Bags for the travelling circus that is Aerial Cinematography
- Thread starter kloner
- Start date
twistedshifter
Member
I recently traveled to indonesia for a shoot with an 800 sized quad fully built with gimbal & TX all in one Peli 1640 case (check in.) A big, inconspicuous black backpack (carry on) stuffed with 2x 6S 8000mah, 6x 6S 5100mah, 4x 3S 1000mah lipos and other misc. crap. So far the TSA didn't raise an eyebrow at my 6S 5100mah lipos, but seemed very interested in not letting me pass through with the bigger 6S 8000mah lipos. Anyone ever got denied at TSA security with their lipos?
aerorynamic
Member
10+ domestic flights with 8x 4s5000s and handful of 800mah and never a problem. Always carry on, pack in separate bag, and put thru X-ray separately. 2x quads charger props tx in pelican soft roller does the trick and still room for my some clothes etc. Keep the tools under 7" and you're good, even my snips made it thru. I thnk Boltzmann has a nice setup with his disco 800 he's liking quite a bit too, maybe he'll chime in.
twistedshifter
Member
One time was with USA TSA. They heavily questioned me about the 2x Turnigy 6S 8000mah. They did not seem to care too much about the smaller ones. I told them is was for a toy RC helicopter and they let me go through. The other two times was with international security screening. They pulled all of my Lipo's out, examined them and told me I could not bring them on board the airplane. I explained what they were, that they were discharged, had the contacts covered and that they were rather expensive. They said I had to leave the security line and check them through as luggage! (this is even more dangerous.....but they don't seem to understand that.) Soooo, they pulled my bags back up to the ticket counter and let me stash them in my check thru bags, then I went back thru security.
DucktileMedia
Drone Enthusiast
I use one of these. Always gettin' weird looks and pulled into the TSA office for some reason though. It fits everything though.
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sixshooterstang
Bird's Eyes Aerial Media
When we travel to a shoot with the big 1meter hex, we put the hex in a big wooden box in the back of a truck that has padding and tie downs inside. All of our other equipment goes into a large rolling plastic tool box with various compartments inside for separating our video equipment, transmitters and such. As for our lipos, padded ammunition cases all the way.
Luckily we haven't need to fly anywhere yet so no TSA confrontations of any sort. Might have to do some filming for a client in France... wonder how the French will treat us with our big lipos. Ive heard some of them aren't too fond of Americans.
Luckily we haven't need to fly anywhere yet so no TSA confrontations of any sort. Might have to do some filming for a client in France... wonder how the French will treat us with our big lipos. Ive heard some of them aren't too fond of Americans.
sixshooterstang
Bird's Eyes Aerial Media
Make sure not to take the wrong one at baggage claim :highly_amused:
SMP
Member
We've traveled a bunch re airlines and cruise ships... Mostly what we found is this; get the lipos and the radio out into separate bins early. Make sure each lipo is separately wrapped, connector taped and in a firesafe lipo bag. Carry a small duffel bag. Most Western Countries know you're supposed to carry on not check lipos. Most Middle East and some Asian countries don't want Lipos carried on and will want to gate check it. Thats fine as long as you don't have to empty your entire flight bag, chargers, antennas, goggles, parts etc to have a bag for the now gate checked batteries. (thank you Qatar Airways for that little hassle you bastards...) Thats what the cloth duffel is for. Need a gate check, stuff it into the duffel. The operative word is model airplane, not helicopter, not drone. Model plane. Have a 10mm wrench or two as red herrings. These are giveaways, the wrenches will ALWAYS be confiscated which is fine since you can get a 10mm wrench anywhere on the planet and Security MUST confiscate something otherwise they just get frustrated. Avoid carrying hand tools you want to keep. and if that includes Paris (CDG) then hide your allen key bits in your pocket... No ****.. Allen key bits... While we love the nice foam flight cases Customs does too and it's almost always a guaranteed stop and extended conversation... We now carry 4 MASSIVE Regular Looking bags with 4 Rollers on the bottom. Does not carry a Jib. Will carry everything else Plus your clothes. Remember, giveaway wrenches....
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kloner
Aerial DP
Good stuff guys
i settled on a cinebags dslr/lens smuggler as a personal item, pelican 1510 for lipo carry on, Cinebags High Roller to check in the parts/tools/chargers, etc. and the AMP custom jib case..... gotta watch the jib case, can't put much in there without it going over 100lbs and that's easy to not get on a plane with. I'm digin them Cinebags, super plush
http://www.cinebags.com/
Can't imagine working and flying in the middle east smp, must be a royal PITA.
i settled on a cinebags dslr/lens smuggler as a personal item, pelican 1510 for lipo carry on, Cinebags High Roller to check in the parts/tools/chargers, etc. and the AMP custom jib case..... gotta watch the jib case, can't put much in there without it going over 100lbs and that's easy to not get on a plane with. I'm digin them Cinebags, super plush
http://www.cinebags.com/
Can't imagine working and flying in the middle east smp, must be a royal PITA.
When travelling with airplanes we have 4-5 Flightcases with
2 Octocopter, 3 remote heads, different cameras, 3 remote controls and a lot of spare parts. Total 130kg.
40 flight lipos 5000mah 5S and 30 lipos for video downlink and remote control.
We allways take the lipos with our carry on baggage, because it is not allowed to put them into checked baggage.
If there are any questions at the security check, we show them the IATA rules.
There is explained what lipos you are allowed to carry on.
Lithium batteries up to 100WH without limitation. Only the weight you are allowed to take with you into the cabin (5-6kg depends on airline and class booked)
All of our lipos show the power value on the lable. 5000mah 5s is 92WH. So no problems here.
When you have Lipos with 100Wh-160Wh, only 2 lipos/person are allowed for carry on.
Above that it is not allowed to take lipos with you at all.
2 Octocopter, 3 remote heads, different cameras, 3 remote controls and a lot of spare parts. Total 130kg.
40 flight lipos 5000mah 5S and 30 lipos for video downlink and remote control.
We allways take the lipos with our carry on baggage, because it is not allowed to put them into checked baggage.
If there are any questions at the security check, we show them the IATA rules.
There is explained what lipos you are allowed to carry on.
Lithium batteries up to 100WH without limitation. Only the weight you are allowed to take with you into the cabin (5-6kg depends on airline and class booked)
All of our lipos show the power value on the lable. 5000mah 5s is 92WH. So no problems here.
When you have Lipos with 100Wh-160Wh, only 2 lipos/person are allowed for carry on.
Above that it is not allowed to take lipos with you at all.
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R_Lefebvre
Arducopter Developer
Yeah, I had a trip get completely screwed because they took all my batteries. This was at Toronto Pearson. Security of course questioned them (as they should). But CATSA's regulations ultimately pass the buck on to the carrier (ie: "check with your carrier"). So they called some Air Canada people over. I had, I think 2 2S 370's, 2 2S 2200's, 2 3S 2200's, and 4 4S 5000's. The Air Canada people read the rule that stated you can only have 2 batteries over 160 Wh, to mean you can't have any over 160Wh. Then they asked where the Wh indication is on the battery. Of course it's not indicated. I explained how you can easily calculate Wh from the the V and Ah, but apparently the employees failed basic math and/or science classes, and accused me of lying about the calculation. So they took 'em all, and that was it. My trip was almost a total write-off.
Av8Chuck
Member
I had almost a similar experience. I printed out both the rules from the FAA website and the calculations on each battery and that was fine in the U'S, but in Switzerland once I pulled all of the batteries out of the battery safe they cleared the line, moved me aside and called every supervisor ate the airport to come and see. I gave them the printout, they passed the batteries through some machine they brought over and after about an hour they said they were batteries, packed them back up and sent me on my way.
But I watched them check my calculations and log into the website [I put the web address on the form I printed out] to make sure I followed the rules, I guess. If it wasn't so important to what I was doing I might have found it funny.
Other than it took quite a while, they were very nice about it, I was just surprised that they didn't act like they'd ever seen LiPo's before.
But I watched them check my calculations and log into the website [I put the web address on the form I printed out] to make sure I followed the rules, I guess. If it wasn't so important to what I was doing I might have found it funny.
Other than it took quite a while, they were very nice about it, I was just surprised that they didn't act like they'd ever seen LiPo's before.
twistedshifter
Member
Thinking about making some large sized Duracell battery stickers to put around my Lipos. Haha
R_Lefebvre
Arducopter Developer
Yeah, I had tracked down a few lipos in Colorado, which was surprisingly hard. So I brought them back with me. TSA in Denver were extremely professional about it. The primary guy flagged me, as well he should (I am actually happy they check this stuff), and they efficiently passed it up the chain of command. Not 5 minutes later, I was on my way with a polite explanation.
Not what I was expecting.
The problem wasn't really even CATSA. They did their jobs. It was just that CATSA's website basically says "Ok, as long as you check with your carrier." Air Canada's website, also said it was OK with no reservations, so I assumed that was sufficient to satisfy that requirement. But CATSA called Air Canada, and I guess Air Canada doesn't actually train their own people on what their policies are, or how to enforce them. I would have gone higher up the food chain, but I was late for my flight, and had to literally run the rest of the way to the gate. What a nightmare!
Later on, I complained to AC, who did nothing but pass the buck to CATSA, without actually listening to the story.
It should come as no surprise to anybody who has flown AC.
Oh, and then they lost my helicopter on the return flight. I did eventually get it. As evidenced by the damage on the 3/4" plywood case, I guess it must have fallen out of the airplane or something. :highly_amused:
I know people who have done just that.
Part of the problem with the regulation is that it's unclear, and practically unenforceable. How is anybody to know how much lithium is in the darn things? And the Wh is printed on laptop batteries, but not all batteries. Many devices (say: Ipads) have batteries buried in them, so you can't see the specs. Maybe they exceed the limit? Who knows? I'm sure they don't, but just for argument's sake, it demonstrates how badly this regulation is written.
Frankly, given just how dangerous they are, I would actually be completely fine with them simply saying you can't bring them on the plane, period. If that was just the way it was, clear as day, so we all knew what to do, I'd be happier.
kloner
Aerial DP
a lipo fire is completely controllable if you can get to it in time and the packs aren't subject to freezing cold or extreme heat along with pressure..... I'm glad they let us take em period.... Last gig we shipped em and spent $800 extra, ridiculous, but had to have em there the next day, no excuses. Rules, them are for other people
R_Lefebvre
Arducopter Developer
How would you deal with a lipo fire on an airplane? Sure, you could just throw it in a sink or something and let it burn itself out, but what do you do about the noxious smoke in the cabin?
kloner
Aerial DP
easier than checking it in and them putting it in the belly or on a fed ex plane with no body knowing it happening like if it were in an overhead bin...... smoke would be a problem, but man, versus a 747 coming out of the sky, i'd take the oxygen masks anyday
it's not like you putting your bag or box on a plane, it's like a guy there chucking stuff all day, he doesn't care if it burns..... Thats my option vs me gingerly taking them aboard in fire safe packs and never letting them get beat up... there like eggs
it's not like you putting your bag or box on a plane, it's like a guy there chucking stuff all day, he doesn't care if it burns..... Thats my option vs me gingerly taking them aboard in fire safe packs and never letting them get beat up... there like eggs
R_Lefebvre
Arducopter Developer
Yeah, I totally understand the problem with cargo holds. I think they should put them in wing drop tanks. 
If one goes... just let 'er fall.
But seriously, they'd be totally justified in just saying these are surface only. Freighters transport things like this all the time. It would slow it down, and drive up the cost but... these things really do cross the line into being too reactive, IMO.
If one goes... just let 'er fall. But seriously, they'd be totally justified in just saying these are surface only. Freighters transport things like this all the time. It would slow it down, and drive up the cost but... these things really do cross the line into being too reactive, IMO.