concertina up in the air

[Marien]

I heard people telling that ist is not a good idea to travelling through the air with a guitar, mandolin, mandola or banjo in the luggage department . Not only because people throw it violently on a cart after checking in. Somebody told me that it may be risky to transport stringed instruments in concert pitch in a plane. The neck may even brake of the high tension. It is safer to loosen the strings. So I did last week and now 4 out of 10 strings snapped of after I tried to tune them back to concert pitch, but I think this was because it was time to replace them anyhow...

 

I don't know the eventual cause why a guitar neck would brake on an earo plane. It does usually not freeze in the luggage compartments. It used to be like that in the old days. - btw, a luggage compartment of an aeroplane is not a healthy area for stowaways, unfortunately, there are stories on the internet of people dying in there... - I haven't got the slightest idea about the physical cause of it, if it seally is a risk. Is it low temperature, less athmospheric pressure, less gravity or a feeling of disorientation from the ground in the instrument?

 

Maybe quite an introduction, but in fact I was asking myself: What are the risks of transporting a concertina on an aeroplane? Are there any? (btw, I am not talking about loose reeds from having it smashed on a cart).

 

Any ideas about this?

[saguaro_squeezer]

Hi Marien,

 

I'd expect that most people would carry on a concertina and have it in the overhead storage. That's what I'll do when I travel with mine.

 

Cheers,

 

Rod in Tucson

[SteveS]

Marien

 

I always carry on my concertina and stow it in the overhead locker.

 

However most airlines nowadays only allow one piece of carry-on luggage - so if I'm travelling with other bits and pieces necessary for my journey, I'll pack the concertina box inside of a larger bag (maximum size of allowed carry-on luggage), and but my other bits in the bag also. Security almost always insists on opening the concertina case after x-ray scanning.

 

Travelling with a large coat with many large pockets is also useful - there's no limit to the amount of stuff you can carry on in pockets.

 

Steve

[TomB-R]

A certain airline beginning with Ry now considers a small belt bag, almost a money belt, to be an extra item.

 

I'd agree with Steve, a concertina probably looks very interesting on the x-ray so it'll nearly always be looked at, and you may well be asked to play it!

 

 

There are a lot of myths about instruments in aeroplanes, including those who believe the reduction in pressure might cause a fiddle to explode! Sadly the risks from baggage handlers are all too real for checked instruments. Damage to banjo/guitar cases on every trip in recent flights with a group.

[Woody]

Travelling with a large coat with many large pockets is also useful - there's no limit to the amount of stuff you can carry on in pockets.

I've got a cheap copy of this type of waistcoat. Used in combination with a combat jacket with lots of pockets I can carry loads of stuff before I even start filling my hand luggage. Can get heavy though! :ph34r:

[Stephen Chambers]

I heard people telling that ist is not a good idea to travelling through the air with a guitar, mandolin, mandola or banjo in the luggage department . Not only because people throw it violently on a cart after checking in. Somebody told me that it may be risky to transport stringed instruments in concert pitch in a plane. The neck may even brake of the high tension. It is safer to loosen the strings. So I did last week and now 4 out of 10 strings snapped of after I tried to tune them back to concert pitch, but I think this was because it was time to replace them anyhow...

 

I don't know the eventual cause why a guitar neck would brake on an earo plane.

Marien,

 

The reason you should always let the tension off the strings before allowing a stringed instrument to be carried in the baggage compartment of an aeroplane is nothing to do with the plane itself; it's to avoid the classic "whiplash" break between the headstock and the neck when the case gets roughly treated/dropped by the baggage handlers. For the same reason, the instrument should also be unable to move around inside the case so, if it isn't in a custom-fitted case, you should carefully pack some clothes/towels around it to achieve this. Of course, the case itself should also be very strong, preferably of "flight" quality!

 

But the best solution is to take it onboard the plane with you, even if that means buying an extra ticket for it!

 

A break like that is something that can happen anytime/anywhere, simply walking down the street, if the instrument case receives a hard knock.

[Stephen Chambers]

Security almost always insists on opening the concertina case after x-ray scanning.

Steve,

 

I find I can usually avoid examination of my concertina by doing two things:

 

1. 
   1) Try to ensure that it is packed in such a way that the scanner gets a side-on view, rather than an end-on one. This is because the end-on x-ray view can appear quite alarming, with "wires" (the levers) and "shrapnel" (the reeds) radiating around the inside of it. The side-on view appears much more innocuous.
    
   2) Warn the security staff that you have "a concertina, it's like a small accordion" in your hand luggage, before it even gets x-rayed if possible, or tell the x-ray machine operator if they start looking closely at the contents of your bag. When travelling abroad it helps if you know the words for concertina/accordion in the local language too, - I recently saved myself some trouble by telling the operator at Copenhagen Airport that what she was peering at on her screen was a "harmonika"!
   

But you'll always find somebody awkward, or an awkward airport, like Stansted (I hate Stansted, and especially flying Ryanair through Stansted - never again! ) where they'll insist on not only looking at it, but swabbibg it for explosives too!

Edited July 1, 2009 by Stephen Chambers

[Mike C]

A certain airline beginning with Ry now considers a small belt bag, almost a money belt, to be an extra item.

 

I'd agree with Steve, a concertina probably looks very interesting on the x-ray so it'll nearly always be looked at, and you may well be asked to play it!

 

 

There are a lot of myths about instruments in aeroplanes, including those who believe the reduction in pressure might cause a fiddle to explode! Sadly the risks from baggage handlers are all too real for checked instruments. Damage to banjo/guitar cases on every trip in recent flights with a group.

 

 

Lat year when travelling through the x-ray check at Bristol airport, with my concertina and case inside my carry-on bag, the bloke operating the x-ray asked if I'd like to have a look at the screen to see what my concertina looked like when x-rayed! Just a shame he couldn't print out a copy for me.

Edited June 8, 2009 by Mike C

[SteveS]

Travelling with a large coat with many large pockets is also useful - there's no limit to the amount of stuff you can carry on in pockets.

 

Last year when travelling back to UK from Stockholm with Ryanair, my main bag was 3kg over the stingey 15kg limit.

The check-in counter person asked me to either pay the exhorbitant excess charge or remove 3kg from my bag.

I went to an unused check-in desk, removed sufficient clothes from my bag and either wore them or put them into my coat pockets, so that my bag weighed exactly 15kg when I returned to the check-in desk.

Once through security I removed the extra clothes and placed into a duty free carrier bag I had with me for just this eventuality - so now I went onto the aircraft with my 'tina in carry-on luggage and a bag of clothes that looked like duty free.

 

Steve

 

PS this year for my trip to Sweden (I'm going to Musik vid Siljan in Dalarna) I'm flying KLM and I've paid the extra for the convenience, more generous weight limit & carry-on policy.

[Stephen Chambers]

Last year when travelling back to UK from Stockholm with Ryanair, my main bag was 3kg over the stingey 15kg limit.

The check-in counter person asked me to either pay the exhorbitant excess charge or remove 3kg from my bag.

I flew EasyJet from Copenhagen to Stansted with relative ease, coming back from the SSI, but unfortunately I was flying back to Shannon with Ryanair and I found their Stansted check-in had become unbelievably complicated and confusing, not forgetting a total rip-off. I finished up being charged £20 extra to check myself in using a machine (I thought I'd be getting a real check-in clerk to do it for me, for that money!), then having to pay £30 for excess baggage (that had been under Easyjet's limit), and had to go back to the machine again to pay that with my credit card. Service???

 

Then, security insisted on swabbing Captain Gardnor's (my avatar, the first) concertina, even though I explained that it was a "museum quality" artefact. (I'd taken it, and some other very historic instruments, to the SSI with me to give a talk.)

 

I was about ready to kill somebody when I finally boarded my (40 minutes late) flight!

 

this year for my trip to Sweden ... I'm flying KLM and I've paid the extra for the convenience, more generous weight limit & carry-on policy.

Wise man, I think everybody should do the same!

Edited June 8, 2009 by Stephen Chambers

[TomB-R]

Last year when travelling back to UK from Stockholm with Ryanair, my main bag was 3kg over the stingey 15kg limit.

 

It is very funny when you consider the variation in weight of passengers.......

 

(But of course, that's unmentionable!)

[Marien]

Travelling with a large coat with many large pockets is also useful - there's no limit to the amount of stuff you can carry on in pockets.

I've got a cheap copy of this type of waistcoat. Used in combination with a combat jacket with lots of pockets I can carry loads of stuff before I even start filling my hand luggage. Can get heavy though! :ph34r:

 

That's a good idea, I think I am going to by a kangaroo pouch jacket..

[TomB-R]

That's a good idea, I think I am going to by a kangaroo pouch jacket..

 

Ry*n**r would probably count each pocket as an item of hand luggage!

[Stephen Chambers]

... I think I am going to by a kangaroo pouch jacket..

But are you sure you could get a bouzouki into it?

Edited June 8, 2009 by Stephen Chambers

[John Wild]

I have just returned from a trip to the U.S. This involved the outward and return flights plus two internal US flights. My concertina was taken as hand luggage inside a larger bag with other items. Only once was I asked to open the case for inspection. Every time however, my main item of luggage was opened and searched. the last time, it emerged on to the carousel with the combination padlock missing and the zips left in the open position, and with some damage where they had cut a piece of fabric presumably in case there was anything concealed underneath it (which there wasn't). While they may be concerned with security, they were paying no regard at all to MY need for security!

 

- John Wild

[Stephen Chambers]

Every time however, my main item of luggage was opened and searched. the last time, it emerged on to the carousel with the combination padlock missing and the zips left in the open position, and with some damage where they had cut a piece of fabric presumably in case there was anything concealed underneath it (which there wasn't). While they may be concerned with security, they were paying no regard at all to MY need for security!

John,

 

Sadly, passengers are now advised not to lock your suitcases on US flights, due to Transportation Security Administration screening of every checked bag.

 

However, according to the American Airlines website:

 

Although we recommend that you do not lock your baggage due to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening of every checked bag, there are now locks available at retail outlets which can be used to secure your luggage without creating the need to break the lock or damage your bag.

 

Look for locks that identify the use of a "TSA-recognized locking mechanism." Only locks that state this use of a TSA-recognized locking mechanism are recommended for use in locking your baggage. For more information, please visit the TSA Web site at

www.tsa.gov

.

[catty]

The reason you should always let the tension off the strings before allowing a stringed instrument to be carried in the baggage compartment of an aeroplane is nothing to do with the plane itself; it's to avoid the classic "whiplash" break between the headstock and the neck when the case gets roughly treated/dropped by the baggage handlers. For the same reason, the instrument should also be unable to move around inside the case so, if it isn't in a custom-fitted case, you should carefully pack some clothes/towels around it to achieve this. Of course, the case itself should also be very strong, preferably of "flight" quality!

 

But the best solution is to take it onboard the plane with you, even if that means buying an extra ticket for it!

 

A break like that is something that can happen anytime/anywhere, simply walking down the street, if the instrument case receives a hard knock.

 

However, do note that the baggage hold of a plane is uncontrolled for temperature...and it is very cold at 30,000 feet. I do everything I can to lessen the stress of any delicate instrument that is going to spend several hours in extremely fluctuating temperature. May be paranoia, superstition, hypervigilance, or a combination of that...and good sense.

Edited June 8, 2009 by catty

[Leo]

However, do note that the baggage hold of a plane is uncontrolled for temperature...and it is very cold at 30,000 feet. I do everything I can to lessen the stress of any delicate instrument that is going to spend several hours in extremely fluctuating temperature. May be paranoia, superstition, hypervigilance, or a combination of that...and good sense.

Hi Catty

 

What you say is somewhat misleading, true in that there is no dedicated temperature control for baggage compartments only. They are all heated, and pressurized from the cabin air that is routed through the baggage compartment before dumped overboard through the outflow valve. Otherwise the cabin floor would collapse and destroy the plane. The pressurized area is the skin of the airplane not the cabin floor. The maximum altitude in the main cabin and cargo area is 8000 ft with a rate of change of 300 ft/ min. So it would take almost 27 minits to climb and descend. There would be a greater rate of change driving over the Alps in Europe or the Rocky Mountains in the US, or an elevator in a tall building. Whatever pressure changes climbing in altitude are relieved by the weakest button spring. (Think relief valve) Descending, there are enough leaks to overcome the external pressure over time, and the volume inside the concertina is so small.

 

Thanks

Leo