Euphonium Flight Case?

[euphoniac84]

Euphonium players: I have a Willson 2950 and I need to fly soon. Do you think it would be OK to fly with the deluxe Willson case or should I invest in a real flight case? I know of one other euphonium player who has used only the Willson case and he said it worked fine. I just want some other opinions! Thanks, guys!

[Dean]

The Willson case is quite a toughie. I have flown with it several times before.

I bubble-wrap the horn before putting it in the case, and I add two luggage straps to the case once it is closed. I have had no problems thus far.

[euphoniac84]

I flew to New York once with my Protec gig bag and euphonium. It was able to fit under the seat, but I felt nervous the whole time. My bell was about 2 inches too big to fit into the overhead compartment. On one of my flights, a passenger complained that my horn was in his way and he started to kick it. A flight attendant helped and put my horn in the cabin's closet. I can't say for sure that this will always be available, but once it was in the closet, I felt much better!

[pgiampi1]

I have a Willson 2950 and used a Reunion Blues bag until recently. I flew to Falcone and to two graduate school auditions over the last year and was able to store my horn in the overhead most of the time without any trouble.

On some flights, the horn easily fit in the compartment.

On others, I had to push open the compartment slightly just to get my bell in. As I think Jamie or someone else has observed before, your horn is made of metal and the compartment is made of fiberglass...the compartment is more likely to give a little.

Returning from Falonce (flying out of Grad Rapids) I took some smaller planes that did not have nearly enough overhead space. Unfortunately, I didn't expect this and on one of the flights my horn had to go underneath. Almost every passenger had to put SOMETHING under there, so they seem to handle the bags a little differently than when they go up the belt and get shoved in. However, it was still a risk, and I was glad I had put a towel in the bag to fill some of the empty spaces. I am lucky nothing happened, but could have been pushier about finding a closet space if I wasn't a wuss

The only bad thing that's happened to me in this setup is that the bell portion of my bag is a little misshapen, and the plastic sheet across the top of the bell is cracked at the edge.

[CrappyEuph]

I have probably flown with my euphonium about 100 times. The one time I checked my hard case, the airline lost it. Since then I always bring my horn on board the plane in a gig bag and either put it bow-first under the seat in front of me, stick it behind the last row of passenger seats, ask to have it stored in the closet, or most often, stow it in the overhead, which sometimes takes a little effort (and yes, I have noted several times that plastic will bend before metal.) My horn has never suffered any damage on an airplane.

When I bought my current horn at the Army Conference in 2005, I brought both my Yamaha (in a gig bag) and my new horn (in a Willson case) onto the plane with me. The Yamaha in the gig bag went in the overhead and the flight attendants were kind enough to put the Willson in the closet. It never hurts to ask.

Crappy

[sungfw]

I had this made because you can throw a euphonium case.

You can test that wood Willson case easy enough. Pack the horn in it and then throw it as far as you can onto the concrete. If you're squeamish about my proposed test, you might what to look into a flight case.

Good rule of thumb: if it can be thrown, it will be thrown.

Remember: baggage handlers are NOT paid to ensure that baggage is not damaged; they're paid load/unload baggage as rapidly as possible. Also, they're not financially accountable for damage to the bags they handle, so there's no incentive for them to handle baggage with care, especially when flights start stacking up due to weather-related or other issues, and the shift supervisor's screaming, "MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" to try to get them to load/unload faster.

[MaryAnn]

I think that's a great idea, the whole bubble-wrap thing. Especially if Joe's volleyball-in the-bell is added.

There was a poster some years ago who made his own flight case for his MW 182F using a wheeled Rubbermaid type garbage bin. He filled it with that spray-can foam stuff, inserted the garbage-bagged tuba to make the proper impression, then did another layer of the foam on top. If you did this with a well-bubble-wrapped instrument, you'd have a wheeled flight case that might work pretty well for a euph. (If you haven't seen a 182 F tuba, you might think it was a euph on first sight.)

MA