Re: [APML] tips for AP equipment and airlines

[ZenAstro <zenastro@home.com>]

Hi Mike,

You definitely need the right cases to ship your precious equipment on an 
airline. Those old commercials about the gorillas handling the baggage were 
only slightly exaggerated.

You need something like an Anvil case, or a Cabbage case, something that is 
really overbuilt, especially for something like optics or a 
mount.  ATA  (Airline Transport Approved) cases are what you need. They are 
not technically "required", but are highly recommended.

http://www.anvildealer.com/

http://www.cabbagecases.com/

The Cabbage cases are a bit more reasonably priced, and they will make them 
custom to fit.

You can probably ship a tripod in something like a padded tripod case, but 
I definitely would not ship anything like a mount or optics in anything 
less than a hard sided case with a lot of foam, that is specifically made 
for airline shipping.

If the case is oversize or overweight, expect to pay some hefty overage 
charges to the airline, like $75 a bag.

Check with the specific airline you are travelling on for the size and 
weight limits.

You could also consider shipping your equipment ahead via something like 
UPS if it is properly packed, like maybe in the case it came in when it was 
shipped from the manufacturer or dealer when you first purchased it.

If anything, make sure you err on the side of caution.

If all that is too much, because you will never get a custom case made in 
the time you have left before the trip, consider just making a barn door 
mount for some piggy back shots and take a camera tripod instead of your 
G-11. Or rent a mount at the astro place you are going to.

With the recent terrorist activities, exactly how your baggage will be 
inspected is a crap shoot. I've heard stories from numerous pros who travel 
regularly, and their experiences run the gamut from no inspections at all 
to body cavity searches.

You have kind of a dilemma about deciding whether to lock the cases or not. 
If they run them through the X-Ray machine in the back for the checked 
luggage, and they see something they don't like, they may use bolt cutters 
to open the lock on the case.   Of course, if you don't use any lock at 
all, then anyone can get in and rifle around. I'd recommend using the lock 
anyway.

Do not ship any film in your checked luggage. The X-ray machines they use 
in the back for checked luggage will absolutely toast the film.  Hand carry 
the film on the plane. Expect in a worse case that even if you ask for hand 
inspection they will insist on you running it through the ray machine at 
the gate between the ticket counter and the gate.  In the US, this will not 
hurt your film, so don't worry about it.

You might want to get any film that you shoot processed before you come 
back, but you probably don't really have to worry about this either.

Remember that under really dark western skies with low humidity and at 
altitude, you can probably expose a lot longer than you would think, and 
certainly longer than you can under light-polluted skies near Toledo.

Enjoy those skies and good luck with the weather!




At 11:34 PM 9/30/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi All,
>This past weekend I found out my wife got us 3 nights under the dark skys 
>of New Mexico for our aniversery.
>This will be my first venture farther west than Toledo Ohio. We leave in 
>less than 2 weeks. I haven't been on a plane in over 15 years let alone 
>thought about hauling my AP equipment with me.
>I would like to take my G-11 and enough gear to do some piggyback work.
>Any suggestions on what to expect at the airport or how I will need to 
>prepare my self and equipment for the trip.
>Any advice, suggestions, experiences, or otherwise would be very helpful.
>Look forward to hearing from you guys who have been through this.
>TIA,
>
>Mike  Leitch
><mailto:galaxy@ncweb.com>galaxy@ncweb.com
>http://www.ncweb.com/~galaxy/home/astropho.htm


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