactly right. Keep the pens nib up when taking off and climbing. Once you reach cruising altitude there should be no problem for the rest of the flight.

 

I found this video helpful in understanding the issue:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTUcAouvkk4

Edited May 24, 2019 by Mannyonpil

[Mannyonpil]

And here is another: https://youtu.be/ujg_uMkt7ww

[georges zaslavsky]

Parker 51 vacumatic and Sheaffer Triumph Vac Fill when properly restored by Ron Zorn or Joel Hamilton can be packed up for travel safely.

Edited May 26, 2019 by georges zaslavsky

[JasonCurtis]

I wouldn't suggest you do it

[toyomark]

 I've taken my Conid and Opus 88 on flights and it went fine

[amper]

This is from 2013, but the last time I looked, the laws of Physics haven't changed since then. Me, at the airport bar in Sea-Tac, about to get on a plane to San Francisco, with my Platinum Preppy converted to eyedropper. I don't fly often, but when I do, I always have a fountain pen with me, and I've never had an issue.

1. Fill your pens before you get on the plane. to minimize any air in the reservoir.
2. Keep them point up, so any air trapped inside can come out on it's own without burping ink all over.

And yes, that *is* whiskey, prior to boarding a 9:45 am flight.

[SLinkster]

2 hours ago, amper said:

yes, that *is* whiskey, prior to boarding a 9:45 am flight.

Whatever gets you on the plane... 

[txomsy]

Does it need to be a plane to enjoy oneself?

 

And vice versa

 

Why not enjoy oneself in a plane using a favorite fountain pen?

 

I would only add to @amper:

 

3. If you are worried, have a kleen-ex at hand to use it when uncapping the pen, just in case it leaked in the cap.

 

Maybe, what we need is another thread on "how do you use your fountain pen on flight".

[Armo]

Can't speak with any authority but any pens with the 'Pelikan thermic-regulator' should be aeroplane proof.

https://www.pelikan-collectibles.com/en/Pelikan/Models/Revised-Piston-Fillers/P1-Other/index.html

[jchch1950]

On 12/5/2023 at 6:42 AM, toyomark said:

 I've taken my Conid and Opus 88 on flights and it went fine

I don't have a Conid pen but Opus 88 are plane-safe as long as they are properly close.

[Karmachanic]

Change of direction. 

 

As the majority of modern pens are air travel safe, eyedroppers sans shut-off valve excepted, what particular pens are not?