Hi, any bad experiences with carrying the flute in your carry-on on domestic flight?
Anyone from Salt lake City on the list?
All the best, eilam.
My flute has come with me as a carryon, in a pistol case, from Boston or Manchester to the following locations with no problems (though they always want to look in the case): Seattle, Chicago, some place in Florida (I can’t remember), Charlottesville, Baltimore, Nashville, Salt Lake City, Shannon, Dublin, Milan, Rome, Amsterdam, Dusseldorf and Accra. You should be fine.
Best,
Chris
Hello:
Well, hopefully everything will be fine, although SLC airport is the )(*&) to go through security, They confiscated my keychain 
. That was before they were jacked up after the terrorist attack, I do not want to think how they are right now. Keep in mind that your flute might look like a pipe-bomb on x-ray, do not be surprised if they ask to open it up and check it (and probably play it).
Good Luck!
Luis
I always tell them ahead of time that is going to look strange and that there is a flute inside. That makes them feel more comfortable.
Chris
I’ve had similar experiences to Chris. I always mention what I have as it’s being scanned.
I’ve never had a problem carrying wood keyless or Boehm metal flutes through security. I’ve taken one of them on at least four trips since 9/11/01.
I’ve never had trouble with my silver flute, either, even though it could conceivably look like a pipe bomb.
I carried a copeland low D in a padded PVC case on my flight in and out of SLC, Delta airlines, dec 27-30th ish this past christmas. No problems at all. I told the x ray guy beforehand that it was a ‘flute’ (figured I’d simplify things) and they didn’t need me to open it up or anything.
Also had a bodhrán with me, still, no problems.
I’ve carried my flute along twice within the past month on planes between Baltimore and Providence. I was amazed that no one ever asked me to open up the case. I don’t know exactly how the sensors in the scanning machines work, but maybe wood has its own distinctive signature that convinces the security people it’s a flute and not a tube of semtex or something.
What’s amazing though, is that you can’t bring a nose hair trimmer on board, but a flute–essentially a 26" war club–is no problem. Believe me, with a blackwood Hammy, you could really mess somebody up if you were so inclined!
On 2003-01-23 22:18, prunci wrote:
…you can’t bring a nose hair trimmer on board, but a flute–essentially a 26" war club–is no problem.
When I reported to jury duty, I was surprised that there was no problem bringing in my Seery through the courthouse security scanners. Now there’s a club!
Kevin Krell
I flew from the UK to St. Louis a couple of weeks ago (and back), and acquired another flute case (Folker Powell) while I was there - my hand luggage was scanned lots of times, and I was surprised that they showed absolutely no interest in either case, or my M&E Rudall-style keyless flute.
Guess the security crews are just musical philistines!
pamela
I’m glad to hear they have no problems letting flutes on as carry-on items, but I’m terrified to hear that they allow bodhrans on — I mean really, what happened to “increased” security? 
Pamela, will you tell me where
you acquired the flute case
in St. Louis? I live there, you see,
and I’m looking for a flute case.
Probably they would have
let you through if you’d
had a howitzer. Best, Jim
Hi Jim,
I called Ardal Powell up (in upstate New York) and he sent me an adjustable case for my eagerly awaited gilles lehart 6-key flute. So now I’ve got a case - only a couple of months wait left! I took advantage of the trip to visit my mother to order the case while I was in the US - Ardal was very easy to work with, and the case arrived 3 days after I spoke to him!
Whereabouts in St. Louis are you?
regards,
Pamela
Dogtown. Aptly named, cheap, old, working
class neighborhood. It’s freezing here
in St. Louis, in fact.
How do I find out what this Powell
individual makes? Website. Expensive?
I’m needing flute cases. Best wishes, Jim
well…not exactly cheap, but the only case I could find to fit my Rudall and Rose type flute, with removeable/adjustable blocks in the slots so it will work for flutes of different sizes…
have a look at their website and see what you think:
http://www.baroqueflute.com/models/cases.html
I’ll be interested to hear what you think - I searched the net for a bit looking for a case that would fit, and this was the best that I came up with.
regards,
Pamela
Whoa, That’s expensive! I got one of the pistol cases from Dave Copley, and it works great ~ true, it isn’t as fancy…
Mary
Looks quite nice, but, yes, it’s
a bit expensive. The pistol case
works OK, but I wonder if there’s
something better than doesn’t
cost 75 dollars. Thanks.
If you are looking for an inexpensive flute case check out camera and video recorder cases. Best Buy has a good selection and you can pick up one for around $20.00. Bike shops carry heavy nylon bags for bikes that will also work for flute cases. You may need to add foam rubber inserts but they are a cheap source of bags.
The Bass Pro Shop also has a large selection of hiking bags and packs, gun cases, and tackle boxes that can be configured to make a custom flute case.
I can make a case to your specs for your flute out of figured hardwood that is padded and velvet lined with brass hardware (sterling silver hardware is available), but it is not an inexpensive case.
I hope that this helps with the case hunt.
John