Ship via UPS,

On a post in the OPEN forum, Paul Walker commented on the possible problem of flying his ECL plane with it's LiPos with him on the airlines. I'm not sure why Paul has not used UPS or FedEx?

My take-apart ECL is almost ready (with Sport Tube) and I plan on flying to some contests this year. I hate dealing with the airlines/TSA on anything, and packing several of our size LiPos may be outside their guidelines for Lithium weight. (I sure don't want to get into a "rules" debate on where Lithium falls on their Periodic table with some TSA "expert" at the airport.   

The owner of the local UPS store is a good friend, so I asked him to research shipping our LiPos via UPS. He did NOT find anything (even in their fine print ;-) that would prevent us from shipping our LiPos via UPS anywhere in the USA, or the rest of the world. The only battery we can NOT ship is a WET battery, like a wet Lead Acid car battery. .... I have had 14 ECL batteries shipped to me via UPS, and many more ERC batteries, so I don't see a problem sending them to someone else.

IMHO: This makes more sense than fighting the airlines/TSA. I would think any CD would be glad to receive your small UPS package and bring it to the field. If you are staying at a name brand hotel you could also send them there if you call and ask them to hold it for you, even if you have to pay a small fee.

Has any ECL pilot out there done this yet (Bob&Dean?) .... Any other ideas? ..... TIA for your input :-)

Regards, 

From all that I have heard I would not want to even test the TSA with a Lipo on the plane. Chances are they would confiscate it. Over the past 8 years or so I have shipped my planes to Nats and other contests using FedEx ground. It is about the same cost as UPS or Greyhound and has been very reliable. They give you a tracking number so you can see where the package is during the trip. California to Indiana is usually 4 to 5 days. As far as I know there are no restrictions for Lipos either. I just ship it to the place that I am staying and notify the front desk that I have a package coming to them. I then can just pick it up at the front desk when I arrive. The other nice thing is that you can go to any FedEx/Kinko's for the return.

Bob

Thanks for all the input guys. It looks like we ECL flyers have several good options that all avoid the dreaded TSA and the airlines.

Bob, you said you have shipped your planes for many years via FedEx. Were they ECL planes, or wet planes? Are they full take-apart? Did you use a crate, or? .... TIA for your ans.

Since I will be using a snowboard hard case for the plane it should look rather innocent. Time will tell? ;-)

Regards, 

Rudy,


Mike, I did not know about the model airplane disclaimer that you mention. Next time I may call them something different, like competition aircraft supplies or experimental aircraft. Something other than "model" airplanes.

This is what he told me - like I said, it might be a good idea to check with the local counter person when shipping.  Like I also said, this was Fedex and other carriers may be different. UPS for instance, has an automatic insurance on the first $100 of value, and if you need more you can purchase it.  I've not asked them about any disclaimers.