Dahon - Proof of Concept - Military Air
06-12-09, 12:31 AM
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Dahon - Proof of Concept - Military Air
Took a military hop from Okinawa to Iwakuni Japan yesterday. I'll be moving to Iwakuni in the very near future and decided to stage a bike down here for two reasons.
One is to prevent me from not getting a rental car which pleases the boss to no end and second is to do some touring this weekend which I've always wanted to do in this area.
So I load up my Mu P8 in my El Bolso bag and show up at the air terminal in Oki. I'm about half expecting someone to say "You can't take that" but the reaction is just the opposite. What I get is "Is that a bike? Cool? Sure you can take it.
On the other end as well coming off the plane. "Is that a bike? That is too cool".
Just to be on the safe side I dumped most of the air pressure in the tires before we went up. It was a small commuter jet, a UC-35. The locals call it the "Barbie Jet" and trust me.....It's a cool way to get to work in the morning.
Also brought my Topeak DXP bag and a cable lock and a spare tube and such. Before I run around too much I need to pick up a tire lever in case I need to do a tube change and I probably should get a multi-tool.
So it's my first foray into traveling with a folder on a military aircraft and it met no resistance. I might be a little more hesitant to put it on a large aircraft and have it just tossed in the cargo hold but the Barbie Jet and a C-130 and aircraft like that will be optimum.
Not sure whether to tour towards Hiroshima or not this weekend or to head the other way. I may really get my feet wet and take the folder on the train and ride to a local ferry / island called Miyajima Island. Many possibilities here.
John
One is to prevent me from not getting a rental car which pleases the boss to no end and second is to do some touring this weekend which I've always wanted to do in this area.
So I load up my Mu P8 in my El Bolso bag and show up at the air terminal in Oki. I'm about half expecting someone to say "You can't take that" but the reaction is just the opposite. What I get is "Is that a bike? Cool? Sure you can take it.
On the other end as well coming off the plane. "Is that a bike? That is too cool".
Just to be on the safe side I dumped most of the air pressure in the tires before we went up. It was a small commuter jet, a UC-35. The locals call it the "Barbie Jet" and trust me.....It's a cool way to get to work in the morning.
Also brought my Topeak DXP bag and a cable lock and a spare tube and such. Before I run around too much I need to pick up a tire lever in case I need to do a tube change and I probably should get a multi-tool.
So it's my first foray into traveling with a folder on a military aircraft and it met no resistance. I might be a little more hesitant to put it on a large aircraft and have it just tossed in the cargo hold but the Barbie Jet and a C-130 and aircraft like that will be optimum.
Not sure whether to tour towards Hiroshima or not this weekend or to head the other way. I may really get my feet wet and take the folder on the train and ride to a local ferry / island called Miyajima Island. Many possibilities here.
John
06-12-09, 01:30 AM
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I took my Strida clone in a soft bag on a budget airline recently. It had to go as hold baggage, obviously and picked up a scratch and a broken rear light. The bag also had a few punctures implying that the thing got a roughish time in some big container load of baggage. Could be it was at the bottom of a couple of hundred pounds of cases and that they were joggling around during the journey.
Had it been a Brompton or an expensive Dahon, I'd have been worried. As it was, a £110 clone is expendable. No damage that would affect its functionality, but if it did regular unattended aircraft hold trips, I wouldn't count on it not getting badly knocked about.
Had it been a Brompton or an expensive Dahon, I'd have been worried. As it was, a £110 clone is expendable. No damage that would affect its functionality, but if it did regular unattended aircraft hold trips, I wouldn't count on it not getting badly knocked about.
