I thought that this may be of interest to prospective activators flying out of the UK. Our party of walkers flew from East Midlands Airport to Funchal Airport in Madeira on 13 May 2014. In my rucksack I carried a Yaesu FT-857, a Yaesu FT-817, 12v2.3Ah SLAB and a 5A LiPo. The LiPo was wrapped in the silver LiPo Guard (fire resistant) bag with the warning taped over with silver duct tape and the SLAB was in a sandwich box. All the terminals were taped to reduce the risk of short circuit. I emptied most of the rucksack of contents to go through the x-ray machine. However, the security official was interested in the ‘metal comb’ still in the rucksack, this was later identified as being inside the SLAB and this then went through the x-ray without any further problems. Our return from Funchal on the 20 May 2014 went without hitch apart from being frisked thoroughly after my mobile phone set off the alarm!
Airlines usually have a policy on batteries which can be accessed from their website. I think it comes from the International airlines bodies and is based on watt hour limits. (120 Wh for this airline) Look in the section for carry on baggage.
I have just completed a trip where my only minor problems were the squid pole having to go as over-sized baggage and my booked in bag being 2 kg over weight (extra $). The LiFe battery, wrapped in bubble wrap with all connectors taped over, my FT817 and accessories all in my back pack went through security screening OK. The net-book computer had to go through separately of course.
I carried a copy of my licence and a copy of the airlines policy on batteries, just in case.
In reply to AX3AFW:
One additional comment to the good points above. Point out that you have these batteries in your carry on baggage to the airline staff when you check-in i.e. before going to security control. As long as terminals are taped up on LIPOs I’ve never had an issue. Yes check the airlines website for info, but all appear to be consistent with each other - the main point is DO NOT put LIPOs in your hold baggage, this I presume is because the hold may be depressurised.
When I first started carrying LIPOs on aircraft, I found myself explaining the airline policy to the check-in desk. In this case a printout from their website helps a lot. Recently it appears the check-in people are aware of the policies and while they still appreciate you informing them, you will now only get the question “have you taped up the terminals” rather that them having to look at the batteries.
I have never carried a SLAB battery on an aircraft, I suspect some airlines may be less happy with those than LIPO or LifePO simply because it occurs less often. The weight of them perhaps being more of an issue (falling out of overhead locker etc.) rather than any risk of acid leakage if broken in transit.
Last Feb. I flew to Grand Canary Island with my FT897 and 2 x 4 cell 5AH LiPo ( in special bag ) all in my hand luggage.
I flew from airport Weese near Dusseldorf. I told the security officer at the x-ray machine about my equipment. My set got a wipe test for drugs and explosives ( like CSI or Customs series on the TV ) and the LiPo`s were checked for total Wh. All in a few minutes and in a friendly way.
On the way back home in EA8 the security officer was familiar with our hobby, and x-ray only. No wonder, I worked many /EA8 hi hi.
Rules for LiPo in common language:
Check www.iata.org for changed rules, there are changes expected for all kind of batteries.
Always in hand luggage, also a small camera spare battery!
< 100Wh total, no limit, no operator approval needed.
100-160 Wh total, maximum 2 batteries,(with operator approval )
160 Wh, forget it, only via professional cargo with alot of $$ and paper work.
In my case 5Ah and 14,8V = 74Ah. So for 2 batteries that is a total of 148 Wh.
To be sure it seems better to give one of the batteries to my xyl the next time, than I do not need operator approval, whatever that means. I guess that is not the same as security check?
So I guess that we do not have to expect problems with a normal SOTA load.
indeed, I can confirm that our flight from Munich to Funchal and the return flight were without problems. I carried my transceiver and the batteries in my rucksack as cabin baggage with me. At the security check in Munich I even need not to open the two plastic boxes, which contained the radio and the batteries. On the return flight from Funchal they just asked me to open the plastic box with my batteries and then waved me through.
I just looked very jealously on the photos of your activation of the Pico Chao dos Terreiros on Phils blog. You had really a fantastic weather. Our first day, with the activation of the Pico Grande and the Pico Chao dos Terreiros, wasn’t such nice, with light rain during our activation and a view from the summits next to nothing. Therefore we decided to activate the Pico Grande a second time on our last day on Madeira. Fortunately, the other days we had far better weather.
Glad you didn’t have a problem with carrying on your gear in your hand luggage, likewise for me, although I didn’t carry a typical LiPO. I carried on one of the lithium batteries (3.3 Amp) which slides into a leather case which is meant for powering laptops and mobile devices. I wouldn’t balk at carrying a protected LiPO in future though. Through ignorance and a lack of training the misguided security staff appear to be more concerned about lead acid batteries.
Yes, we were so lucky with the weather on Madeira, not a drop of rain all week and sunshine when we were above the clouds on the summits. I only wish we had a few more days to have done some more SOTA…every credit to you for completing MI-011 and returning to MI-002 Pico Grande for a second go at it!
We had a wet day here today so I finished blogging all four summits that Nick G4OOE and I activated when in Madeira:
I expect I will return to the Island again - it was my 3rd visit, last times in 1999 and 2002, but this was the first since SOTA entered my ham radio life.
It would be a great challenge to complete the other 7 summits and bag the 5 in Porto Santo whilst I was down there! I think Nick may be returning there before me, as he is very keen to return as soon as he can with his XYL.
