Where do you keep your pen?

cocolos

cocolos

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Jul 4, 2012
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cocolos
Simple enough question, but I am curious how everyone else organizes his/her cockpit.
 
Pants pocket, shirt pocket and knee board but I seldom use one.:lol:

Cheers
 
In my pocket. Which is the only good thing about wearing a uniform. When I fly in street clothes I'm always wondering where to put it.
 
Stuck on the panel with velcro.
 

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Unforntunately it was backwards (facing outwards) on my kneeboard for my last trip at night. Lots of ink marks on my sleeve after the flight as the throttle is very close.

Kneeboard facing inwards normally.
 
I only have a pen if I'm planning to write - in which case I'll also have a pad of paper, so I clip it to that.

That said, my new plane came with a pen velcro-ed to the panel. I might find that I like having it there - if so, I'll be replacing the white velcro circle with black one and replacing the garish advertising gimme pen for something less offensive.
 
On my knee-board. Since I fly out of the SFRA, I'm on a flight plan for each flight so the knee-board is used for squawks and freqs.
 
I use several long rubber bands to create a lanyard to hold the pen to my kneeboard. It works for me, if I fumble the pen, I always can get it back.

On my very first solo XC I dropped three pens on the floor within 5 minutes after takeoff...never again.
 
bflynn said:
I use several long rubber bands to create a lanyard to hold the pen to my kneeboard. It works for me, if I fumble the pen, I always can get it back.

On my very first solo XC I dropped three pens on the floor within 5 minutes after takeoff...never again.
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P
Oh that is so funny.
I use tri fold knee board with three of those spring things that clips to the board. I used pencils. Easier to was the lead out. How do you think I know that?
 
I use a Boogie Board with an elastic pen holder that wraps around it and securely holds the stylus. I keep it in the pocket of my door and it works great.
 
In my cherokee 140, I normally just always held the pen in my left hand (I write left-handed) - I can fly with my left hand with the pen in my left hand. For the few moments that I needed to put it away, I could stick the pen between two parts of the interior just below the little window.
 
One of the best value purchases I've ever made.

Stuck to a piece of vertical plastic trim next to the glareshield.

Haven't lost a pen since over 4 years. Would work on a kneeboard, too.

I used to start every flight with a pocket full of pens and dropped/lost them all on every flight. :mad2:

http://www.amazon.com/MMF-Industrie...r=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=secure-a-pen+chain-riter
2vjr9s4.png
 
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Primary: The one in my shirt pocket.

First Backup: The one my wife is using for her crossword puzzle.

Second Backup: The one in my wife's purse that she took from my shirt pocket yesterday for her crossword puzzle.

:)
 
Shirt pocket, backup in the belly pack, backup mechanical pencil in belly pack, backup wooden pencil and a pen in flight bag. Why, yes, my car has two spare tires, how did you guess?
 
Pen is in flight bag for writing checks for large amounts of money to FBO for renting their airplanes.

I do, however, have a pencil tied via its pocket clip on a simple string lanyard attached to my kneeboard. This way, when (not if) I drop it I can recover it easily:

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I wrapped the hook portion of velcro strips around several pencils and stuck pieces of the loop portion on my kneeboard, on the panel, anywhere I could find a flat space. Backed that up with a pencil on a string around my neck. You can never have too many writing implements.

Bob Gardner
 
First - In my shirt (either pocket or neck of a polo).

2nd, 3rd, and 4th - In the ashtray of the left cabin wall (two pens, one pencil)

5th and 6th - In the map pocket on the left wall (where my two pads are)

7th, 8th, 9th - In the glovebox

10th and 11th - In the passenger's seatback pocket

Yes, I am anal. If you removed the pens, flashlights, and batteries from the interior of my bird, I could carry another gallon of gas.
Side effect of being a cop and an emergency manager for 25 years.
 
I always have a polo or a button down shirt on. I keep it in the neck of the shirt.

My CFI does this, and I thought it looked to cliché for me. Then I kept losing it and tried it. Works great.

I also have a half a dozen or so in my flight bag, in case I drop it.
 
I buy those mega-packs every time I'm at Staples. Then I spray them around in the plane, you cannot spit in my plane without it landing on a pen. every pocket has at least 10, every bag has at least 20, every pocket in every bag has at least three. All kidding aside, there's probably 60 pens in my plane right now. I seem to have this same problem with AA batteries, notepads and flashlights (there's about 6 flashlights in the plane).
 
I've made a concerted effort to purge my plane of "stuff". I still have the pencil velcro'd to the panel but there is nothing to write on, I've convinced myself to eliminate all paper and it's been great.
 
bartmc said:
I buy those mega-packs every time I'm at Staples. Then I spray them around in the plane, you cannot spit in my plane without it landing on a pen. every pocket has at least 10, every bag has at least 20, every pocket in every bag has at least three. All kidding aside, there's probably 60 pens in my plane right now. I seem to have this same problem with AA batteries, notepads and flashlights (there's about 6 flashlights in the plane).
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how much does that subtract from your useful load? :)
 
I keep two in the little loops that came with my knee ASA trifold knee board. If its cool and I have my fabric flight jacket on I'll have one or two in the pen holders on my upper right sleve.

JoeSelch said:
I only have a pen if I'm planning to write - in which case I'll also have a pad of paper, so I clip it to that.

That said, my new plane came with a pen velcro-ed to the panel. I might find that I like having it there - if so, I'll be replacing the white velcro circle with black one and replacing the garish advertising gimme pen for something less offensive.
Click to expand...

I see you've posted a photo already but it was like my early warning radar started going ding ding ding, she got it! Photos Photos but we'll move that to another thread.
 
I keep my pen attached to the kneeboard via the clip provided. I also keep one in the pilot side pocket. I keep another in my flightbag along with a mechanical pencil.
 

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Very nice plane, Liz....

I keep my writing instruments either in my pocket, in the kneeboard, or in the side pocket of the plane (next to my left shin). Or all three, as the case may be.
 
cool plane.

Pens are always getting lost when I'm at work so the plane is no exception. I just put them everywhere and hope for the best - kneeboard if I'm using one, glove box, clipboard, back seat in flight bag, handed to passenger, etc.

If I give a Bay Tour or do pattern work I won't need a pen. All other flights I usually need a pen, unless I'm flying to a near by untowered field.
 
One clipped to the kneeboard; and I have a nifty little two-slot pen/pencil holder attached to the side of the console on the ceiling, one pen, one pencil. I have no idea where the prior owner of the plane (thanks, Ken!) found this, but it is perfectly situated.
 
My pen is enormous. I keep it in my shirt pocket, except in the rare case I don't have a pocket, then I clip it to the collar. There are extra ones crammed in the seat pockets anyhow so even if I drop mine, there are others within reach.

It's rare I have to write something down after takeoff.
 
I never answered, just made jokes...

Three in the Brightline bag, a pen and my favorite mechanical pencil in the zipper pocket of the kneeboard, three to six more in the glove box, one hanging from the paperwork window on the left forward map pocket, one in the flight time logbook that stays in the airplane, and then the one shoved in my polo shirt collar/front buttons.

I'm really a fan of pencil. I have a couple of mechanicals that have the larger 0.9mm lead that I prefer for scribbling stuff in flight. Bigger lead, less breakage. Don't like 0.5 or 0.7 as much.

I usually reach for that pencil in the kneeboard zipper pocket. It's a zuluworks kneeboard with their ballistic nylon cover.
 
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