on saleRetro 51 Tornado Fountain Pen - P-51 Mustang

As an aviation enthusiast & having recently discovered the joy of using a fountain pen, this gives me the best of both worlds. I ordered the fine nib which was nice, however, I ordered the extra fine nib which provides a much finer writing experience for my taste. The build quality is top notch and I'm finding myself looking for any chance to write that I can.

The grip was very, very difficult to open to begin using the pen. I watched YouTube video to make sure I was doing it right. I used a silicon hand grip that I use for opening bottles and jards, my hardest possible strength, I held it under warm water for awhile. No luck, could not get it open Finally, on the third day, the grip finally gave up its hold, and I twisted open the grip, and now I'm using it.

Absolutely love this pen. It's practically foolproof and never fails to write. I've allowed several people to write with it, mostly young people, and it's a great conversation starter. Just take this baby to an airshow and see how many people wind up admiring it, both for the style, Retro 51 did a great job capturing the essence of the P-51's look, and for the reliability. In keeping with the callback to WWII, I ink it with Noodler's series of V-mail pens, the first being Air-Corps blue-black.

The model I built of a P-51 Mustang that hung in my bedroom through the 60s is no more, alas, but this pen is a happy reminder; and it writes reliably.

I bought this pen from Goulet roughly two years ago. I currently own two Tornadoes of the P-51 design and one of the Corsair design (about to order one of the P-38 design). I only use one of the two P-51s and don't use the Corsair. Those are for keeping not writing. I love the way the pen writes. Very smooth nib, comfortable in my hand, good weight, great looking pen. (Paired it with Noodler's Air Corps Blue-Black and it's a great combo.)I recently had a problem with the pen. My wife used it a couple times and over-tightened the cap, stripping the threads and making it impossible to cap the pen. I reached out to Retro 51 directly and they are sending me a new cap and a new body for the pen. No hassle whatsoever. I will update this when the replacements arrive. Until then, I love the pen and adore the Customer Service.