Camera PV 2007 » Camera Bag » Could I take a monopod on an airplane?
Could I take a monopod on an airplane?
Question:
>Sloppy pilotage, poor company procedure, last minute crew change and you are >worried about carrying on a monopod? > Legit worry. The guy may get delayed and all the best seats are taken by the > time security is finished checking the monopod. ;)
Hmmm…not as unlikely as you might think, different security drones vary wildly in how they approach things. I went thru Dullas in DC a few weeks ago, went through one security station with no problems, no metal detector pings, realized I had to go back out to the main terminal to take care of something, and went back in through another security station. They had the detector jacked up so much I thought I was gonna get a body cavity search. The stripes on my credit cards set it off, and after that the small stainless steel plate in my elbow from a surgery to correct a bad break set the damn thing off and I had to be frisked along the arm. That’s the first time in the 6 years I’ve had the damn thing that’s happened. God only knows what they’d have thought of a monopod, although I’ve found that traveling with your gear packed in a very professional manner helps a lot. I’ve gotten hassles about hand inspecting film if I had just a camera and lens in my normal briefcase or canvas carry on bag, but nary a complaint when I carried my gear in a small foam lined hard case with cutouts for each piece of gear.
Response:
> It’s not really a receipt, but a verification of the fuel that > was boarded. It’s a required safety check, not some accounting > requirement.
Or the "credit card" kept on the bulkhead. :Oo Stan
Response:
> > Because the weights are estimated and the winds are only > forecast, it’s important to have some fuel in reserve in case the > burn turns out to be higher than expected. > Any ethnic variations? Do asian asian airlines use a lower average > weight for their passengers?
Don’t know if there are ethnic variations. The FAA’s "standard" weight is 170 pounds per person. I don’t know if they’ve increased this within the last decade or so, as the average weight of Americans has increased a bit. But I do know that if an airline is going to be flying an athletic team, particularly football players, my airline pilot friends tell me their dispatchers use a higher average weight per person for the purposes of calculating weight and balance. C. Marin Faure author, Flying A Floatplane
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> > Because the weights are estimated and the winds are only > > forecast, it’s important to have some fuel in reserve in case the > > burn turns out to be higher than expected. > Any ethnic variations? Do asian asian airlines use a lower average > weight for their passengers? > Don’t know if there are ethnic variations. The FAA’s "standard" weight is > 170 pounds per person. I don’t know if they’ve increased this within the > last decade or so, as the average weight of Americans has increased a > bit. But I do know that if an airline is going to be flying an athletic > team, particularly football players, my airline pilot friends tell me > their dispatchers use a higher average weight per person for the purposes > of calculating weight and balance.
So they are smarter than average… 
— Weiyun [Remove the obvious for email replies]
Response:
I got no problem with mono and tripods, however, when I was returning from Africa, they did not allow me to bring a spear on-board. Security officer said "you can hijjack the plane with that" 
))) Sal. > I am flying on Delta shortly. I have a LowePro AW (camera bag) that can > hold a monopod which I would like to take. > My film crew has taken a heavy monopod on board commercial flights for > filming on the flight deck. We have had no problems doing this. > Obviously, we run everything, including the 16mm film cameras, through the > hand baggage X-ray security systems, but the airlines have never > questioned the thing. People bring canes, umbrellas, etc. on board with > them, all of which could be "used as a weapon" if someone really
Response:
But aren’t you allowed to take a baseball batt onto a plane, and that would do a much more effective job then a camera stand…. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I am flying on Delta shortly. I have a LowePro AW (camera bag) that can > hold a monopod which I would like to take. > For the benefit of the other NG, a monopod is a used like a tripod for > cameras > but it has only one leg. It is heavy aircraft aluminum and could hurt > someone > if I slugged them with it as if it were a bat. > How does the airline handle legitimate camera accessories that could > be used as a weapon? I’d rather find out now than later. No, I will not > have a bag to check in on this flight.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Could I take a monopod on an airplane? >Sure you can carry a monopod and I hope you don’t get the same Delta crew I >got coming back from the Photo Marketing Association in Vegas at the >beginning of the month…….we had Air Worst going and coming. Coming back >AW cancelled since only twelve people were booked on the red-eye back to >Tampa. So Air Worst bought us the nine dollar dinner and transferred us to >Delta. The Delta pilot made a big deal of welcoming all those from AirWorst >just about doing everything he could except personally thanking us by name >and offering free drinks…..(real company man). >Just prior to the pushback, he announces due to the increased load, he has >to take on more fuel……Hmmm, now I’ve only been a pilot for twenty six >years of my fifty plus years on this earth flying 65HP Cubs to a Lear 23. >and his comment gets my preservation index going. >Ten passengers at 150 lbs average is 1500 lbs plus another 500 for baggage= >2000 lbs. >Gross on a 757 stretch is about 175,000 lbs. >A 45 min reserve on fuel in a 757 a low burn conservation rates gives us a >300 mile safety net. >From Tampa, he could make Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, West Palm with that >kind of reserve. >Clear night, good winds aloft, actually a nice tailwind. >Well sure enough, the fueler comes out ONE hour later and a half hour after >that he announces he’s waiting for a receipt. >I stand up and offer to take up a collection, the whole plane bursts into >laughter….. >My point……simple. If their pilots with the most sophiticated GPS, INS, >and Deltas own guidance data bank, electronic weight and balance computers, >couldn’t figure the 2000 lb weight error hours before take-off… >Sloppy pilotage, poor company procedure, last minute crew change and you are >worried about carrying on a monopod?
They were probably waiting for the number of pax to compute the new weight data. When one airline sents its passengers over to another airline, they usually do it as a last resorts. In other words AW doesn’t call Delta and say "we MIGHT be sending ten pax with luggage your way", they just call and ask "hey we got ten pax stranded can you take them?" As the pax are being sent over, all the numbers have to be run again for the weight and balance. Yes their is a pad of sorts that can be used to take care of last minute changes, but usually anything over say a 1000 pounds requires taking on more fuel. And that 45 minutes of reserve fuel was based on the old takeoff weight and burn, NOT the new weights, so it too has to be updated. Even an aircraft as big as a 747 usually only has a weight pad of 1000 pounds for long flights, so even ten additional passengers would require new performance data to be run. Now if Delta knew hours in advance that the additional pax would be coming, then the additional fuel probably had nothing to do with the additional passengers, but more likely had to do with deteriorating weather along the route of flight or known holding enroute. or inability to get the cruising altitude that the fuel rate was based on from ATC. These are just a few of the things that can cause fuel to be added at the last moment. And yes, Delta could have just forgot to account for the additional passengers when they did the initial weight/performance calculations. Which might have been done before the additional passengers were known, catching the error when they closed out all the paperwork and ran their final weight and balance checks. It would appear that the checks and balances worked as it should, in that the error was found ON THE GROUND, and not in the air. WFN
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Ten passengers at 150 lbs average is 1500 lbs plus another 500 for baggage= > 2000 lbs. > Gross on a 757 stretch is about 175,000 lbs. > A 45 min reserve on fuel in a 757 a low burn conservation rates gives us a > 300 mile safety net. > From Tampa, he could make Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, West Palm with that > kind of reserve. > Clear night, good winds aloft, actually a nice tailwind. > As you know, an increased gross weight will require a larger > amount of fuel to be burned en route. If the weather was nice, > it is likely that the flight was planned to arrive without much > planned reserve. If the new gross weight further reduces that > reserve to below what the Captain is comfortable with, then by > all means extra fuel should be added. The delay to accomplish > that rests entirely with the station, and there is no reason to > fault the flight crew.
How accurate is the gross weight measurement? Do the ground staffs weigh each checked bag and record it in the system? Or do they bundle them up into one of those cart and then weigh it altogether? How do the ground staff know that’s the weight inside the cabin with carry ons etc? Do they just estimate based on averages? — Weiyun [Remove the obvious for email replies]
Response:
Nope…….they weigh in motion……on the taxi way…JUST like trucks on a highway, if they are over weight they dump some bags from the baggage hold…..how
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> > Ten passengers at 150 lbs average is 1500 lbs plus another 500 for baggage= > > 2000 lbs. > > Gross on a 757 stretch is about 175,000 lbs. > > A 45 min reserve on fuel in a 757 a low burn conservation rates gives us a > > 300 mile safety net. > > From Tampa, he could make Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, West Palm with that > > kind of reserve. > > Clear night, good winds aloft, actually a nice tailwind. > As you know, an increased gross weight will require a larger > amount of fuel to be burned en route. If the weather was nice, > it is likely that the flight was planned to arrive without much > planned reserve. If the new gross weight further reduces that > reserve to below what the Captain is comfortable with, then by > all means extra fuel should be added. The delay to accomplish > that rests entirely with the station, and there is no reason to > fault the flight crew. > How accurate is the gross weight measurement? Do the ground staffs > weigh each checked bag and record it in the system? Or do they bundle > them up into one of those cart and then weigh it altogether? > How do the ground staff know that’s the weight inside the cabin with > carry ons etc? Do they just estimate based on averages? > — > Weiyun > [Remove the obvious for email replies]
Response:
> How accurate is the gross weight measurement? Do the ground staffs > weigh each checked bag and record it in the system? Or do they bundle > them up into one of those cart and then weigh it altogether? > How do the ground staff know that’s the weight inside the cabin with > carry ons etc? Do they just estimate based on averages?
The weights for passengers, carryons, and checked baggage are average weights (carryon baggage is included in the weight of a passenger). The standard passenger weighs about 170 lb., IIRC, although at some airlines it varies from summer to winter. Freight is usually weighed. Because the weights are estimated and the winds are only forecast, it’s important to have some fuel in reserve in case the burn turns out to be higher than expected. –Mark Rogers
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> How accurate is the gross weight measurement? Do the ground staffs > weigh each checked bag and record it in the system? Or do they bundle > them up into one of those cart and then weigh it altogether? > How do the ground staff know that’s the weight inside the cabin with > carry ons etc? Do they just estimate based on averages? > The weights for passengers, carryons, and checked baggage are > average weights (carryon baggage is included in the weight of a > passenger). The standard passenger weighs about 170 lb., IIRC, > although at some airlines it varies from summer to winter. > Freight is usually weighed. > Because the weights are estimated and the winds are only > forecast, it’s important to have some fuel in reserve in case the > burn turns out to be higher than expected.
Any ethnic variations? Do asian asian airlines use a lower average weight for their passengers? — Weiyun [Remove the obvious for email replies]
Response:
I am flying on Delta shortly. I have a LowePro AW (camera bag) that can hold a monopod which I would like to take. For the benefit of the other NG, a monopod is a used like a tripod for cameras but it has only one leg. It is heavy aircraft aluminum and could hurt someone if I slugged them with it as if it were a bat. How does the airline handle legitimate camera accessories that could be used as a weapon? I’d rather find out now than later. No, I will not have a bag to check in on this flight.
Response:
> I am flying on Delta shortly. I have a LowePro AW (camera bag) that can > hold a monopod which I would like to take.
My film crew has taken a heavy monopod on board commercial flights for filming on the flight deck. We have had no problems doing this. Obviously, we run everything, including the 16mm film cameras, through the hand baggage X-ray security systems, but the airlines have never questioned the thing. People bring canes, umbrellas, etc. on board with them, all of which could be "used as a weapon" if someone really desired. I wouldn’t worry about it. The security people may ask about it, but once you show them what it is and what it’s used for, you shouldn’t have any problems. C. Marin Faure author, Flying A Floatplane
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I am flying on Delta shortly. I have a LowePro AW (camera bag) that can > hold a monopod which I would like to take. > For the benefit of the other NG, a monopod is a used like a tripod for > cameras > but it has only one leg. It is heavy aircraft aluminum and could hurt > someone > if I slugged them with it as if it were a bat. > How does the airline handle legitimate camera accessories that could > be used as a weapon? I’d rather find out now than later. No, I will not > have a bag to check in on this flight.
Response:
Specific requests such as this should be directed toward the airline. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > I am flying on Delta shortly. I have a LowePro AW (camera bag) that can > hold a monopod which I would like to take. > For the benefit of the other NG, a monopod is a used like a tripod for > cameras > but it has only one leg. It is heavy aircraft aluminum and could hurt > someone > if I slugged them with it as if it were a bat. > How does the airline handle legitimate camera accessories that could > be used as a weapon? I’d rather find out now than later. No, I will not > have a bag to check in on this flight.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I am flying on Delta shortly. I have a LowePro AW (camera bag) that can >hold a monopod which I would like to take. >For the benefit of the other NG, a monopod is a used like a tripod for >cameras >but it has only one leg. It is heavy aircraft aluminum and could hurt >someone >if I slugged them with it as if it were a bat. >How does the airline handle legitimate camera accessories that could >be used as a weapon? I’d rather find out now than later. No, I will not >have a bag to check in on this flight.
Hi, Why don’t you ship your tripod as luggage? I do that, and it is pretty sturdy. Ann — Ann Q. Lee http://carcassi.eng.uci.edu/intropictures.htm
Response:
> I am flying on Delta shortly. I have a LowePro AW (camera bag) that can > hold a monopod which I would like to take. > For the benefit of the other NG, a monopod is a used like a tripod for > cameras > but it has only one leg. It is heavy aircraft aluminum and could hurt > someone > if I slugged them with it as if it were a bat. > How does the airline handle legitimate camera accessories that could > be used as a weapon? I’d rather find out now than later. No, I will not > have a bag to check in on this flight.
I don’t see any problem with that assuming you aren’t taking much more than the AW and your Monopod. — Weiyun [Remove the obvious for email replies]
Response:
Could I take a monopod on an airplane? Sure you can carry a monopod and I hope you don’t get the same Delta crew I got coming back from the Photo Marketing Association in Vegas at the beginning of the month…….we had Air Worst going and coming. Coming back AW cancelled since only twelve people were booked on the red-eye back to Tampa. So Air Worst bought us the nine dollar dinner and transferred us to Delta. The Delta pilot made a big deal of welcoming all those from AirWorst just about doing everything he could except personally thanking us by name and offering free drinks…..(real company man). Just prior to the pushback, he announces due to the increased load, he has to take on more fuel……Hmmm, now I’ve only been a pilot for twenty six years of my fifty plus years on this earth flying 65HP Cubs to a Lear 23. and his comment gets my preservation index going. Ten passengers at 150 lbs average is 1500 lbs plus another 500 for baggage= 2000 lbs. Gross on a 757 stretch is about 175,000 lbs. A 45 min reserve on fuel in a 757 a low burn conservation rates gives us a 300 mile safety net. From Tampa, he could make Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, West Palm with that kind of reserve. Clear night, good winds aloft, actually a nice tailwind. Well sure enough, the fueler comes out ONE hour later and a half hour after that he announces he’s waiting for a receipt. I stand up and offer to take up a collection, the whole plane bursts into laughter….. My point……simple. If their pilots with the most sophiticated GPS, INS, and Deltas own guidance data bank, electronic weight and balance computers, couldn’t figure the 2000 lb weight error hours before take-off… Sloppy pilotage, poor company procedure, last minute crew change and you are worried about carrying on a monopod?
Response:
>Sloppy pilotage, poor company procedure, last minute crew change and you are >worried about carrying on a monopod?
Legit worry. The guy may get delayed and all the best seats are taken by the time security is finished checking the monopod. ;)
Response:
> Ten passengers at 150 lbs average is 1500 lbs plus another 500 for baggage= > 2000 lbs. > Gross on a 757 stretch is about 175,000 lbs. > A 45 min reserve on fuel in a 757 a low burn conservation rates gives us a > 300 mile safety net. > From Tampa, he could make Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, West Palm with that > kind of reserve. > Clear night, good winds aloft, actually a nice tailwind.
As you know, an increased gross weight will require a larger amount of fuel to be burned en route. If the weather was nice, it is likely that the flight was planned to arrive without much planned reserve. If the new gross weight further reduces that reserve to below what the Captain is comfortable with, then by all means extra fuel should be added. The delay to accomplish that rests entirely with the station, and there is no reason to fault the flight crew. > Well sure enough, the fueler comes out ONE hour later and a half hour after > that he announces he’s waiting for a receipt. > I stand up and offer to take up a collection, the whole plane bursts into > laughter…..
It’s not really a receipt, but a verification of the fuel that was boarded. It’s a required safety check, not some accounting requirement. > My point……simple. If their pilots with the most sophiticated GPS, INS, > and Deltas own guidance data bank, electronic weight and balance computers, > couldn’t figure the 2000 lb weight error hours before take-off…
If the additional payload had been known hours before takeoff, it would have been accounted for in the burn figures. Somehow your belief that the fuel boarded was adequate for the flight just isn’t very credible when you don’t have any specific knowledge of what that planned fuel load was, or the weather and airplane limitations. –Mark Rogers