TRAVEL AT XMAS TIME

[Dazzauk]

Hey guys,

im travelling to new zealand from the uk at xmas time, i cant remember who im flying with as the wife booked it lol,

any tips for taking the drone? I know the airline is a subsidary of air new zeland, also anyone have a good backpack that would take the phantom 4 and a macbook?

Thanks

Darren

 

[Neon Euc]

Phantom and macbook in one case? It's doable but you need to do a bit of DIY. for £30 you can get a hardback pack (I have one) but it's foam inside... You will need a Stanley knife to cut the foam to shape the part you out the mcbook in

 

[Dazzauk]

Phantom and macbook in one case? It's doable but you need to do a bit of DIY. for £30 you can get a hardback pack (I have one) but it's foam inside... You will need a Stanley knife to cut the foam to shape the part you out the mcbook in

Any pics bud?

 

[John Locke]

Think Tank V2 backpack will carry the Phantom and Mac book, and more. $200, very high quality, if you like owning the best. It fits easily in the carry on overhead, and you must carry your batteries on the plane. Lots of room for snacks when flying long distance.

 

[Neon Euc]

Any pics bud?

 

[Neon Euc]

Hardshell too... It's what I use and its brilliant [emoji4][emoji4]

 

[John Locke]

Hardshell too... It's what I use and its brilliant [emoji4][emoji4]

Yes, for minimal travel those cheapies work very good if you're on a budget. I had one for about 6mos and they are very light, but they have no waist belt and eventually my straps broke after 6mo. I use my backpack 100% of the time, not just for travel, because it's so convenient. The cheapy wasn't rugged enough for long term use. The other disadvantage the hardshell cheapy is they don't have as much room since the insert is Styrofoam, providing little versatility. If you have a DBS2 antenna on your RC, it won't work. If you want more than 4 batteries it won't work. I can carry 9 batteries in my ThinkTank Helipak. If you want to carry a laptop or iPad Air2 , the cheapy won't work. If you want to carry a point and shoot camera, or a DSLR also, the cheapy won't work. When you travel long distances the extra room of the TTH is really nice to have.....IMO

 

[cheebs]

Think Tank V2 backpack will carry the Phantom and Mac book, and more. $200, very high quality, if you like owning the best. It fits easily in the carry on overhead, and you must carry your batteries on the plane. Lots of room for snacks when flying long distance.

I completely agree that if you want the best available backpack for your Phantom, the Think Tank is it. Easily fits the Phantom, a MacBookPro, 2 tablets, all the batteries & accessories you can think of and if you're a good packer even a dslr.

 

[heightsaerialmedia]

Don't forget to drain your batteries for before boarding the plane. Also do not check your drone into luggage check. The air pressure in the luggage area of the plane is much more then in the cabin of the plane. Of course bring extra props and storage. I went to Jamaica totally unprepared the first time I traveled with my drone.

 

[John Locke]

Don't forget to drain your batteries for before boarding the plane. Also do not check your drone into luggage check. The air pressure in the luggage area of the plane is much more then in the cabin of the plane. Of course bring extra props and storage. I went to Jamaica totally unprepared the first time I traveled with my drone.

The air pressure is less in the cargo hold, because it's not pressurized like the cabin. It's perfectly OK to check your drone without batteries, it's not going to hurt anything in a depressurized environment. However the hard case may get beat up from mishandling, which is always possible. You would certainly want a hard case if you check the drone. You'd never want to check a backpack with drone inside. It's ALWAYS best to carry-on your drone in a backpack, complete with batteries and charger. This insures proper handling, plus it provides you with an easy way to hike the drone around into the country on travel. Also, I never check anything that's essential and irreplaceable on the trip. My drone, phone, iPad, camera and chargers fall into this category. Everything else I can buy at my destination if the luggage is lost.

Lastly, discharging your flight batteries doesn't prevent them from failing and starting a fire, in that unlikely scenario. When discharged there's still plenty of power left in the battery to start a fire in the rare case that the battery shorts internally. Don't believe me, just discharge your battery to 10% and short the hot wires to the ground wires, and stand back with your video camera running. I travel with fully charged batteries all the time so I can fly immediately when I land, when needed. There's no FAA rules against this. You never know when you'll see something to fly over.

 

[Dazzauk]

how do i ensure batterys are fully discharged?

 

[heightsaerialmedia]

how do i ensure batterys are fully discharged?

Just fly your drone until it is low battery, it does not have to be fully discharged but 10-20% should be ok. John Locke is saying that it is ok to travel with the batteries fully charged, maybe you can, however I would not take that chance. I don't know about other countries but in the states I have heard TSA sometimes checks the battery levels of high capacity batteries such as laptops. Just something to think about.

 

[go fast]

This what I use since I like the factory case , it's a backpack skin with extra pockets and fits my Mackbook Pro perfectly in the front pocket . I've taken it on many flights no problems...ANT Red Border Outdoor Waterproof Storage Backpack Bag for DJI Phantom 4 Quadcop | eBay

 

[Dazzauk]

ok just got a manfrotto d1 backpack for £50 on ebay , used but in good condition, so happy about that,

my next question is im flying with cathay pacific, and i cant find any drone polices?