The flying flambini

[Joshua Horowitz <horowitz...>]

-- Budowitz Home Page: http://www.merlinms.dircon.co.uk/budowitz/

Since I've gotten some queries lately about how to circumvent airline
insensitivity toward instruments, I thought I'd send in my "musicians' guide
to shipping Venetian vestibules, Bulgarian dancing bears, circus mirrors and
tsimbls" tome. If it's helpful, let me know, if not, feel free to refrain
from comment.

How to ship your tsimbl and retrieve it in almost one piece:

Packing your instrument. The most sensitive area is the top of the case,
where the most surface area is exposed and the least support exists
underneath. By this I mean, if you put the case down so that the tsimbl
would be in playing position, face up. You might need to reinforce it on the
inside with (wooden) crossbars which go from side to side if it is not hard
enough to sustain having another suitcase fall on it from a 2-foot height
without making a dent. I used to have a wood case for my old tsimbl made out
of several layers of cross-laminated plywood. Now I had a flight case might
for my latest tsimbl, which cost me 700 dollars, but only because the
instrument is too big to fit anywhere in the passenger side. I would more
than strongly advise you not to use a cloth case if your tsimbl is so much
as touched by another person. It's a guarantee for a broken instrument. The
first time mine went with Lufthansa in freight, the wooden case was returned
with a smashed-in front. Whatever caused it must have been millimeters away
from smashing the instrument. I have only one address in the US for custom
cases, but I'm sure you can have one made just about anywhere. It will save
you the trouble of having to buy a new instrument:

Maxline Custom Cases
2100 S.E. Clinton St.
Portland Oregon, 97202
tel 503-232-2985

If you want to take your instrument on board, here are some suggestions:

1) Find out when you book the flight what type of plane it is. I still own a
booklet which shows the seating configurations of the most common airplane
types, (which you can get easily from the airlnes - just call them) so you
can see whether they have wardrobe sections. Ask at ticketing if the plane
is full or not. If the plane is not full, when you get to the gate, they
cannot use the excuse that they are too full when they actually are not. I
never let the ticketing people even see the instrument before going to the
gate, because they will always say no to it. When you get to the gate you
can then tell the people there that you will need to board first, and were
told (by an authority whose name you didn't bother to note) that it would be
no problem to store the instrument upright in the wardrobe closets (called
the "Crew Belly").  I used to stand mine up lengthwise and sandwich it in
between the existing suitcases and pilot cases. It was 126 x 62 x 16 cm
large, weighing 17.5 kilos. You need to anounce it to them first and you
will want to load before others, in other words, when they announce the
thing about those with small children or needing boarding assistance,
because people love to use that closet for things they could put in
overhead. Also, then you don't have to sweat like crazy getting through and
around boarding passengers. The trick is to get on the plane WITH the
instrument. Once you've done that, you're okay.  The only 2 airlines I found
were hopeless were Lufthansa (the worst, by far - a judgement which I've
formed after many frustrating flights with them) and Air Canada, neither of
whom will let you take the instrument on, even if they know it will fit
easily. I never had problems with most of the other airlines. Never argue,
though, only plead. Argueing stresses the crew out and lowers your chances.
In the end, they make exceptions based on niceness. They are much more
understanding when you say "this is a historical instrument, if it breaks,
there's not a craftsman this side of Hungary who could fix it, etc." The
fact is, they actually do get broken VERY easily if you don't fight tooth
and nail for their safety. Argue that it is also climate sensitive: "The
freight area of the plane is 10 degrees centegrade cooler than the passenger
section. This results in precipitation which will ruin the shellack of the
soundboard, etc. and the instrument is an historical one from the 19th Cent,
worth bla bla bla..." The freight section IS in fact 10 degrees centigrade
cooler and can in fact ruin water-soluble shellacks.

2) If there is no room in the closets, it is sometimes possible to put it in
between the back row of any row of seats and the wall, though usually this
space is very narrow. If your case doesn't make the whole thing too wide,
this could work. I did once strap it to next to me on the plane, but that
was on Tyrolean Airways and was possible only because the security guy
wanted to show off his knot-tying skills to the cute stewardess, and made a
mess of both rope and seatbelt. Most likely, this breaks international
safety laws, unless it fits somewhere like a glove.

3) If you absolutely have to put it in freight,  buy cheap baggage insurance
before boarding, as the chances are high that some damage will be done to at
least your case. Try to get what's called "Delivery on Board", which allows
you to give the instrument up directly at the plane itself. In many airports
this is not possible, but always worth asking. Even if you tell them to
inform the freight guys of your connecting flights of the fragility of your
instrument, this information never gets past the person you are telling it
to. Communication between connecting flights does not exist, even when they
say they will do their best. Doing their "best" is being glad when you are
out of their hair. The problem usually occurs during unloading and loading
of a flight where you are not present. In the case of "Delivery on Board"
you will get a tag and in some cases (in Europe) actually be able take it
with the loader right up to the plane and watch them put it in. Try to see
if you can be at unloading if possible. It will then not go through more
hands than you see, and if it's packed properly, won't get damaged. If you
change flights try not to check it straight through like you would your
bags. It's a big, big pain in the tukhes, but that's what we get for
choosing an instrument which is ridiculous to tune in the first place.

Tracey Lake  wrote an article in Sing Out! (Vol. 44 #3, Spring 2000) about
new developments in flying with instruments. Her address is
(tlake (at) seriouscollector(dot)com; or P.O. Box 590249, San Francisco, CA. 
94159)

Here is a summary:
In the US, in 1999 Senate Bill 1294 specified regulation of carry-on bags to
have a max. size of 14 x 9 x 22 inches. To view the bill, go to:
www.senate.gov (just search for SB 1294, or click "Commerce, Science, and
Transportation Committee"). AFM members, Alphonso Pollard and Nathan Kahn
opposed the bill with an ammendment which has not yet been accepted. The
Committee can be faxed at: (202) 224-1259 for Republicans and (202) 228-0303
for Democrats. Committee members can be found by going to:
www.senate.gov/~commerce/subcmte.htm#Aviation
To view a survey of "Music In The Air", go to: www.local1000.com

Good luck! Josh Horowitz

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