Has anyone boarded an airplane with their Solo?

[Solo58216]

I used a Pelican iM2600 Storm Case with Foam. The GPC case was to big for southwest carry-on, but would have been fine for Alaska air. Check your airline for size restrictions. also Southwest had a sign that said no LIPO batteries..... but no-one checked.

I took it to Mexico, only pulled aside by security at LAX on the way back (1 out of 4), they did a swab and I was good to go. However in Mexico I was stopped by customs and had to pay an import tax. 16% on $432. Had to show a receipt for it. $1432 less $500X2.

 

[baldguy]

I flew to San Francisco last month on Delta with the Solo in the Solo backpack. Going through security, I opened up the zipper and laid it open. I thought "well, here we go." The TSA agent looked at it and said "cool", then waived me on. The backpack fit in the overhead just fine.

 

[Taryn]

Right on. Yes, I'll expect issues, but hope for the best

 

[larrylewis2970]

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.

Hey bvi solo I'm in St croix are you getting enough sats for smart shots

 

[Cal Dawson]

Just flew with Westjet and Solo + Backpack fits fine in the overhead bin. They did swab it down during check in a couple of minutes and on my way....

 

[Lybior]

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.

Fits Boeing 747 (as carry one, of course), and another one smaller airplane, not sure which exactly..

 

[larrylewis2970]

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.

hey bvisolo dis larry from stx how many sats you gettin

 

[Taryn]

so I brought my solo from Edmonton to Puerto Vallarta. No problems or questions on either end. The 3DR backpack was 1 inch too big on two of the sides based on the AirTransat website. So I bought a travel luggage roller from Costco for like 30 bucks. It didn't have a lot of padding, but the solo and all the gear fit great and was just the right size for the overhead bin.

 

[RolandS888]

I have taken quads in cases (including Solo in a GPC case) on Qantas domestic flights. Security usually pull the cases aside and check the mAHr capacity of the batteries. Sometimes they have a quick chat about it, mostly its straight through.
Theres no limit to the number of batteries if they are under 100mAHr, the limit is 2 if the capacity is between 100 and 160 mAHr, and over 160 are not allowed.

 

[BVIsolo]

hey bvisolo dis larry from stx how many sats you gettin

Hi Larry. I normally get about 8 before takeoff and once in the air i'll have between 11-13 max. Yes I get my smart shots to work fine. My solo is locking faster than before. longest wait time now is averaging 2-3 minutes.

 

[Jason Murray]

So awesome I found this thread! Ill be heading to New Zealand from Canada in January, then to Thailand in march and then back home in june. Ill be hopping on quite a few flights in between all that, and am taking my Solo in the 3dr bag as well as a bit of camera gear in my f-stop bag.
I'm thinking I should be fine bringing it on the planes with me, and I shouldn't be hassled too much about my f-stop bag as long as I don't pack it all the way full. Not really sure which one would be me personal item...

 

[frases]

Roland,
Do you happen to know the mAHr rating of the Solo batteries?
frases

 

[PdxSteve]

It says on the bottom of the battery: 5200 mAh @ 14.8vdc

milliamps = 1,000th of an amp, so 5200/1000 = 5.2Ah

 

[frases]

Thanks PdxSteve!

 

[Marioski]

Friend of mine just flew Lufthansa to Germany. Took his Solo that was in a case, along with the battery and gimbal as carry on. No questions asked. Went thru X-ray and bomb screening and they sent him along.

 

[RolandS888]

Roland,
Do you happen to know the mAHr rating of the Solo batteries?
frases

@frases airlines usually go by the watt-hour capacity of the batteries, for the Solo batteries is 77Wh.

 

[PdxSteve]

oh, so mAh * V / 1000 = Wh
5200*14.8/1000 = 76.96Wh (or 77)

 

[frases]

Roland,
Thanks! Upon inspection, I see that the batteries have the watts/hour written down next to the volts and mAh in fine print as well.

United seems to go by the watt/hour dimension:
Checked/Carry-on Baggage Prohibited Items | United Airlines

In carry on, they restrict greater than 100 Wh batts to two. As you calculated and the batts state on them, the Solo batts are about 77 Wh, so at least they don't exceed the 100 Wh measure.

American seems to limit batts based upon lithium content of the batts in grams:
Restricted items

Not sure how to discover the lithium content in grams. As Rich pointed out, here is the FAAs guidelines, which discuss both the grams restriction and the restriction on watts/hour:
The TSA Blog: Travel Tips Tuesday: Safely Packing Batteries for Your Trip

I'm going to be flying on Sun from Newark (United) and returning from SFO (United) so we'll see what happens.

frases

 

[frases]

Update: I wasn't stopped by security in Newark, but that might have been because the security line was a few hundred people long and that TSA just wanted to get people through fast. During my return trip from SFO, I was stopped by a younger TSA employee who didn't know what she was looking at on the X-ray's display. Took about ten minutes, but after a more senior TSA employee came over, the more senior approved me to carry on the Solo. Maybe a lesson here is that if you want to avoid hassle, look to getting in a line with more senior members of TSA staff.

I was using the Solo backpack with a compliment of four batteries.

 

[mwaqas]

Hi,
I just purchased the 3D solo Quadcopter along with back pack. I am in USA and i am leaving on 30 June 2017 to Pakistan. what is the best way to bring it with me. Is any issue of import or any thing that will create hurdle for me.
from the above discussion I found that I will use it as hand carry.