# Flying with a Rollerball



## StatProf (Apr 1, 2009)

I have heard that the rollerball (Baron and Jr. Gent) might "blowup" in flight. Have any of you had this problem? I wanted to take a Baron to a friend and am worried.

Thanks,
Kyle


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## cbatzi01 (Apr 1, 2009)

I use G2 refills and fly several times a month.  I have never had a problem with these.  Fountain pen cartridges...now that's a different story....


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## broitblat (Apr 1, 2009)

I've never had a problem with the Baron or Jr Gent refills blowing up (and have traveled with both a fair amout).  I have had an occasional problem how the pens look to security X-ray however (and don't even ask about bottle stoppers ;-))

  -Barry


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## ribanett (Apr 1, 2009)

They may look funny at a Baron or Jr. Gent in the X-Ray, but a bullet pen will be taken in a heartbeat. I lost two bullets, forgot to take them out of my case.


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## sbell111 (Apr 1, 2009)

Many of the pen refills that we install in our beautiful pens are shipped to us from overseas.  I've never received a blowed up one.


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## GaryMadore (Apr 1, 2009)

I fly for a living (and have flown both pressurized and unpressurized aircraft) and have never had a problem with a rollerball.

Statistically speaking, my MTBF is infinite.

My rollerball pens have a failure rate of 0%, 100% of the time, with 100% confidence.

E(x)=100, V(x)=0

Of course, this kinda blows the various distribution theories out of the water....

I hate statistics....

Cheers!

Gary


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## rwyoung (Apr 1, 2009)

GaryMadore said:


> I fly for a living
> 
> Gary



Do your arms get tired???  :biggrin:


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## GaryMadore (Apr 1, 2009)

rwyoung said:


> Do your arms get tired???  :biggrin:



THHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhpppppppppttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!

(graphical representation of a "raspberry")

Cheers!

Gary


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## StatProf (Apr 1, 2009)

Classic!



GaryMadore said:


> I fly for a living (and have flown both pressurized and unpressurized aircraft) and have never had a problem with a rollerball.
> 
> Statistically speaking, my MTBF is infinite.
> 
> ...


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## Nickfff (Apr 1, 2009)

I had a Jr statesman capped explode in my nice dress shirt after a flight. It had a schmidt steel roller ball in it,


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## GaryMadore (Apr 2, 2009)

Nickfff said:


> I had a Jr statesman capped explode in my nice dress shirt after a flight. It had a schmidt steel roller ball in it,



Well, what the hell are you doing fighting in your work clothes anyway? We're supposed to blame the pen for your Neandethal activites? Were you planning on stabbing someone with the Statesman? Geeez, some people. As Bugs would say, "what a marOOn!"

Oh....

You said "flight" ...

Sorry 

Cheers!

Gary


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## DCBluesman (Apr 2, 2009)

The probability of having a roller ball explode due to flying is extremely small.  The roller ball refills I import come via air (cargo, no less) from Germany with no ill effects.  I also ship a lot of roller ball pens and have not had a customer complaint.


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## LouisQC (Apr 2, 2009)

I shipped a rollerball to France via airmail. No problems and I did talk to guy after he got it.


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## ed4copies (Apr 2, 2009)

*WHAAaaa?*



DCBluesman said:


> The probability of having a roller ball explode due to flying is extremely small.  The roller ball refills I import come via air (cargo, no less) from Germany with no ill effects.  I also ship a lot of roller ball pens and have not had a customer complaint.




OK, now I'm confused.

Isn't the argument for "exploding" based on carrying the pen in the pressurized cabin?  

The freight is in an "unpressurized" cargo bay.

Aren't we comparing apples and pineapples???


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## GaryMadore (Apr 2, 2009)

ed4copies said:


> OK, now I'm confused.



The pen would explode if it was pressurized to sea level (as they all are when we have 'em down here on Terra Firma) and then taken to a reduced pressure environment (aircraft cabin pressurized to, say, 8000' or an unpressurized aircraft/cargo bay) with no way for the pressure to equalize. The ink will expand and, probably, puke out.

A rollerball cartridge should be able to allow the air pressure to equalize.

This is why Bic pens have them li'l holes bored through the side. Plug up that little hole and take one flying - just don't have a nice shirt on 

Cheers!

Gary

P.S. Ask me what happens when you pop open a yogurt container and it explodes all over the lower/middle front of your flight suit - right in front of an extremely attractive female crewmember!


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## amosfella (Apr 2, 2009)

I"m asking Gary. BTW, there's supposed to be no office romance in the air farce....  What a naughty boy!!!!!!!


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## DCBluesman (Apr 2, 2009)

Ok, here are the details...and no, *cargo space is not unpressurized*.  Imagine the impact to animals transported as cargo at 40,000 feet.  The lack of oxygen would cause hypoxia and lead, ultimately, to death.

Aircraft which normally operate above 10,000 feet have pressurized cabins. Older pressurization systems, such as the type found in the earliest models of the B-727, require the flight engineer to control the rate of change manually. Today's more modern systems are electronic and are automatically controlled, with the rate of change usually around 350 feet per minute or so.

In aircraft with manual pressurization systems, the flight engineer's function of controlling cabin pressure is sometimes referred to as "flying the cabin" while the pilots fly the airplane. This refers to the fact that the cabin pressure or effective altitude inside the airplane is different from the altitude of the airplane. There is, however, a relationship between the altitude inside the airplane and the altitude outside the airplane, known as the "pressure differential." When the airplane is higher, so is the altitude inside the cabin. 

To give you some idea of cabin altitudes vs. airplane altitudes, a B-777 cruising at 43,000 will have a cabin altitude of around 7200 feet.  This is just slightly higher than the elevation of Denver and you certainly don't hear of exploding roller balls all over Denver.  The cabin can maintain sea level pressure up to around 11,000 feet before its maximum pressure differential is reached. At that time, the cabin altitude will start going up on a "climb schedule" which is related to the airplane's actual climb rate as well as the planned cruising altitude.



ed4copies said:


> OK, now I'm confused.
> 
> Isn't the argument for "exploding" based on carrying the pen in the pressurized cabin?
> 
> ...


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## ed4copies (Apr 2, 2009)

Thanks,  I'm LESS confused.


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## GaryMadore (Apr 2, 2009)

DCBluesman said:


> Ok, here are the details...and no, *cargo space is not unpressurized*



Careful with them blanket statements, Bro' - some of us trash-haulers and bombers don't carry live cargo, or do so with various doors or ports or ramps open, if ya know what I mean 

There are commercial carriers (Embraer, Boeing, etc.), as well, that have both pressurized and unpressurized holds and are still in service.

Cheers!

Gary


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## GaryMadore (Apr 2, 2009)

ed4copies said:


> Thanks,  I'm LESS confused.



OK

A bag of chips has air in it.

If you take it up in an airplane or to the top of a mountian, it will swell (assuming it is air-tight) and, eventually, maybe, explode.

If there's a hole in the bag, the air inside (pressurized to sea level) will be able to escape as the air outside becomes less dense (less pressure) as you increase in altitude. Of course, your chips will eventually get stale but the bag will not react to the change in pressure because it will be able to equalize during the ascent.

The same holds true for a pen: If the refill is air-tight, the pressure inside will attempt to equalize with the pressure outside as it changes. The only way for this to happen if the refill is air-tight is for the air to push out the only available opening, which is where the ball is. If there's ink between the air and the opening, guess what happens 

On the yogurt scenario: I went to the back of an Aurora (Canadian equivalent of the P3 Orion) to grab a snack. I grabbed a (single serving size) yogurt cup out of the fridge and began to peel open the foil top. It literally exploded all over the front of my flight suit, concentrated in the lower belly and groin area. I was standing there, looking stupid, when the TacNav (TACCO to you Navy types), who was a tall, gorgeous Dutch woman walked back, also in search of a snack. She looked at me, grinned, pursed her lips, and then asked with one raised eyebrow "So, you're happy to see me, then?"

I had NEVER turned so red in my life, nor have I since.

Cheers!

Gary


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## ed4copies (Apr 2, 2009)

I suppose you didn't think to say< "Your yogurt is served!!"


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## ed4copies (Apr 2, 2009)

Thanks, Gary and Lou ---  Now I am even MORE LESS confused!!!


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## GaryMadore (Apr 2, 2009)

ed4copies said:


> I suppose you didn't think to say< "Your yogurt is served!!"



She was SO hot and I was SO embarrassed that I couldn't think of anything clever to say.

I just stood there, beet-red and tried to smile 

Cheers!

Gary


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## wdcav1952 (Apr 2, 2009)

Now I'm confused.  If the rest of the plane is at 43,000 feet, why did they leave the cabin at 7,200 feet?  Loose bolts??


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## rjwolfe3 (Apr 2, 2009)

> Now I'm confused.  If the rest of the plane is at 43,000 feet, why did they leave the cabin at 7,200 feet?  Loose bolts??



Lack of maintenance????


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## jimofsanston (Apr 2, 2009)

All this math is hurting my heaaaad. Stop Please the numbers hurt:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


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## GaryMadore (Apr 2, 2009)

wdcav1952 said:


> Now I'm confused.  If the rest of the plane is at 43,000 feet, why did they leave the cabin at 7,200 feet?  Loose bolts??



(sigh) Zipperheads....



Cheers!

Gary


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## wdcav1952 (Apr 2, 2009)

ROTFLMAO!!  Hell, I had to look it up to see how I was insulted by Ole Yogart Crotch!!!


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## GaryMadore (Apr 3, 2009)

wdcav1952 said:


> ROTFLMAO!!  Hell, I had to look it up to see how I was insulted by Ole Yogart Crotch!!!



I hope you picked up on the right definition Cav 

_Zipperhead

A quasi-affectionate term used to describe a member of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps (RCAC).

Derived from the fact that early Armoured soldiers seldom wore protective headgear inside their vehicles and the head injuries resulting from banging off protruberances inside the vehicles, resulted in obvious stitches and scars._

I took your "Cav" screen name to mean that you did some time in Heavy Metal, but now I see that it's more likely to have something to do with your last name....

Cheers!

Gary


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