Anyone have any experience flying an Alta in Costa Rica? From reading, it looks like they are considering adding a hefty fee for commercial work but right now they have basic safety rules. I don't have a specific, commercial project, just taking it for fun. Also wondering if people are having issues with the LiPo batteries on the plane. I have 2 sets of FF 10,000 and one set of 12,000 LiPos I was going to bring. I heard they might limit to two per passenger and there are three of us so I think we'd be good carrying them on (that part I know).
Check here -> http://phmsa.dot.gov/safetravel/batteries So if your sets are 6S your 10000 will have most likely 222Wh and your 12000 266Wh. Which means they are both over the max. of 160Wh which I understand are the limit to take onboard. One solution could be to have 3S batteries separately in your hand luggage and connect 2 of them in row for ALTA flight or 6S batteries and connect them in parallel. With all batteries below 100Wh you can take up to the weight limit of your hand luggage on board. However I don't have any experience with series or parallel connection of batteries used on an ALTA.
The link you sent addresses Lithium Ion and Lithium Metal batteries but makes no specific reference to Lithium Polymer. I read elsewhere "Spare batteries from 100 Wh up to 160Wh (max): hand luggage only, max 2 batteries per passenger" My 10Ah FreeFly battery would be 222Wh (10,000mAh at 22.2V is 222Wh) Still out of range. I'm worried about carrying this on for my flight to Costa Rica Monday!
Depends from which airport you depart. You are definitely above the 160Wh but sometimes you might be lucky and security doesn't look on the battery stickers ;-) Let us know when you are back. From my experience return flight from San Jose might be a bigger issue as they are very strict. I am currently experimenting with operating the ALTA with 4 x 4500mA 6S. With this configuration each battery comes to 100Wh and you can take as much lipos as you like with you up to the max weight for your cabin luggage. The limitation of 2 batteries is only valid for lipos between 100 - 160Wh. I know that won't help you for your current flight, good luck
Thanks Klaus - let me know how that test goes... and I'll follow up after Costa Rica (hopefully with footage).
Just traveled from seattle to Atlanta en route to Costa Rica. I had 2x 12Ah batteries, no issue. My partner had 2x 10Ah as did his friend, they had a layover in Atlanta and had to check in again there. They had no issue in seattle but in Atlanta the TSA said they thought they were not allowed, they left and "checked" the rules, and said they were permitted, swabbed the batteries and allowed them on.