Has anyone boarded an airplane with their Solo?

[SurfDrone]

Has anyone boarded an airplane with their Solo yet?

Did you carry it on? or did you check it under the plane?
What case did you use?

Thanks!

 

[Kevin Wainscott]

Yes i have and i made a custom backpack for it and used it as a carry on. I wouldn't recommend you placing it as luggage.

 

[SurfDrone]

Could you please post a pic of your custom backpack? I am curious to see what you made because ideally I would like to have a backpack as well.

 

[DodgeP]

Not yet.

 

[Kevin Wainscott]

Could you please post a pic of your custom backpack? I am curious to see what you made because ideally I would like to have a backpack as well.

just replicated the solo foam bag thats going to come out and placed it in another bag and went to the store and got removable piece foam to make the drone fit nicely in this is the picture of an inside of the product that will be released not the actual bag i made

 

[SurfDrone]

Kevin, Thank you for the info. Could you please specify what bag are you using? Seems like the biggest issue would be finding a bag that fits the Solo...if you know a proven path, i dont want to reinvent the wheel.

 

[pubal]

Has anyone boarded an airplane with their Solo yet?

Did you carry it on? or did you check it under the plane?
What case did you use?

Thanks!

I travelled over the 4th of July weekend with a Solo. For now, I just used the flimsy cardboard case it came in - I'm attaching a picture of of it sitting in an airport chair. It was my carryon, and I stowed it an overhead bin.

I plan on picking up a backpack when they're available. Has anyone had hands on with one?

 

[DodgeP]

I travelled over the 4th of July weekend with a Solo. For now, I just used the flimsy cardboard case it came in - I'm attaching a picture of of it sitting in an airport chair. It was my carryon, and I stowed it an overhead bin.

I plan on picking up a backpack when they're available. Has anyone had hands on with one?

What about your batteries?

 

[pubal]

At the moment, I just have one. I pre-ordered one extra, and I have the "free" one coming to me. However, 3DR tells me they're backordered. I had the battery in the case in the picture packed just like it came in the box initially.

I expected the x-ray screeners to make a big deal of it and search the case. They didn't give it a second glance. It got through the screeners twice without any fuss.

 

[Operator74656]

I am surprised they are letting large lipo batteries on planes in carry on luggage. I thought that was a big no-no

 

[Rich]

Here is the TSA page on flying with batteries:
http://blog.tsa.gov/2013/06/travel-tips-tuesday-safely-packing.html

Summary: LiPo batteries are ok for carry on luggage.

 

[BVIsolo]

I brought my solo from SC down to the British Virgin Islands here in the Caribbean via delta airlines. No issues, just used the original packaging and must be carry on because of the lipos. No issues with tsa at all.

 

[alex covo]

I just bought a solo and am currently traveling with it. I decided to bring it on as a carry-on. I took the "inner starter case" out of the box it comes in, and shoved it into a carry-on hard shell. Not the most elegant solution, but short of buying a pelican case to stow it away as check-in luggage, I wasn't comfortable with the idea. Also, you are not allowed to place Lipos in "check-in" luggage. You have to carry-on the batteries. It's a TSA safety regulation. With that said, your batteries should be <50% charged (less is better). Flight safety is important, and should a battery catch on fire during a flight, it is easier to identify and tackle the issue in the cabin, than letting it go unnoticed in the cargo hold of an airplane.

With that said, I traveled through US, France, Spain and Russia (Delta and Air France) and didn't have a problem with the Solo + 2 batteries in my carry on. In Spain, Screening officials did ask to open my carry on and visually inspected the Solo. They hassled me more about hand checking 4x5 film than the Solo. I'm a professional photographer and have to deal with hand inspection, extra screening and scrutiny of my carry on items all the time.

Hope that helps.

 

[Matj2ix88]

I just bought a solo and am currently traveling with it. I decided to bring it on as a carry-on. I took the "inner starter case" out of the box it comes in, and shoved it into a carry-on hard shell. Not the most elegant solution, but short of buying a pelican case to stow it away as check-in luggage, I wasn't comfortable with the idea. Also, you are not allowed to place Lipos in "check-in" luggage. You have to carry-on the batteries. It's a TSA safety regulation. With that said, your batteries should be <50% charged (less is better). Flight safety is important, and should a battery catch on fire during a flight, it is easier to identify and tackle the issue in the cabin, than letting it go unnoticed in the cargo hold of an airplane.

With that said, I traveled through US, France, Spain and Russia (Delta and Air France) and didn't have a problem with the Solo + 2 batteries in my carry on. In Spain, Screening officials did ask to open my carry on and visually inspected the Solo. They hassled me more about hand checking 4x5 film than the Solo. I'm a professional photographer and have to deal with hand inspection, extra screening and scrutiny of my carry on items all the time.

Hope that helps.

AC, this is absolutely correct. Lipos are not allowed in the underbelly of the aircraft for that specific reason. I work for Homeland Security so with that said, if anyone has any questions regarding traveling, i will get that answer for you. If anything pops up [other rules and or regs that the gov likes to place on everything], ill try to keep u all updated.

With that said, IMO, I would HIGHLY suggest keeping the Solo [or anything expensive or other electronics important to you] out of check-in baggage. I will try to upload a vid of the travels a bag takes under the airport, but theres this rerouter machine that hits baggage off one conveyor belt onto another conveyor belt. The force and impact and the roll that checked baggage takes is unimaginable. The force is so powerful that sometimes, i think the baggage can get hit up and over the guardrails, which are fairly 2 to 3 ft high.

Again this is just my opinion, also avoids bagagge fees =), so you can check in whatever you want. I will just try to get a vid of what I'm talking about.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

How many "watt-hours" does a Solo battery have?

 

[RolandS888]

14.8 volts x 5.2 amp hours = 76.96 WHrs.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

14.8 volts x 5.2 amp hours = 76.96 WHrs.

Thanks! They didn't cover that in the Ham license stuff, so I wouldn't have known.

 

[Taryn]

will the official solo backpack fit in an overhead compartment or under the seat? I'm looking to fly air transat from yeg to puerta Vallarta in a few weeks. I'd LOVE to take solo with me.

 

[PdxSteve]

will the official solo backpack fit in an overhead compartment or under the seat? I'm looking to fly air transat from yeg to puerta Vallarta in a few weeks. I'd LOVE to take solo with me.

From what I've read here, it will fit MOST overhead bins. Depends on the plane.

You could always just put it in Follow Me mode. That would be awesome lol

 

[Taryn]

From what I've read here, it will fit MOST overhead bins. Depends on the plane.

You could always just put it in Follow Me mode. That would be awesome lol

that WOULD be awesome. Anyone have any battery life hacks? lol