Airplane experiment

[Bold2013]

I travel for work a few weeks every year and decided to take nearly my entire collection inked to see how it would fare.

All pens were near capacity and rode sideways facing in the overhead compartment.

The pens were:
Blow filler PSP with a waterman nib
Parker 51 Flighter
Parker 51 non Flighter aero
Deccan advocate with M800 nib unit eyedroppered
Lotus bamboo with bock nib unit eyedroppered

Any predictions on the outcomes?

[azkid]

I think the 51's will be ok... Only based on mine behaving beyond that, no clue.

[Bold2013]

Here is a hint. Only two of the five leaked.

[dfo]

The eyedroppered pens?

[Bold2013]

Eyedroppers didn’t loose a drop during the round trip

[FredRydr]

Any predictions on the outcomes?

You were escorted off the aeroplane when you claimed to have emotional support pens, despite the leaks from the overhead bin onto other passengers?

[although]

I fly pretty regularly in an unpressurized airplane. I usually have a fountain pen in my pocket. Altitude varies, but occasionally I go higher than the 8000ft that airliners set their cabin pressure at.

I usually don't see any effect. Occasionally, I get a drop or two in the cap. I've never seen anything like the "ink explosion" that some folks breathlessly predict.

My experience is that flying with fountain pens is pretty much a non-issue.

Cheers!

[Bold2013]

So the 51 aero and blow filler lost a drop in the cap. Flighter and eyedroppers were perfect.

I guess I don’t need a travel pen anymore (Twsbi vac 700, opus 88 or conid)

[ethernautrix]

As I recall, only my vintage pens leaked - and not all of them. I rarely travel with vintage pens anymore; no problems with my moderns.

[Kulprit]

There's a fatal flaw in your design - ink doesn't expand as pressure decreases; air does. You should have used half-filled pens rather than nearly full pens. A nearly full pen is far less likely to leak than one only partially filled.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bold2013]

I filled them just prior hoping to prevents leaks altogether. Interestingly no leaks on the way back despite the pens seeing a decent amount of use.

I think eyedropper pens with threaded units have better regulation than friction fit ones. My Pelikan one especially.