Klarinet Archive - Posting 000193.txt from 2003/05

From: CBA <clarinet10001@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Transporting instruments by air
Date: Fri, 9 May 2003 03:14:42 -0400

I had a problem for the first time recently with my carryons
that I had not had before. I have 3 Wiseman Cases for different
combinations of everything from clarinets, to oboe/english horn,
to a bombo case for soprano sax, flute, and 2 clarinets/oboe. I
was getting on a plane with a quad case and had a slight
problem. There was NO compartment on this flight for ANY carry
on luggage except what would fit under the seat. It was a VERY
small prop plane seating 24 people.

In the future, I will make an effort to check information that I
usually ignore on the online booking...what kind of plane is
usually listed in the listings when booking online. American
Airlines was happy to put me on another flight, but the
connections would have added 5 hours on to my flight. Luckily,
on this particular prop plane, the dividers of the "under the
seat" storage were NOT present, and I could put my case
lengthwise under *2* seats.

It was 18 degrees Farenheit outside, and was snowing, so if I
couldn't have done that, I would have been bumped to the other
flight.

Kelly Abraham
Woodwinds - New York City
--- Keith <100012.1302@-----.com> wrote:
> Matthew
>
> I had exactly this problem in returning from living in the
> USA; with
> bass to C, Bb, A, basset joint and Eb and will be doing the
> same on a
> trip to the USA this summer only with my basset horn as well.
>
> My solution was indeed the Wiseman cases, which are tough
> enough to
> protect the instrument in the hold if you have to put them
> there. I got
> a bass case to hold the bass, Eb and basset joint, and a quad
> clarinet
> case to hold the A, Bb and basset horn.
>
> Both cases are too large to pass the standard hand luggage
> measurement
> test. So you do rely on the cooperation of the gate agent, and
> you could
> have a problem on a small plane. But the USA Federal Transport
> Commission explicitly allows musical instruments to be carried
> on as
> hand luggage (apart from things like cellos which need another
> seat.
> compartment. There's a statement somewhere on their web site.
> When I
> have travelled with the quad case in the USA, which I did
> recently, I
> had no trouble in getting it on as hand luggage in addition to
> a
> computer. But when I was returning with two Wisemans, I could
> only take
> one as hand luggage. So I had prepared a large "gear bag"
> which took
> both Wiseman cases in case they had to go in the hold. In this
> instance
> the bass case went in the hold for the Denver-London-Prague
> flights. No
> problems at all. Later, both cases had to go in the hold for
> Prague-London, again no problems (and yes they are quality
> instruments
> too). Wiseman cases are fine for vibration/bump/crush
> protection. The
> only technical problem that concerns me is temperature
> changes, hence
> the use of a gear bag with lightweight insulating packing (eg
> bubble
> wrap) round the cases.
>
> The main airline problem with shipping this lot in the hold is
> the
> weight limit - it can be over 50 lb, which is United's limit
> on a single
> case. And you may well get charged a lot of excess baggage on
> some
> airlines - $100s. So it is best to check with the airlines.
>
> I have several times shipped clarinets via UPS with good
> packaging, with
> no problems. I've also shipped soprano clarinets in the
> lightweight BAM
> cases, packed inside checked luggage.
>
> I don't have experience of hand carrying Wiseman cases on
> airlines
> outside the USA but no doubt others do.
>
> Note that you should remove the spike (peg) from a bass or
> basset horn
> and pack it separately in your checked luggage. Apparently the
> cellist
> Julian Lloyd Webber was carrying his cello onto one plane and
> the gate
> agent made him remove his spike, despite him saying that it
> had not been
> taken off for 200 years! (image of professional player
> attacking the
> pilot with cello rampant ...)
>
> Keith

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