Taking the mavic on a delta flight questions? Beach video questions..

theskyisthelimit99 · May 15, 2017

Curious if anyone has taken their mavic out of state (usa) and if so.. what have you found to be the safest, best way to do this?

I'll be flying on delta to pensacola.. i thought of maybe doing some video.. but first off i wasnt fully comfortable with transporting it there via plane.

I think i read the best bet (and only bet maybe plane wise?) was to do it as a carry on?

The alternative was to ship it to my relative's house ahead of time, then have it shipped back later (somewhat costly maybe, with insurance added on).

The other part of this was on regulations on taking aerial video at a public beach.. i've read that some at this particular beach have done it, maybe on off hours with no issues or ramifications.. curious any thoughts on that.

Thanks in advance for any help here

Doecliff · May 15, 2017

I will be flying to Texas and then Florida later this summer from California. I plan on taking my drone as a carry on. I don't have a plan B but it shouldn't be a problem. I have a smallish drone backpack that I will stuff into my carry on backpack and put under the seat in front of me. As an alternative I may decide to put my drone in an even smaller case that I have and put that in the carry on backpack. Either way its going with me as carry on in my backpack. I have heard that Florida has a lot of restrictive areas for flying but don't know if its true or not. I am more interested in using it while were in Texas so if the Florida part of the trip doesn't work out then I wont care.

mkp2020 · May 15, 2017

I just got back from a trip to Arizona and had no problems transporting the MP as a carry-on. I used a small hardcase backpack that fit easily under the seat in front of me. I would suggest have it in something that does not require being placed in the overhead because you always run the risk of the gate attendants forcing you to check it if you are later in line and they start to run tight on overhead space. Essentially I was carrying mine as my one personal item.

harryb · May 15, 2017

I travelled to Los Angeles with the drone in my hand luggage. No problems at all.

theskyisthelimit99 · May 15, 2017

mkp2020 said:
I just got back from a trip to Arizona and had no problems transporting the MP as a carry-on. I used a small hardcase backpack that fit easily under the seat in front of me. I would suggest have it in something that does not require being placed in the overhead because you always run the risk of the gate attendants forcing you to check it if you are later in line and they start to run tight on overhead space. Essentially I was carrying mine as my one personal item.

Thanks for this info.. was this a delta flight as well.. sounds like a good plan

theskyisthelimit99 · May 15, 2017

Doecliff said:
I will be flying to Texas and then Florida later this summer from California. I plan on taking my drone as a carry on. I don't have a plan B but it shouldn't be a problem. I have a smallish drone backpack that I will stuff into my carry on backpack and put under the seat in front of me. As an alternative I may decide to put my drone in an even smaller case that I have and put that in the carry on backpack. Either way its going with me as carry on in my backpack. I have heard that Florida has a lot of restrictive areas for flying but don't know if its true or not. I am more interested in using it while were in Texas so if the Florida part of the trip doesn't work out then I wont care.

From what i've seen.. i think the Pensacola beach area should be fine.. i guess checking the maps in the uav forecast map would be good to do as well.. i also saw some youtubers that shot some video near there as well and some Q&A, but nothing officially confirmed.

I'm guessing its best not to do the fly over during prime swimming hours.. i dont as a rule ever flyover people anyways, but even more so i worry about the random person that gets ticked because it looks like i'm filming them on the beach.

adiru · May 15, 2017

I just throw it in my backpack as a carryon, wrap a towel over it. TSA doesn't care.

quick_dry · May 15, 2017

It just sits in my backpack as carry-on. Nicely packaged consumer drones like these barely raise an eyebrow at security anymore (My carry-on last trip had a Mavic + 4 batteries, and a Solo + 7 batteries, security didn't care at all)

sesd97 · May 15, 2017

I just got back from a trip to NYC, on Alaska.
Here's what the TSA did advise me to do. I had all 3 of my Mavic battery's stacked next to each other in my carry on, plus a big back-up battery for my iPad ........ X-Ray machine didn't like that at all, so they pulled me off the line to search.
TSA said, best to just put at least 2 of the battery's separately in one of the plastic bins when going through the machine, so they are not "stacked" together. Did that on the way home....NO issues!

DomoDan · May 15, 2017

I'm in Greece right now and flew from the states. We had a flight from UT to NYC, NYC to Athens and have had multiple flights to different islands. Nobody has said a word. I've just had it in my backpack inside the supplied shoulder bag.

I do have TSA precheck, but they didn't say a word. I fully expected I'd have to get it out for inspection, and was prepared to do so, but it wasn't an issue.

DomoDan · May 15, 2017

sesd97 said:
I just got back from a trip to NYC, on Alaska.
Here's what the TSA did advise me to do. I had all 3 of my Mavic battery's stacked next to each other in my carry on, plus a big back-up battery for my iPad ........ X-Ray machine didn't like that at all, so they pulled me off the line to search.
TSA said, best to just put at least 2 of the battery's separately in one of the plastic bins when going through the machine, so they are not "stacked" together. Did that on the way home....NO issues!

I had the MP and remote, 3 batteries, a 12.9 inch iPad Pro, a MacBook Pro, a 10,000 milliamp battery for my phone and what not...all together in the same backpack. I fully expected them to ask me to get it out but they didn't say a word.

Lapeer20m · May 15, 2017

I am currently on vacation in Florida on the beach with mavic and I flew delta.

First, I bought the smallest case possible for mavic. It was $20 on amazon. I flew with mavic, rc, and 2 batteries. While I didn't think three was a problem I didn't know for sure and didn't plan to need more than one at a time anyhow.

Tsa didn't care. I did take encased mavic out of my backpack and put it in its own separate bin at the checkpoint but don't know if that was necessary.

Delta did try to get me to add my bag containing mavic to checked baggage for free as I was on the jetway. I declined the offer. I told her it contained my laptop and iPad and preferred to keep it with me.

I also checked my location with app and checked sky vector sectionals before flying mavic. St Pete beach is more than 5 miles from any heliport, airport, etc.

Also, I researched "who owns the beach" and found that beaches in Florida are public property near the ocean. For fun, I also googled the name of the city and drone laws but came up empty.

I filmed this sweet sunset time lapse last night.

Lapeer20m · May 15, 2017

also, there appears to be a lot of air traffic near Pensacola:

newnan3 · May 15, 2017

sesd97 said:
I just got back from a trip to NYC, on Alaska.
Here's what the TSA did advise me to do. I had all 3 of my Mavic battery's stacked next to each other in my carry on, plus a big back-up battery for my iPad ........ X-Ray machine didn't like that at all, so they pulled me off the line to search.
TSA said, best to just put at least 2 of the battery's separately in one of the plastic bins when going through the machine, so they are not "stacked" together. Did that on the way home....NO issues!

Does stacked together look like a bomb or something to the xray?

newnan3 · May 15, 2017

Seems like 2 or 3 batteries is the ideal number.....anyone carried more?

I have 5 batteries for a trip to Nepal later this year but am considering only taking 2 to Europe in June...

Fplvert · May 15, 2017

newnan3 said:
Does stacked together look like a bomb or something to the xray?

Three batteries (one in the Mavic, or other small lipo electronic device) and two spares is an accepted international airline rule of thumb.

These batteries should be separated so they cannot short out. I'm finding most screeners are seeing drones and batteries as common carry on items and taking appropriate precautions. They should be checked on, but gate attendants and flight crews might not know anything.

One big lesson I learned the hard way, is ALWAYS have a under the seat size carry on for your bird and batteries. Checked baggage is treated like garbage.

Another lesson I learned recently is don't pack snacks in the same bag with electronics. The nuts and freeze dried fruits will warrant further inspection as they glow orange in the X-ray like explosives.

They felt up my freeze dried ginger like a kid in tee shirt and shorts.

Lapeer20m · May 15, 2017

https://www.delta.com/content/dam/delta-www/pdfs/baggage/acceptance_guidelines.pdf

About as clear as mud

DomoDan · May 16, 2017

It's worth noting that I had my extra batteries stored in the box that they came in...packaged up as they were from the factory. I don't know if that made a difference or not.

newnan3 · May 16, 2017

I wonder if I carry 3 batteries and my gf carries my other 2 if that would allow me to travel with all 5 of my lipos....

dbyantis · May 16, 2017

theskyisthelimit99 said:
Curious if anyone has taken their mavic out of state (usa) and if so.. what have you found to be the safest, best way to do this?

I'll be flying on delta to pensacola.. i thought of maybe doing some video.. but first off i wasnt fully comfortable with transporting it there via plane.

I think i read the best bet (and only bet maybe plane wise?) was to do it as a carry on?

The alternative was to ship it to my relative's house ahead of time, then have it shipped back later (somewhat costly maybe, with insurance added on).

The other part of this was on regulations on taking aerial video at a public beach.. i've read that some at this particular beach have done it, maybe on off hours with no issues or ramifications.. curious any thoughts on that.

Thanks in advance for any help here

From what I have read, the best bet is to have a bag in a bag, so if they want to check your bag, the MP and LiPO can come out in the inside bag which would be smaller and avoid LiPo battery issues in checked bag. I figure I can explain that "this" small bag MUST be carry-on and thus keep my bird out of the hold.