Best Pens for Aeronautical Charts
 

Hi All,

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Not sure whether this was the most appropriate forum to post, however it concerns Private Flying so i'll go with it.

I'm currently using 'Sharpie Permanent Marker, Fine Point' for making track lines on my aeronautical charts. I'm finding the line too thick, despite being a fine point. I had an examiner the other day say that the line would be too thick for CPL where more accuracy is needed.

Anyone able to point me in the direction for a thinner marker for use here.

Many Thanks

WH Smiths?

Are you really that helpless?

:D:D:D

I was expecting a comment like that, although if you head down to WHSmith's you'll find the thinnest they do is the one i've listed :ok:

I have found that these fit the bill nicely: https://www.stabilo.com/uk/product/1...rsal-permanent

There is definitely a "Fine" that really is.

You might want to have some acetone to hand to wipe the marker off after use (not just for sniffing :p).

FBW

Thanks FBW, I'll give them a-go :)

That pen should be fine, though a stylus type nib may be better.

Just make sure that you don't obliterate important detail on the chart by erasing the line or skipping where it crosses that detail. It won't affect your ability to follow the line.

...or even the Staedler Lumocolour as sold by various aviation equipment suppliers. They also do an eraser, rather than carrying liquid dissolvers about.

I recommend using green for track lines as there are no other green straight lines on the 1/2 mil chart. In addition to Mark 1's useful advice, draw a neat circle around your point of origin, waypoints and destination.

TOO

Ditto TheOddOne. My pack is marked 0.6 mm F and has four colours.
Red , Blue, Green and Black.
Isopropyl Alcohol BP (used sparingly) is an effective solvent.

Ditto TheOddone and cyclic35

Nail polish remover works but if you don't want to carry that around then take a non-permanent marker and, if you run that over your permanent mark, it will erase it.

Noflynomore, It really pi$$es me off to see this sort of comment on a public forum. Not only is it extremely rude, but it can only discourage those less experienced amongst us (and that includes me at 65) from asking perfectly legitimate questions on perhaps more important topics concerning safety, for fear of ridicule. There is no such thing as a "stupid" question.

Anyway, to the original OP, apart from the pens, I found Nail Polish Remover Pads (available from most Chemists) useful to clean the charts effectively after use, and easy to carry in your flight bag without fear of spillage.

Just for noflynomore.
Loomikuler do sooperfein two.
And +1 for the nail polish remover pads and BobD. I have been using them for quite some time.

I would follow the advice of sticking with the thick one and step over the detail areas.

I use these thin pens but I find they are too hard to see on the chart regardless of the colour I chose. But if you want thin these do the job. And your sweaty hand doesn't smudge them off.

http://www.transair.co.uk/sp+Lumocolour-Chart-Pen-Pack+4660

Good luck with the cpl.

Staedtler Lumocolour permanent pen- Fine. Less than £2 each. Been using them for past 30+years....rubs off with ordinary eraser. Google is your friend!

Many thanks to all that positively contributed!

I've picked up these markers, and i'm extremely pleased with it. It makes planned routes on the aeronautical chart a lot clearer and eye pleasing!

Cheers :ok:

Agree with this.

Staedtler 313 WP4 Lumocolor Universal Permanent Superfine Pens - Assorted Colour | eBay


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Staedtler-L...fine+lumocolor


The Stabilo line is 0.7mm. The Staedtler is 0.4mm.


I still use a Chinagraph. Just spit on a tissue and wipe it off.

Staedtler permanent fine and surgical spirit with cotton wool balls.
I've had a small bottle, ex Ambi pure air freshener, which lasted most of the PPL training. Smells ok, does the job, cleans cut fingers when you sharpen pencils, and takes a spark to light survival fires when it all goes belly up.
As an aside, the width of the magenta line on SkyDemon is a hell of a lot thicker than any pen on a chart.

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.

In relation to SkyDemon, yes I noticed that! Shame there isn't a setting to adjust the line size. However, if you happen to miss anything whilst flying with SkyDemon, maybe you shouldn't be flying at all!

Don't get me started on SkyDemon, I don't use it, most of my flight planning is done on the tail plane. Like anyone else that gets the licence, a GPS thing is the first toy to buy. As for missing something, like what for instance? Because with my Runway HD or any tablet based chart you can zoom in to have a close look as you wish.
If someone draws the line right through the altitude of controlled airspace and misses reading it, serves them bloody right.