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Flying with a Guitar as Checked-In Baggage
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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 Flying with a Guitar as Checked-In B...
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I have been on the move since the beginning of May. First my wife Marta and I flew to Arizona to spend the month of May renting an apartment in Oro Valley, just north of and adjacent to, Tucson to see if we might like to settle there. Back to Washington, DC for one week. Then I flew to Honolulu, overnighted there, and the next day flew on to Guam with a final destination of the island nation of Palau, where I am on a three month assignment at the American Embassy for the State Department.
I mention these perigrinations because I decided to take a Prudencio Saez guitar with me. I originally bought it in Bangkok to take into Rangoon, Burma, where I was on a four month State Department gig in 2004. I checked it in as baggage then, and I checked it in on my recent flights to Arizona and the long journey to Palau. It was in a hard-shell case, but had no other special protection. Each time it arrived safely at the final destination with no damage to either the guitar or the case.
I would never do this with my Gerundino or a couple of of other flamencos I have, but I figured if I lost the Prudencio Saez I could live with it, although I would not be pleased to do so. I know it was, and is, taking a chance, but it does demonstrate that if a guitar is handled correctly by airline personnel, one can travel with it as checked baggage, as long as it is in a hard case.
By the way, Marta and I have decided we really would like anchoring ourselves in Oro Valley, more so than Phoenix or Scottsdale in Arizona. And Palau is still the most magnificent of the Micronesian island nations in the Western Pacific. Most veteran divers consider it the Dive Spot of the world, with beautiful coral reefs and the most colorful variety of reef fish I have ever seen in one place. There is a large Marine Sanctuary, and a specific Shark Sanctuary as well. And there is a marine lake with a species of Jelly Fish that have evolved with no stinging tentacles, appropriately called Jelly Fish Lake. When I was on my last gig to Palau in 2010, I spent the day with a group at Jelly Fish lake, snorkling among the millions (literally millions) of Golden Jelly Fish. It is one of the world's marine treasures.
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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Date Jun. 16 2015 3:44:05
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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RE: Flying with a Guitar as Checked-... (in reply to BarkellWH)
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As I've mentioned before, my '67 Ramirez 1a blanca has more than a million airline miles on it as checked baggage. It has never suffered any damage, and has only gone walkabout once, missing the tight connection from DFW to Austin. It arrived on the next flight, maybe an hour and a half later.
All of the Ramirez's travels have been in high quality flight cases. The first was a Mark Leaf case--no longer in production. As I remember, it cost $450 around 30 years ago. Checking in at Austin, the agent commented, "Good case. My boyfriend is a pro mandolin player. I'm buying him a case like that for Christmas."
"Why do you like it?"
"I worked in baggage for ten years. I never saw a guitar damaged in a case like that."
The Mark Leaf is a big, very heavy monster. I've seen a picture of Ricardo's father's Hauser in a case like it.
The other case was a Reuer. "Was" because after it came home from Bali last July I noticed that in places the foam behind the velvet lining had turned into some kind of black nasty goop. Otherwise the case had done a good job for more than 20 years. It's big and heavy as well, but not as big and heavy as the Mark Leaf.
I have a couple of Karura cases, lighter weight, very stiff carbon fiber. They have case covers to add some padding and insulation, and to keep the shiny black carbon fiber and plastic from getting scratched up. The Karuras have only been used to ship a couple of very expensive guitars from the Marshall Islands to Austin. They were packed in bubble wrap and tri-wall cardboard boxes. Everything went OK.
Since the Reuer started emitting black goop, I bought a Visesnut case from Marshall Brune, Richard Brune's son--also a highly skilled luthier. The Visesnut is made just down the street from the Karuras in Thailand's high tech center where hard disks, Nikons and Canon cameras are made, as well as a lot of other state of the art stuff. It's even lighter than the Karuras, and has an ingenious internal suspension system that is adjustable to fit a variety of guitar sizes. It has a cover as well.
Nowadays there's a pretty good chance you can carry your guitar aboard if the flight is not overbooked, and you are not among the last people to board, after the overhead bins are full. But always have it in a reliable case, preferably with a cover, in the event you have to check it.
But I still don't know of an inexpensive case that I would trust to the airlines with a guitar I cared about.
The last time the Arcangel Fernandez left the house it went in a Karura case with cover. I bought a first class ticket for it, put it in the overhead bin, and went along for the ride. I also insured it for the full appraised value, but it is essentially irreplaceable as far as I am concerned.
RNJ
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Date Jun. 16 2015 4:18:51
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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RE: Flying with a Guitar as Checked-... (in reply to Richard Jernigan)
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quote:
But I still don't know of an inexpensive case that I would trust to the airlines with a guitar I cared about.
The last time the Arcangel Fernandez left the house it went in a Karura case with cover. I bought a first class ticket for it, put it in the overhead bin, and went along for the ride. I also insured it for the full appraised value, but it is essentially irreplaceable as far as I am concerned.
Ditto for me, Richard. I would never ship my Gerundino in an ordinary hard case. Nor would I ship a couple of others I have, including a Manuel Adalid, in a hard case only. But I don't like the idea of lugging around a huge, very heavy case such as the Mark Leaf you mentioned either. Thus, when I want to take a guitar with me I just chance it with my Prudencio Saez, originally bought in Bangkok to take into Rangoon Burma, in an ordinary hard case and hope for the best.
By the way, Richard, I'm currently doing a three-month State Department gig at our Embassy in Koror, Palau. I know you have dived in the FSM and the RMI, but have you ever come to Palau? Overall, I think the quality and color of the reefs and reef fish in Palau beats anything in the other two entities, as good as they are. Yap is very good as well.
If you have the inclination, you might consider coming to Palau. It would be great to see you here, and I can suggest what I think is the best dive experience in the Palau Archipelago. (I'm not a SCUBA diver, but I do snorkle.) Another interesting place in Palau is the island of Peleliu, where there was a fierce battle in WW II when the 1st Marine Division landed to take it from the Japanese, as it had an airfield, and MacArthur did not want the Japanese to threaten his flank as he drove into the Philippines. Military historians still debate whether or not it was necessary to take Peleliu, but it was one of the major battles in the Pacific, and Marines still consider the landing beaches sacred territory.
When I was in Palau in 2010, the two-star Marine general comanding Futenma Marine Air Station in Okinawa flew his own plane to Palau for an official visit. As Charge' d'Affaires I hosted him. He wanted to visit Peleliu, and when he was on the landing beach he put some sand in a small vial to take back, and he knelt on the beach, silently, for a full minute. It was very moving.
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jun. 16 2015 23:34:49
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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RE: Flying with a Guitar as Checked-... (in reply to estebanana)
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Stephen,
Koror, the capital of Palau, has fairly modern buildings, although they are sometimes a bit frayed at the edges. Palau receives dive groups from all over the world: the U.S., Germany, Italy, Russia, and many more. Plus there are PRC Chinese running all over the islands. The Chinese have displaced the Japanese as the dominant tourist group. Palau has a much better developed tourist industry than either Micronesia or the Marshalls.
But speaking of corrugated roofs, the archetypal "tin roofs and palm trees" capital in the Western Pacific region is still Kolonia, in the Federated States of Micronesia. Many years ago there was a well-known New York Times journalist named Malcolm Browne who covered Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Malcolm Browne used to say, over a couple of beers, that you could always tell when you were landing on a Pacific island because when you looked down all you saw were "tin roofs and palm trees." He was on to something. Kolonia still reminds me of Malcolm Browne.
And if we are going to generalize, it reminds me of President Reagan's Ambassador to Colombia, Lewis Tambs, a professor of Latin American studies at Arizona State University. When Reagan nominated Tambs as Ambassador to Colombia he (Tambs) faced some criticism from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Back in the mid '70s, Tambs had described most Latin American countries as consisting of "nothing more than a flag, a football team, and a seat in the UN." Actually kind of funny, more than a little true in some cases, but definitely not diplomatic. He was confirmed and maintained very good relations with the Colombians. In America there are second acts!
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jun. 17 2015 6:26:49
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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RE: Flying with a Guitar as Checked-... (in reply to BarkellWH)
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Hi Bill--
The Karura and Visesnut cases are admirable solutions to the flight case problem, considerably lighter than my molded plywood double-arch cases. They are very stout, but also expensive.
I've been diving in Palau twice. Once in the mid-nineties my regular buddy and I went with Fish 'n Fins. The company was started by Francis Toribiong. It was the first tourist diving operation in Palau. It had recently been bought by an Israeli couple, who had been operating a live-aboard dive boat in Palau for a few years.
Larisa and I dived with Sam's Tours in 2006. I noticed that in the time since I had been with Fish 'n Fins, Sam's had prospered and expanded considerably, but Fish 'n Fins seemed to have stagnated. I wondered why. Then I heard that Sam, the American operator of Sam's Tours is the adopted son of the highest chief in Palau, who married an American woman.
Thanks for the invitation. I place Palau near the top of the list of the many dive destinations I have visited. It's tops for large animals, in my experience. But living at Kwajalein for 18 1/2 years is hard to beat. There is a great variety of stuff there, and if you have your own boat you can get to places that only get divers two or three times a year. The difference is remarkable.
Larisa and I are off to Italy today until the end of July, so that's my travel plan for the moment. I'll probably be ready to stay home for a while when I get back--but thanks for the invitation.
RNJ
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Date Jun. 18 2015 13:03:06
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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RE: Flying with a Guitar as Checked-... (in reply to Richard Jernigan)
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quote:
Then I heard that Sam, the American operator of Sam's Tours is the adopted son of the highest chief in Palau, who married an American woman.
Sam Scott (the "Sam" of Sam's Tours) is a good friend of mine, dating from my four-month gig as Charge' d'Affaires at the American Embassy in Palau in 2010. We had a nice long chat over a couple of beers several days ago, after my return on this gig.
Sam's mother indeed married one of the two paramount chiefs on Palau, the Ibedul, who traditionally has held court on Koror, the main island and town. The other paramount chief is known as the Recklai, who traditionally has held court on the big island just north of Koror, called Babelduab. I got to know both of the paramount chiefs, and both have interesting histories.
Both the Ibedul and the Recklai served in the U.S. military, the Ibedul in the Army and the Recklai in the Marines. Each of them ended their service and were called back to Palau when their respective fathers passed away, and they assumed the roles of Ibedul and Recklai. When I hosted the two-star Marine general from Futenma in Okinawa, mentioned above, I introduced him to the Recklai, who had served in the Marines. It was like two old salts regaling each other with war stories. They say a Marine is always a Marine, no matter where he is and what he does after the service, and after listening to those two for an hour, I believe it.
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jun. 22 2015 2:14:39
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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RE: Flying with a Guitar as Checked-... (in reply to estebanana)
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quote:
Poaching in the sea is a terrible thing, the Palauans pulled off a coup and I hope there are no repercussions. I think they have every right to police their waters and steward the environment around them in any way they wish.
Palau's President Remengesau is being applauded in many quarters for his action against the Vietnamese poachers, and he appears to be doubling down on threats to poachers. There were six fishing boats. Four were burned and the other two were fueled and provisioned for the entire 77 crew members and fishermen to make their way back to Vietnam.
The captains of the boats remain in Palau, however, awaiting trial and jail terms. President Remengesau is quoted in the local newspaper as saying, "This message goes to the captains and crews of these vessels. Palau guarantees you will return with nothing. Captains will be prosecuted and jailed. Boats will be burned. Nothing will be gained from poaching in Palau. From one fisherman to another, respect Palau."
There won't be any repercussions. Under the Compact of Free Association between the Republic of Palau and the United States, the U.S. is responsible for Palau's defense. I guarantee there won't be any hostile foreign warships entering Palauan waters or aircraft entering Palauan air space.
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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Date Jun. 22 2015 7:40:01
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