Airplane travel with Nord Stage 2

[super_doraemon]

My band got booked to play some shows in Chicago and Brooklyn. This is our first time traveling with instruments by plane. We have a 73 key Nord Stage 2. I'm looking into the possibility of renting one on site, but it would be less stressful to just bring ours so we wouldn't have to deal with loading patches and rental fees. Has anybody traveled by plane with one of these(or a keyboard of similar size)? Does it fit carry-on or would it need to be checked?

[seamonkey]

If it was me, I'd rent one and load the sounds at your location.
I've seen how they load baggage into the luggage area, and they don't care if you have a $4000 synthesizer or not.

In regards to carry on, depending on which Stage 2 model you have, they vary in size from 44" to 50" in width.
This is way over what is allowed on most aircraft as carry on.
I've been travelling back and forth to Florida via Delta for some years now, and most carry on is pretty small.

A quick search on the Delta site provides these specifications allowed:
http://carryonsize.net/delta-carry-on-size/
basically 14"W and 22"L.
I have seen people go over that, but not as wide as 44"

If you're still curious, check online or speak to a representative from the airline you will be using.

Are you sure you want to go to Chicago? and are you REALLY sure you want to go to Brooklyn?

[Bitexion]

It will be going as "special luggage" because of the size, so they might treat it better. A friend shipped his Andromeda from Norway to USA for Progfest a few years ago, and it arrived in one piece. He was nervous as h**l though. You can prevent alot of trouble by wrapping it tightly in bubblewrap in the flight case, and make sure it's properly padded on the sides so it doesn't move about.

[Stab Frenzy]

Does it fit carry-on or would it need to be checked?

Let me guess, you've never flown before? There's no way it gets even close to being carry on. It won't even fit in regular checked luggage, you'll need to check it as oversized.

It will be going as "special luggage" because of the size, so they might treat it better. A friend shipped his Andromeda from Norway to USA for Progfest a few years ago, and it arrived in one piece. He was nervous as h**l though. You can prevent alot of trouble by wrapping it tightly in bubblewrap in the flight case, and make sure it's properly padded on the sides so it doesn't move about.

Might being the operative word here. The best bet with musical instruments is generally to pack them so they'll survive being thrown down a flight of stairs, and to make sure the flight case is so heavy that it's a two person lift. OH&S regulations state that anything over a certain weight (it's 28kg here I believe) can't be lifted by a single person, and if it can't be lifted by a single person it's much less likely to be thrown, as it's harder to co-ordinate two people to throw something, and if it's heavy the baggage handlers probably won't bother throwing it, too much effort involved.

When my old band played a festival in Vietnam a while back I packed my MEK as well as I could, no space in the case for it to move, all extra room filled with towels etc. The baggage handler at the oversized 'special luggage' check put it on top of a trolley with a huge pile of bags, it wasn't stable so I told him to just wait til the next one so he could put it on the bottom. He chucks it on top anyway, starts pulling the trolley away and I see it slipping from head height. I run up and grab it so it doesn't fall off, he shoves it a bit closer to the middle then starts off again, as he gets to the door there's a big crash and it falls from head height onto the floor. He doesn't give a f**k, just picks it back up and throws it back on and keeps going. By the end of the tour the roadcase was destroyed (it was a moulded plastic Gator one) but the synth was fine cause I packed it well.

OP: if you have to take it then make sure you have a properly custom built flight case for it. Not a padded case, not a moulded case, a properly made wood and aluminium flight case. It would be much smarter to just add it to your backline request on your tech rider for the shows, and then load on any sounds you need at the show. That's how it's done with common stuff like Nords, I mean you're not flying with a drum kit and amps are you?

Oh and another thing worth mentioning is that you should never sign the fragile item waiver that the check in people will try to foist on you if they see you're checking in instruments. It basically says that you're admitting it's not packed correctly and if it breaks because the baggage handlers throw it on the ground and stomp on it then it's your own fault. If they try that s**t on you then just let them know that it's an ATA approved flight case made especially for the instrument and if they break it they're gonna have to pay for it. If it's not in an ATA flight case then you have no business taking it to the airport.

[max badwan]

If you don't have a flight case for it, either invest in one, or rent one at the site(s).

[Bitexion]

Yeah, flight cases are named flight cases because they can take rough handling. Wood and metal is always best.

Or just do like Iron Maiden. Get rich enough to buy your own Boeing 747 jet and pilot it yourself around the world on tour. Then you're in full control of the equipment too.

[super_doraemon]

Cool. Thanks for the advice, everybody. It looks like I'm going to look into renting. I'm also going to call the airline and see if they have any other advice or ideas that I may have overlooked. Thanks again, dudes!

[abruzzi]

Years ago I flew with my K2vx. I put it in a high quality flight case as checked luggage and everything went fine. An ex girlfriend of mine was in a touring string quartet. The always bought five tickets, 4 for the performers, and one for the cello, and they all split the cost of the fifth ticket. The violins and viola fit in the overhead, but they would never check the instruments.

[iphoenix]

I flew overseas to buy & collect my Prophet VS.

I bought it a ticead for the journey & it sat on the seat next to me, belted in, as a fully paid & named passenger.
No way was I checking that in in any capacity.

Many classical musicians do the same with their instruments.

[Bitexion]

I've seen the flightcases for cellos/bass cellos being loaded into a truck, they were HUGELY oversized, probably filled with kilos of padding. Could easily fit a human in there hmmmm

No wonder when classical instruments often cost thousands of dollars just for the entry level instruments. That stuff costs way more than synthesizers.