What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

No more lost pencils?

KJBSouth

Well Known Member
Flying under IFR we all make a practice of recording instructions from ATC, frequently with pencil and paper.
Pity the poor pilot who lost their pencil to the cabin floor and can?t retrieve it because the seat belt and shoulder harness are tight and the plane is flying through turbulence while ATC is issuing an amended route clearance.
Pencil Clip 01.jpg

With a 3D printer and pandemic idled hands I made a solution.

The blue double ended thingy sturdily clips onto both RV control sticks and standard sized pencils.

I?ve started giving them to other fumble fingered pilots.
You know who you are. Just ask the next time we see each other.
Pencil Clip 02.jpg

For RV deprived pilot friends, I also have a version that clips onto standard aviation chromalloy 3/4″ tubeing.
 
The thought of a pencil dropping into the controls and jamming them, even with the witch's hat covering the opening, would keep me from using that.

I covered the top of my glair shield with a sheet of loop Velcro and put a little section of loop Velcro on my pen/pencil and it never gets lost.
 
I've always had a 1" x 3" strip of hook velco on the cockpit sidewall, with a strip of felt velcro wrapped around the pencil.

Works for anything else that needs to be temporarily secured too.

- mark
 
FWIW; I use a lanyard with a badge reel to hold my pencil or pen.

reel.jpg


Always available, retracts when not in use and lots of them are given away at trade shows every year. I got the two I have for free at last years Sun-N-Fun. Works great, especially with a pen or mechanical pencil. :cool:
 
Last edited:
How do you keep the velcro on the pencil??

Input some under my tip up glare shield but have a heck of a time keeping the strip of velcro stuck to my pencils! I even tried a wrap of lacing tape. :eek:
 
Examiner gets in the plane (IFR check ride), notes that I have stashed about 20 ball point pens everywhere within reach (ash tray, floor, lap board, side pockets, etc.). Says, ?You must work for the government.? My theory: You can never have too many pens.
 
I have used the pen pal two pen holder from Aircraft Spruce in all my airplanes for the last 20+ years. There?s always a place to secure it. On my 9 I have It attached to the side interior panel on my left.
I don?t like pencils because tips can break. Especially in turbulence. I use the two pen holder in case one pen runs out of ink.
 
I'm the same way

The only time you can have too many pens is when you decide to head up into the teens, altitude wise, and they start exploding. :)

Examiner gets in the plane (IFR check ride), notes that I have stashed about 20 ball point pens everywhere within reach (ash tray, floor, lap board, side pockets, etc.). Says, ?You must work for the government.? My theory: You can never have too many pens.
 
21st century, using a NAV program on the iPad, such as SkyDemon, let?s you swipe direct to the scratchpad for writing.
On the other hand having a properly prepared IFR flight plan usually leads to an expected clearance, and therefore just the initial alt to remember, which is directly dialed into the alt select...

Banned pens or pencils, as well as paper plates or charts, off the flight deck many moons ago :D
 
I banned pens from my cockpit (no marking up my expensive interior with ink!), and just use mechanical pencils (solves the broken tip problem). Frankly, very little call to use them anymore with all the modern avionics, but it is sometimes useful to scribble something down on a pad.
 
Back
Top