Questions for you frequent fliers

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Texatdurango

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This is to those who flit about the country from airport to airport doing shows and carrying your goodies with you.

For starters, I have never flown with a fountain pen before, I haven't flown since starting to use them a few years ago! Now I will be carrying all of my pens on board with me and my only concerns are the fountain pen demos that will be inked. I could empty and clean the pens out but would rather not if it's not going to be a problem.

Over the years I've heard bits here and there about pens leaking but forgot if they were the pens in the baggage hold or inside the pressurized cabin causing the problems.

Any advice?
 
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George:
I've never had any problems flying commercial flights with loaded fountain pens. I ve not had a single leak. NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER.

Now, I'm not sure I'd want to have a loaded FP in my pocket on a smaller plane with an unpressurized cabin.

If you want to be "extra safe", you could travel with them "partially loaded". That way, even if the cabin had pressure issues there would be "ink expansion room". Just a thought?
 
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Full pens, empty pens, and upright pens should be fine. Full pens won't leak because while gas (air) will expand in low pressure, liquid (ink) won't. Upright pens don't leak because the expanding air can escape without pushing ink out.

In the cabin, even a partially full pen point-down probably won't leak, as the air bubble doesn't expand that much. I'm not sure about the cargo hold, which experiences considerably lower pressure. It's probably okay, but I'd top them up just to be sure. And probably pack them in a rigid airtight container that will maintain the air pressure around the pens even as the pressure drops outside.
 
I'd be a LOT MORE concerned about TSA view a briefcase full of fountain pens as "weapons". I'd allow a little extra time to get through security. At some airports the TSA is not all that well trained!
 
Wouldn't expanding air push the heavier ink out? I don't know the answer to that one. It's just what I've heard as "old wives tales".
 
PenMan1 said:
I'd be a LOT MORE concerned about TSA view a briefcase full of fountain pens as "weapons". I'd allow a little extra time to get through security. At some airports the TSA is not all that well trained!
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I hear ya. I thought it over and decided that the lesser of two evils was the best route to take. Rather than risk checking the pens and having them wind up in Chicago instead of Dallas, I chose to deal with the TSA people. Not having flown in several years all I can relate to are stories told by others and while I can understand there are a fair number of total idiots at the gates, surely there is at least one person in charge with a little common sense I can talk to if it came to a problem. We'll see.
 
Not to get "political", George, but I DO find it amusing that we end up basically "flipping a coin" to decide which "bunch" at the airport in which we decide to place our trust. LOL!
 
PenMan1 said:
Wouldn't expanding air push the heavier ink out? I don't know the answer to that one. It's just what I've heard as "old wives tales".
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Ink is heavier, so in a reservoir with both air and ink, the air will be on top. If there's a means of egress at the top of the reservoir, then when the air expands, some of the air will escape. If the means of egress is at the bottom, then the air will push some of the ink out to make room. In a fountain pen, the "means of egress" is through the feed, so if the pen is upright, then the air can escape while the ink remains in the reservoir.

In cargo, you have no control over which direction your bag ends up, so you can't rely on the pen being "upright".
 
I don't travel via air with my fountain pens, so can't answer the OP question, and I don't do as many pens as I did in the past...having moved on to other turnings....
but also I don't "load" my fountain pens before the sale... nor I do I allow the casual "lookers" to write with them either... a fountain pen will wear to the writing style of the writer and some people have no idea of how to write with one and tend to bear down too much and that can splay the nib... that's my story and I'm sticking with it. :wink:
 
TellicoTurning said:
I don't travel via air with my fountain pens, so can't answer the OP question, and I don't do as many pens as I did in the past...having moved on to other turnings....
but also I don't "load" my fountain pens before the sale... nor I do I allow the casual "lookers" to write with them either... a fountain pen will wear to the writing style of the writer and some people have no idea of how to write with one and tend to bear down too much and that can splay the nib... that's my story and I'm sticking with it. :wink:
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Chuck,
Just to be clear, I don't ink my pens prior to the sale either BUT I do ink the demos (mentioned above) when I attend pen shows. Not only do I allow anyone to pick up a demo and write with it...... I encourage it! Nothing sells a pen better than letting one see how nice it writes while being comfortable in the hand. Of course when I learn that a customer is not accustomed to writing with a fountain pen, I give them a little instruction before handing them the pen, of course MOST people at the pen shows know more about fountain pens than I will learn in years to come.:smile:
 
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