My Hero Flighter 100 "solution" For Work

August 25, 2014

I have been using a Hero 100 flighter at work for several reasons, I do a lot of math and calculations, with the dreaded many-tens-of-seconds pauses between writing, and the hooded nib works great for that.

I found at walgreens drugstore (in USA) a Timesmart Note Book, which is I think 100 pages, a light grid on one side, and simple college ruled lines on the other side of every sheet. The sheets even have a uniform perforation so you can tear out an important page if the need arises.

I was using Waterman Blue Ink, which works great for writing on this paper, but alas it does not fair well with any drops of water.

So I did some research, and here's my answer (for the time being).

Platinum Pigment Blue Ink. It is 100% waterproof, and dries very fast. The only issue is that it is a pigmented ink so pen maintenance is critical. To support the pen maintenance I got the special tool for the hero 100 that allows you to disassemble the nib and feed, so I can really give it a good cleaning once a month or so.

I got the tool from the seller "yespen", it came very quickly.

What I found with the Pigment Blue ink is that it is not nearly as saturated as the Waterman Blue. But it still serves my functional needs nicely.

As far as the pen goes, with either ink the performance has been flawless.

I'll report back here after the first cleaning to let you all know how that goes.

(sorry for the small image here, I can't seem to make it take the original version of this next image... )

Edited August 25, 2014 by weltyj

November 11, 2014

Hello all,

A follow up report. After two months of using the hero 100 flighter with the platinum pigment blue, I'm happy to say it has been an excellent writing tool and ink combo for work. Initially I was refilling every Sunday evening, and the pen has worked flawlessly.

But in October, a couple of wild weekends meant I only refilled it every other week. I saw no degradation in performance.

I didn't get a chance to refill it last night, so it was a third time running two weeks without a refill. It did take a little patience to get it going this morning, but it did work fine once the ink was flowing again.

That hesitation on the ink flow this morning spurred me on to do a full flush of the pen just now, using the disassembly tool I mentioned above. I was expecting a fair amount of ink buildup or clogging in the feed, but there really was none at all, just some apparent staining. I'm really impressed with the platinum pigment blue.

But, of course, I couldn't stand it when I found out J. Herbin's Eclat de Saphir was reasonably water resistant. So I just refilled the Hero 100 with Eclat de Saphir. Looking forward to using the pen tomorrow!

Cheers!

November 11, 2014

Thanks for the update. I wish you had taken a photo of your 100 when you had it apart. Eclat de Saphir is a great ink. I hope it works well for you.

November 11, 2014

@scribbles often, if you look up "how to open hero 100 pens" on ebay, and look at the link for the seller yespens, there are excellent pictures showing how to disassemble the pen, and the different stages of disassembly.

November 11, 2014

I will take a look. Thank you.

May 26, 2015

Because I can't find/afford a P51 Flighter right now, I did the next best thing...bought a Hero 100 Flighter off eBay.

OK, that's not true from a "Parker Purist" sense, but I am not a purist.

Anyway, the reason I am posting...I was so happy to get the Hero 100 that I inked it immediately with plain black Parker Quink to try it out.

Seemed a bit dry and toothy, to be honest, but I carried the pen for a couple of days at work. Then, on Saturday, it was DRY and I could not get any ink flow at all.

After reading this thread, I decided to give it the "penima" flush that is usually required for cheap Chinese pens that I've bought.

Hmm...after a good flush and dry, with a refill of the Quink....it's working great now.

So, thank you for reminding me to clean this thing. Apparently, it had some left over manufacturing oil or SOMETHING in there.

I don't have the tool that you showed in the picture, but maybe I need to get one.

Anyway, after a simple warm water, drop of Dawn FLUSH..the pen is working great!

May 26, 2015

The filling system of the hero 100 doesn't necessarily require purchasing the tool as if you have good pen maintenance the pen should stay clean. I see it more as a requirement for modding your hero

May 27, 2015

Neat! I didn't know that such a tool existed.

May 28, 2015

@timthezaj -- I agree the disassembly tool isn't necessary for normal cleaning. But since I'm sometimes using a pigmented ink I really want to be able to get it completely apart every now and then for a thorough cleaning to get all the pigment out.

@parkerthenutter -- glad to hear the flushing fixed the problem. I have no problems with my hero 100 at all. If you stick with the nonpigmented inks you shouldn't need the tool.