Emulsion paint in aircraft?

Jun 26, 2016 35 Replies

Anyone got any experience of transporting paint in an aircraft?



I know it isn't going to be allowed in hand baggage, but what is the best way of transporting it in a suitcase?



I want to take 2.5 litres of emulsion to Cork next month do I just tape the lid and stick it in the case or would it be best to transfer it into a couple of plastic bottles?



From past experience tools and materials have not always ended up at the destination airport so I wat to minimise the risk of not meeting up with my case.


Regards


AB


Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. Don't they sell paint in Ireland?

No time.

I will be pushed to the limit as it is.

The outlet is 18 miles from the place of work. A trip to the hardware store is something I'm very familiar with, but it ends up with half the day gone.

I thought the limits only applied to cabin baggage?

Sadly I have no real alternative available, so if it isn't permitted, I'll just have to live with it.

I must admit it would be nice to take it to the airport anyway, the staff there must be getting a bit bored with only confiscating terminal drivers from me :-)

Anyway thanks for the replies

AB

ship it by courier

Only the EU s**te stuff. Not proper British paint.

Whatever you do, don't let it go in the hold, as they aren't always pressurised, and the tins will just burst open. When I was gainfully employed, we would get samples of raw materials from customers for us to work on, in heavy duty poly bags, several bags together in a large cardboard box, air-freighted. They invariably arrived with the bags split open! Maybe holds on passenger aircraft are pressurised, when the problem probably won't arise, but can you be sure? Awfully messy if they're not.

Speak to the airline. The CAA rules do not ban water based paints and, in theory, you don't need permission from the airline, but they may refuse to carry it if they don't like the way it is packed.

I'll do that.

I had a problem some time back with oil filled pressure gauges dribbling all over my toolbox, so I thought a couple of empty Coke bottles should take a bar or so pressure difference particularily if I expel any air.

Thanks

AB

It certainly would be awfully messy if the hold were not pressurised; the cabin floor would collapse. As you say, air freight is different, as some freight aircraft only have a pressurised cockpit.

What happened to that Turkish DC-10 in 1979, if memory serves.

They do. You can take more in hold luggage.

That said, most airlines have a justifiable abhorrence to carrying anything that might burst or leak all over other customers luggage so even if it's safe, it'll almost certainly be refused.

Phone the airline for gospel rather than rely on misinformation here.

Tim

Can't you get someone at the other side to buy the paint ready for you?

Agreed. Even if the lid will take the lower air pressures in flight without popping off! I once made the mistake of taking toffee apples on a flight. They turned to mush as a result of being frozen in the hold and it took hours to washout the suitcase, even though I had plastic bagged them!

Cargo door came off, floor movement trapped or damaged control cables and/or hydraulics.

I'll second that emulsion.

From experience, coke bottles (2 litre) will certainly take being hit hard with a thrown brick while pressurised to 125 psi (testing for safety when making air powered, high-flow water pistols for Run to the Sun 20-odd years ago).

It'd be interesting to know how much they actually can take. I remember reading that the "iconic" glass ones were way over specified and could actually take 900 psi!

So they don't sell toffee apples in Bangkok then ?

On 26-Jun-16 11:11 PM, Steve Walker wrote: ...

The industry standard requires them to withstand 150psi. Obviously, that will be a minimum and they will probably take a lot more.

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