Best Pens for Aeronautical Charts

[GipsyMagpie]

Originally Posted by pilotjimbo

Yeah, I may still grab the staedtler when I find it. Couldn't see it anywhere in my local city.

The stabilo is already a massive improvement. It doesn't smudge when taking your ruler away after drawing your track, which I found the sharpie to do constantly. It's also thin enough to write half way points, distance, winds aloft etc.

This is what you want. A box will last you ages. UK mil live off these pens. Width, colour, size for pockets, drying speed, longevity with lid off. Top tip to prevent losing a pen lid in the cockpit is to put the pen in lid first into a pen pocket. You remove the pen for use, leaving lid in the bottom of pen pocket. Perhaps permanently fix a lid to a knee board?

Have to say the mighty Chinagraph mechanical pencil (last seen on eBay) is still a favourite for in flight replans or writing info down (line is a bit fat but stands out and rubs off when needed). You can even write on the inside of a cockpit window in an emergency. Forward air controllers in Vietnam used to come back after a mission with the cockpit transparency covered in grid references. Not terribly good for lookout though.

[cotterpot]

The stabilo is already a massive improvement. It doesn't smudge when taking your ruler away after drawing your track, which I found the sharpie to do constantly.

You are using your ruler the wrong way up - that's why they are bevelled, so they don't touch the paper/chart.

[BEagle]

You are using your ruler the wrong way up - that's why they are bevelled, so they don't touch the paper/chart.

Indeed. Something we were taught at school when graduating from pencils to dip pens.... Ball point pens were not permitted (most were rubbish anyway)!

Personally I preferred using chinagraph rather than Lumocolours - permanent or non-permanent.