FPV Thailand?

[aeryck]

Yeah cool, let me know how it was over there. We was thinking about going there as well, but haven`t had enough time
Not sure but I guess 900MHz should work there as well...

I'll pack the RFE to check things out. I know 900 is close to some cell phone frequencies, but it's pretty remote out there. She lives outside of the city in a small village, but the possibility for interference still exists. Worst-case, I'll bring both a 910 and a 2.4GHz system. I'm thinking of building a custom rig just for this trip; my 50" wing would be nice but I'm still stuck on the logistics of taking it on the airlines. Was thinking of building a smaller wing or one that can easily be split in half for transport. I'm not going until early June so I got a few months to get everything ready.

Have you (or anyone who's taken their rigs on the airlines) ever had any problems with taking lipo batteries onboard?

[SENTRY]

I'll pack the RFE to check things out. I know 900 is close to some cell phone frequencies, but it's pretty remote out there. She lives outside of the city in a small village, but the possibility for interference still exists. Worst-case, I'll bring both a 910 and a 2.4GHz system. I'm thinking of building a custom rig just for this trip; my 50" wing would be nice but I'm still stuck on the logistics of taking it on the airlines. Was thinking of building a smaller wing or one that can easily be split in half for transport. I'm not going until early June so I got a few months to get everything ready.

Have you (or anyone who's taken their rigs on the airlines) ever had any problems with taking lipo batteries onboard?

Do yourself a favor and take a 48" rig out. I just took a 48" and a 60" to Puerto Rico. Make a custom cardboard box (not rectangle, but cut to fit). I put velcro on the bottom and stuck my packs to that. TsA will open it - but it was a non-issue. And I took 8 x 3S5000s.

I'm developing what I think is the "perfect" travel rig - 48" Bee2 cut down to 40" (I'll also try 42"). I also might grab a 44" from Ritewing and cut that to 40" (or 42") for comparison. Any smaller and it's too twitchy on roll axis for good HD video (in my opinion), and will prob be limited on payload.

[aeryck]

Do yourself a favor and take a 48" rig out. I just took a 48" and a 60" to Puerto Rico. Make a custom cardboard box (not rectangle, but cut to fit). I put velcro on the bottom and stuck my packs to that. TsA will open it - but it was a non-issue. And I took 8 x 3S5000s.

I'm developing what I think is the "perfect" travel rig - 48" Bee2 cut down to 40" (I'll also try 42"). I also might grab a 44" from Ritewing and cut that to 40" (or 42") for comparison. Any smaller and it's too twitchy on roll axis for good HD video (in my opinion), and will prob be limited on payload.

Thanks for the tips. How'd you get the ground station gear out? You mentioned in the skylark thread that your gear was just arriving, so did you ship that separately so as not to take it on the plane?

Also, if it's not too much trouble, could you get a pic or two of your travel method for reference?

[SENTRY]

Thanks for the tips. How'd you get the ground station gear out? You mentioned in the skylark thread that your gear was just arriving, so did you ship that separately so as not to take it on the plane?

This was a gig w/ a client - so to ensure that I could operate I took 2 setups (they covered my costs - LOL). To eliminate the single point of failure I mailed a plane/GS to the hotel, and then I traveled w/ a plane/GS as well. 60" Bee box was 100" total (62x32x6) and 22lbs. The limit at the time I flew was 115" ---- Delta has a clause that SPECIFICALLY stated that model airplanes could be exempt from fees - took 20+ mins to get that plane checked w/out PR Tourism Dept having to reimburse me $300 (each way!!!!). Even the agent wasn't aware of the clause so I had to pull it up on my phone - LOL. To save myself the hassle on the return trip I sent everything back USPS (insured). I only did this bc it's USPS - I am not sure I'd trust Thailand mail - so in that case the client would have just have to pay for checking my gear if there are any costs incurred.

THE TSA JUST CHANGED TOTAL CIRCUMFERENCE RULES - SO READ UP ON THEIR SITE AS WELL AS THE AIRLINES!!!

[SENTRY]

FWIW - for client gigs, I will prob be mailing my gear out ahead of myself more than i will travel with it - but this depends on the location obviously. I don't anticipate the level of international travel that TBS does, but PR does have me coming back again this year already - so that's why I am pedaling fast on the 40" - 42" rigs. Taking the big 60" was fun and I got some kool signatures (when some1 rides my passenger goggles I let them sign the bottom of my plane with a sharpie) but it's too big for regular travel on a plane.

[aeryck]

This was a gig w/ a client - so to ensure that I could operate I took 2 setups (they covered my costs - LOL). To eliminate the singlepoint of failure I mailed a plane/GS to the hotel, and then I traveled w/ a plane/GSas well. 60" Bee box was 100" total (62x32x6) and 22lbs. The limit at the time I flew was 115" ---- Delta had a clause that SPECIFICALLY stated that model airplanes could be exempt from fees - took 20+ mins to get that plane checked w/out PR Tourism Dept having to reimburse me $300 (each way!!!!). To save myself the hassle on the return trip I sent everything back USPS (insured). I only did this bc it's USPS - I am not ure I'd trust Thailand mail - so in that case the client would have just have to payfor checking my gear if there are any costs incurred.

THE TSA JUST CHANGED TOTAL CIRCUMFERENCE RULES - SO READ UP ON THEIR SITE AS WELL AS THE AIRLINES!!!

Good info, thanks again. Since I have a few months before my trip, I may work on a 48" rig that can be broken down to cut the overall span in half (24"). I've been tossing a couple ideas around in my head as to how to make a wing that can break down but still have enough strength in the centerline to not fold in half in flight.

Of course, if I wanted to take the risk I could just pack everything up and mail it out ahead of time, since we're visiting her family - ship it to their house so it's waiting for me on arrival.

[RiSCyD]

We usually take just our 53" TBS Zephyr with us. Flew many times with different airlines, never had a problem with it. It needs a separate carton box, just enough big to fit two zephyrs. The LIPOs inside the travelling case, usually they used to open and check the lipos, but never had a problem. Don`t ship the batteries inside the glider as they open the box sometimes with a knife to check what`s inside

[Hucker]

I followed a little different strategy when traveling. I took all my batteries, chargers, tx, camera and computer stuff on carry on. We were doing lots of travel and would have been nailed on baggage fees because of all the flights. My carry on weighed 29kg

They are really stingy in Europe (France). One of our bags was 1kg over and they made us move stuff.

Only on departure from France did they look in my bag. Got through without issue.

[Airborne]

Thailand appears to have a GSM-900 (890-960MHz) service.

[aeryck]

Thailand appears to have a GSM-900 (890-960MHz) service.

Was thinking about that; all the more reason to leave 910 at home and set up a 2.4ghz rig.