Tips for carrying over a flight?

[bungrudi]

I will be travelling next month and it will be the first time for my Mavic.
The flight will be 2 hours.

I saw in the other thread that the gimbal is very prone to getting problem after long transport.
Anyone have solid tips on transporting over a flight to avoid that sort of problem?

 

[mavicn00b]

Put the clamp and globe back in place. Put the drone in a protective case, don't chuck it around. Don't put it in checked baggage. I think you should be OK. Treat it like you would any other expensive camera gear.

 

[wez130]

With Emirates you have to check the mavic in. I'm flying to NZ from UK in September! What precautions should i take apart from the obvious?

 

[Ziggy01]

With Emirates you have to check the mavic in. I'm flying to NZ from UK in September! What precautions should i take apart from the obvious?

...but not the batteries, right?

All lithium batteries need to be in your carry on.

 

[wez130]

...but not the batteries, right?

All lithium batteries need to be in your carry on.

Yes I knew that. Usually upto 2 per person.

 

[Ziggy01]

Yes I knew that. Usually upto 2 per person.

Not on Mavic batteries. The watt hour rating falls into the lower risk category.

 

[quick_dry]

With Emirates you have to check the mavic in. I'm flying to NZ from UK in September! What precautions should i take apart from the obvious?

unless you're using the 3rd party gimbal clamps that clamp around the lens, I used the stock gimbal clamp and a thin piece of soft foam between the gimbal cover and the camera to compress a bit and hold everything from moving.

I put the mavic itself in a hard-case inside my clothes bag, and took the Fly More bag (with batteries, controller, etc) and put it in my carry-on backpack.

 

[ncameron]

Ideally, the batteries should have their terminals covered (by tape of a custom plug) and be in a LiPo fire-resistant bag - available on Amazon.

 

[bungrudi]

unless you're using the 3rd party gimbal clamps that clamp around the lens, I used the stock gimbal clamp and a thin piece of soft foam between the gimbal cover and the camera to compress a bit and hold everything from moving.

I put the mavic itself in a hard-case inside my clothes bag, and took the Fly More bag (with batteries, controller, etc) and put it in my carry-on backpack.

I think this is the most make sense. Do you use any Mavic specific hard case or just using any hard case that fit?

Put the clamp and globe back in place. Put the drone in a protective case, don't chuck it around. Don't put it in checked baggage. I think you should be OK. Treat it like you would any other expensive camera gear.

I do will bring my 70D with one 18-200mm lens and 2 smaller fixed zoom lens. I carried them many times before and quite confidence because they dont have that prone tiny gimbal.

 

[Michael W.]

With Emirates you have to check the mavic in. I'm flying to NZ from UK in September! What precautions should i take apart from the obvious?

How would Emirates know you have a drone?!

The only people that would find it would be during security going through Dubai. Once past security Emirates doesn't check your carry-on bag, unless you are flying to the US with the electronics embargo or those few countries where they randomly check bags in the departure area.

FWIW, I have flown out of Dubai airport and flew on Emirates with my Mavic in my carry-on. I have also flown through Doha as well without any issues.

I have also gone through London-Heathrow security and they let my Mavic pass in my carry-on bag.

 

[wez130]

I have been through Dubai 4 times with Emirates to Auckland x 2 times and back to UK x 2 times, every time security have checked my hand luggage at the gate.

 

[Michael W.]

I have been through Dubai 4 times with Emirates to Auckland x 2 times and back to UK x 2 times, every time security have checked my hand luggage at the gate.

So it is going to depend on where you are flying and if they do a secondary check of your luggage at the gate. I have flown to the US about 30-40 times on Emirates where they do the secondary check, and I have been waved through the check about 75% of the time (before the electronics ban went into affect). If both NZ and UK as destinations have secondary checks and they check your bags then they could check your hand luggage if drones are banned, but I have never been aware of drones being banned on Emirates. Certainly any of their 90%+ destinations that don't have secondary security checks there will be no issue.

How about when you leave NZ or UK and board the Emirates flight to Dubai? Certainly you are carrying them on-board for those flights, since it is during your connection in Dubai where they gate-check them, which would indicate drones can be carried on Emirates flights.

 

[wez130]

From Emirates website...

Drones are not allowed as cabin baggage
For safety reasons, we can’t allow drones on board as cabin baggage. Drones can be accepted as checked-in baggage only. If you have a drone in your checked-in baggage you’ll be asked to either secure the Lithium batteries within the drone or remove the batteries and carry them in your cabin baggage. This regulation still applies even if you’re connecting to our flights from an airline that has accepted drones as cabin baggage.

What is the policy for transporting Dangerous Goods? | Baggage | FAQs | Emirates

So what if there's only a 25% chance i'll have my bag checked at security, i'm not prepared to risk having my mavic confiscated for breaking Emirates rules.

 

[Michael W.]

From Emirates website...



What is the policy for transporting Dangerous Goods? | Baggage | FAQs | Emirates

So what if there's only a 25% chance i'll have my bag checked at security, i'm not prepared to risk having my mavic confiscated for breaking Emirates rules.

That must have been a recent rule change.

Why are you worried about your Mavic being confiscated? You just said they found it during the gate secondary check and they simply had you check your luggage.

 

[wez130]

I never.

I stated that every time i've gone through Dubai i have had my hand luggage checked. I've never travelled with my Mavic yet as i've only had it three weeks

 

[Michael W.]

I never.

I stated that every time i've gone through Dubai i have had my hand luggage checked. I've never travelled with my Mavic yet as i've only had it three weeks

Ok, misunderstood. When you said "every time security have checked my hand luggage at the gate", frequent fliers would understand "checked my hand luggage at the gate" to mean they took your hand luggage and checked it in to the luggage hold.

I guess "checked" is confusing here as it can mean they inspected your bags but also can mean they took your bags and put them into the luggage hold, i.e. "checked bag".

 

[wez130]

I mean inspected, they open it and check the contents of my hand luggage.

 

[steveacko]

I will be travelling next month and it will be the first time for my Mavic.
The flight will be 2 hours.

I saw in the other thread that the gimbal is very prone to getting problem after long transport.
Anyone have solid tips on transporting over a flight to avoid that sort of problem?

I flew Melbourne to Dublin the other month with my drone in checked baggage and experienced no issue. However funny thing I learnt though was that any 'loose' aka spare batteries must be with you in the cabin after that whole Samsung battery ordeal late last year.

THEN. I flew less than 90 minutes from Dublin to Amsterdam and what would you know. Camera came with me in the cabin as I only took carry on for the 24 hour trip but when I went to fire up the Mavic in the Netherlands I was greeted with an unexpected 'Aircraft Motor Overloaded. Check whether the gimbal clamp is removed' error. Plugged it into my MacBook to try run diagnostics and reload firmware but nothing. I've read this is a very common known issue with the device however as I'm based in Australia I have issues with no actual registered service centre.


Just some feedback regarding my travel experience with the device really.
From what I've gathered it's a hit and miss outcome. Definitely make sure the Gimbal support clamp and bubble is attached and you have some form of casing.

Regarding Airline requirements my thought with travel has and always will be this.

'They don't know the contents of your luggage. TSA are the ones who scan/xray your bags. They don't have any contracts with airlines about 'item preferences'. There's no airline house rules enforced by board security so unless it's an illegal item or aviation restricted then you're completely fine.'

I even made a point when taking it with me through carry on of mentioning I had a 'Camera' in the bag and they didn't even seem interested in my offer to remove it from the backpack unlike they were my laptop which is practially a tablet.

Best of Luck!

 

[wez130]

I ordered these for my trip.

ZEEY EVA Hard Shell Box for DJI Mavic Pro Drone and Remote Control Protect Cases Combo for Mavic Drone and Its Remote Control (Gray): Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games

 

[steveacko]

I ordered these for my trip.

ZEEY EVA Hard Shell Box for DJI Mavic Pro Drone and Remote Control Protect Cases Combo for Mavic Drone and Its Remote Control (Gray): Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games

Perfect. That's practically what I used. Good and compact also!