Flying with Lipo(not RC planes)

[motomech]

Anyone done it lately?
As I understand it, one is allowed up to 3 "large" batteries not to exceed 300 watts each.
How would an airport security official determine the wattage of each battery?
If they went by what's on the package, and to carry as much capacity as possible,
I guess I would bundle 2 (two) Zippy 5S1P 8000mAh packs into 1 (one) 5S2P 16,000mAh
pack and call this one battery (18.5V 16 Ah). That would be 296 Watts.
Three of those would be 900 watts, a useful capacity, but how would I use it?
15S might be a little hot for my controller(with, I suspect, 63V caps)and besides, I would be
looking for max range.
Could I run 10s2P and as they run low, substitute one fresh 5S1P pack?
Thanks in advance for any insights.
I guess a trip to the airport is on my agenda this week upcoming.

 

[spinningmagnets]

I recommend you ship them separately. There is no constitutional right to fly on an airplane. The feds can cut open your LiPo to verify that it is in-fact filled with battery goo instead of explosives. You can't just say "I've changed my mind, I'm not flying and I'm leaving now". If they suspect it is possibly dangerous, they will not let you leave with it.

 

[motomech]

I thought of that, but I will be going from St. Maartens to Managua Nicaragua. Expensive with no guaranteed "door to door" delivery.
Finding, getting to and from the FedEx office could take an afternoon in Managua.
None the less, I will explore that possibly.

 

[neptronix]

Stick it in your underwear... you'll get no hassle :lol:

 

[ndk]

I recently had a business trip to Hong Kong, where my LiFePO4 pack came from, and investigated the TSA rules to see whether I could smuggle home some batteries on the plane. Strictly speaking, I think it's okay as long as it's in your carry-on, and not checked baggage.

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/batteries.shtm

I decided against it because I didn't have an immediate need for more batteries and I didn't want to deal with the TSA staffers, who would be much more likely to go nuts. Kinda wish I hadn't. Oh well.

 

[Ykick]

Scuba divers and photogs often use large capacity lithium batteries for lighting and craftsmen/service techs must carry lithium tool packs. And what about RC guys - don't they ever fly to meets and stuff? Maybe post on a few RC/scuba/photog forums?

I think it happens more than you might think - I've never flown with my Lipo bike batteries as carry on but as much as I fly (100k miles/yr) I've asked and looked into this - 'fairly confident it would work out okay.

 

[MadRhino]

If I had to travel my bike, I'd ship them batteries a few weeks before the trip, packed with a few spare parts and tools. Leaving them on the bike or carrying them in luggage, could result into delays or troubles.

 

[mattchildress]

Ran across this string as I'm looking to fly into Houston, TX (you can't get there by Amtrak (well, unless you're up for a 5 hour bus ride)?!?!? And looking to take my yet-to-be-purchased-and-electrified Jetstream P8. We don't need high speed passenger rail in this country, we just need MORE passenger rail MORE often!!!

But I digress...

According to this page: http://safetravel.dot.gov/definitions.html#spare_batteries

"Lithium Ion Batteries with over 25 grams ELC are forbidden in air travel."

"ELC is a measure by which lithium ion batteries are classified. 8 grams of equivalent lithium content are equal to about 100 watt-hours. 25 grams of equivalent lithium content are equal to about 300 watt-hours. You can arrive at the number of watt-hours your battery provides if you know how many milliamp hours and volts your battery provides: mAh/1000 x V = wh"

Anybody want to help me with the maths? This might be an argument for keeping/using Dewalt Packs as it does not say anything about carrying multiple batteries [whoops, it does. One attached to "the device" and two 'spares'] -- http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2246&start=0

I'm guessing the answer is "not bloody likely"... of course the last time I flew (to Disney world, last month) I accidentally brought my barely legal lock-blade swiss army knife on my keychain (it rivals a janitor's number of keys). I plopped it in with the rest of my crap out of my pocket without a second thought, and it went right through! It didn't hit me until I was at the hotel and dumping my pockets again that I'd violated the law AND more importantly made it through TSA.

 

[Ykick]

Here's a couple RC threads citing experiences flying commercial with Lipo:

http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58658

One guy had some problem with modified cameras and a few other things but the TSA actually ran him down to give him his Lipo cells back.

http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?s=52a81528550fd0126d56c094d256a736&t=8049

I find it interesting how many commercial pilots fly RC planes. That could be a huge advantage for us since they're the ones usually with final say about what's carried on board their plane.

I'm tempted to start hauling one of my 12S2P Zippy packs on my cross country trips? Hell, if they allowed that I could check a folder and ride to/from my airports? Hell yeah!!!

'bet if you search RC, diving and photography discussion boards you'll find more people who've flown frequently with large amounts of Lipo.