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Author Topic: Air travel with Lipo-batteries  (Read 2125 times)

Offline Christoph Holtermann

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Air travel with Lipo-batteries
« on: August 26, 2014, 08:08:50 AM »
The WC in Poland has just finished and as many team members have travelled overseas with their electric ships and batteries I wanted to inquire what the options/restrictions to air-travel with LiPo batteries are and what the personal experience was.

Are there any restrictions to travel with Lipo's in hand-baggage or checked in baggage? Some airlines restrict travel for batteries up to 100Wh's, but mention spare batteries for laptops as eligible. I saw on the organizers web-page in Poland that he offered having batteries sent to him prior to the WC.

Perhaps the US-team can comment here.

Thanks!

Christoph Holtermann, Germany
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Offline Howard Rush

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Re: Air travel with Lipo-batteries
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2014, 08:57:39 AM »
Hi, Christoph,

Attached are the rules from the US aviation regulatory agency.  We had no problem going to and from Poland carrying batteries in carry-on cabin bags.   I put tape over the battery terminals and put the batteries in transparent plastic boxes.  My wife and I took two batteries each.  We went through security three times in the US and once in Poland. Inspectors told us that the main suspicion raised by batteries is that they appear on the X-ray as a mass of stuff with wires coming out.  One inspector advised us to send the batteries through the X-ray machine in a tray by themselves or in a small bag.  Do not put batteries in checked baggage, although they may accept a battery installed in an airplane in checked baggage.

We heard somewhere that Germany has stricter rules and will confiscate LiPo batteries.  That was one of the reasons we did not go to Poland via Frankfurt.  Would you please check the German rules and tell us? 
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Offline Christoph Holtermann

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Re: Air travel with Lipo-batteries
« Reply #2 on: August 28, 2014, 02:16:58 AM »
Thanks Howard for sharing this info with us!!

I had a short business-trip yesterday from Düsseldorf-Airport to Gdansk-Airport in Poland and asked the supervisor of the security check in Düsseldorf how I could travel with batteries and he told me exactly the same what you were told. He said to put the batteries with isolated wires in the hand-luggage as they would look suspicious in checked-in luggage. He asked however for the battery size. Lufthansa restricts batteries over 100 Wh but ours are in the range of 60 Wh. I asked wether they would add the energy content of several individual batteries but he said if all are below that 100Wh limit then it's fine.

I start building a plane now for Perth and wanted to see wether there were any stricter limitations than travelling with IC model engines in the luggage.

I try to find something in writing for Germany comparable to the US aviation regulations that you sent.

Thanks again!

Christoph
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Online Tim Wescott

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Re: Air travel with Lipo-batteries
« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2014, 10:25:42 AM »
For the electrically challenged:

Wh = watt-hour.  It's a rating of the total energy in the pack (a physicist would complain that it's not in Joules -- oh well, we go with what the government says we go with).

The watt-hour rating of a pack is it's voltage rating times it's amp-hour rating.  This gets slightly tricky, because batteries in the US are sold by mAh -- just remember that 1000mAh = 1Ah.

So a 2500 mAh, 4S pack will have a rated voltage of 14.8V, and 2500 mAh = 2.5Ah.  That means the pack's rated energy is (14.8V)*(2.5Ah) = 37Wh.

If your calculator-fu fails you, just ask here -- someone will help you out.

A 50Wh pack is pretty big by CLPA standards, although if you're flying a 15 pound scale ship it may be pretty small.
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Offline ericrule

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Re: Air travel with Lipo-batteries
« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2014, 05:44:42 PM »
Thank you Howard and Tim!

I would suggest that anyone planning on traveling by airline down load the FAA article and carry it with them.

It is also a good idea to contact your airline before you get to the airport. That way if some security inspector gives you a problem you can ask that they call the airline rep. This happened to me in Jacksonville Airport and a call to the American Airlines rep solved the problem quickly.

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Offline Keith Renecle

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Re: Air travel with Lipo-batteries
« Reply #5 on: August 28, 2014, 11:13:27 PM »
Hi Christoph,

I had my two lipos in one of those Lipo Safe charging bags and I went through Vienna airport. The security guys spotted them in our hand luggage bag and asked us what they were. Each time I just opened the bag and told them they were model airplane batteries and they said o.k. and off I went. The suggestion to have a printed copy of the airline rules is a good one. I can remember using that in 2012 on the way to Bulgaria.

Regards,
Keith R
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