Travelling abroad with an FPV drone includes some inherent inconveniences, but it’s really easier than it seems with a little preparation. Here are some rules I personally follow on how to travel with FPV drones and LiPo batteries on an airplane.
If you are not travelling on plane, check out this spacious FPV backpack I recently reviewed which is great for hiking.
Here’s my portable setup for travelling: https://oscarliang.com/fpv-drone-travel-setup/
Table of Contents
Separate Your FPV Drone Related Stuff
Avoid mixing your important stuff with your FPV stuff.
Put what you think have a higher chance of getting checked or confiscated in one single bag (such as your batteries). So even if it does happen in the most unlikely event, your more important stuff don’t get taken away.
All batteries must be in the carry-on, but tools should go into your checked baggage, especially if it’s sharp and pointy. Do this and it will save yourself from potential headaches. Use common sense and check online if in doubt.
I travelled with my drone in the carry-on before, but I have also been asked to put the drone in my checked baggage when checking in. So be prepared for that, make sure to leave enough room in the suitcase for your drone just in case. If in doubt, call the airline and check beforehand where is the best place to put your drone before travelling to the airport.
If you decide to take your quad in the carry-on, it’s best to remove the props. Not only you could bend / damage them during transportation, the blades are pretty sharp too!
Equipment that contains battery (such as your radio) should be in the carry-on, unless you take the battery out.
How Many LiPo Are Allowed On Plane?
Airline and airport might have different regulations regarding LiPo batteries. Some limit the number of battery packs you can carry, some don’t care how many as long as no one single battery exceeds certain watt hours.
Large and well equipped airports seem to be fine usually, but smaller airports can be more nervous about LiPo’s. I strongly recommend checking their websites, or calling them up to make sure before you go through. And follow the regulations from both the airport and airline you are travelling with.
For example, the FAA rates batteries by Watt hours. To calculate watt hours, take the nominal voltage of the battery pack and multiply it by the Amp Hours.
Watt hours (Wh) = Nominal Voltage (V) x Amp hours (Ah)
FPV drone batteries are generally measured in mAh (milli-amp hours), where 1000mAh is 1Ah. So for example, a 6S 1000mAh battery would be 3.7V x 6 x 1000mAh/1000 = 22.2 Wh (Watt hours).
According to rules by the FAA, there is no limit on the number of batteries as long as no one single battery exceeds 100Wh. Only two batteries are allowed with airline approval if they are over 100 Wh.
FPV drone LiPo batteries are usually well below this watt hour limit, so there shouldn’t be a limit on how many batteries you can take. But security will still get nervous when there are too many show up, so be sensible!
Preparing LiPo Batteries for Travelling
Cover the battery terminals to prevent from shorting during transportation. To do this, use 3D printed caps, or simply use electrical tapes. Place batteries in as many separate bags as you see fit.
Make sure all your batteries have labels that clearly show their nominal voltage, capacity and watt hours just in case, though in my experience the airport rarely check the labels if they look “normal”. Still, it would help speed up clearance if security is being more careful. This also helps you understand if you have any batteries larger than the limit.
Before you leave for the airport, remember to do the following:
- Put your LiPo batteries at storage voltage (3.80V – 3.85V per cell), or at the level required by the airline – some actually require batteries not to exceed 30% of their rated capacity
- Cover up battery terminals
- Put LiPo in Lipo-safe bags
- Print out the airline’s regulation regarding LiPo batteries, put it somewhere with your batteries. If anything happens you can pull out the documentation and show them
- Batteries are only allowed as carry-on baggage
Once boarded the plane you can just leave your FPV drone and batteries on the overhead locker.
Be Transparent and Patient
Think of this tip as more of a cardinal rule for drone travel. All words have power, and the ones you use to describe your FPV drone to travel officials have the power to ruin your trip.
I personally wouldn’t call it a “5-inch”, a “quadcopter”, a “multirotor”, a “mini quad”, or anything else that sounds cool. It is, for the duration of your trip, a “camera drone”, or just a “remote controlled toy helicopter”.
If you are using LiPo bag, try to remove or cover the words “explosion” and “fire” to avoid causing unnecessary attention at the check points :)
With everything you do, you want to give the impression that you have nothing to hide (after all, you don’t!). For example, if you plan to pack your mini quad as carry-on, take it out of your bag and place it in the tray at the Airport security checkpoint.
Expect suspicion, it’s their job. Do what you can to ensure your quadcopter will be easy to take out should the agents require it.
If you find yourself in a situation where someone has the power to make the call whether or not to confiscate your drone for good, your kind words and friendly demeanor might mean the difference between keeping or losing it. Expect and be prepared that you will likely be hassled at the airport for traveling with a drone and especially lots of LiPo batteries. And remember that those hassles serve the purpose of keeping us all safer in the skies.
Happy flying!
And one last thing. While these tips have been serving me well personally, you always want to check with your particular airline and airport to make sure you’re aware of any specific rules they may have.
Edit History
- Jul 2016 – Article created by Tim Jennings
- Mar 2019 – Article written
- Dec 2022 – Updated article, shortened URL
7 comments
thank you oscar for your help !
however, when you say all batteries should be in carry on, do you mean that the radio and goggle should be also with me in carry on or can i put it in my checked baggage ?
any devices that contains battery should be in carry on. But if you can remove the battery, then you can just keep the battery in the carry on and put the battery-less device in your suitcase if it’s too big/heavy for carry on.
This is an old article but still an important topic! As a long time RC builder and flyer of nearly every type of vehicle and particularly large 3D helicopters and many, many quads and multicopters, I believe it’s important to emphasize how fragile and dangerous LiPo and other high energy density battery types are.
As a personal example, I used to frequently transport my helicopters and “drones” ( hate that word because it’s so incorrect in so many ways not the least of which is becaus of it’s association with military UAVs by virtually all the general public) in the back of my SUV keeping my batteries in a cardboard box. I also always line the floor of the SUV with a large piece of cardboard to protect the carpet. That piece of cardboard would prove to be a critical factor in saving my vehicle. At the time, I thought the batteries were reasonably protected until one day, while negotiating a freeway overpass, one of my helicopters rolled over and fell on the box of batteries in such a way that one of it’s blades penetrated a 4s 1800mah battery. The cut was only about a half inch long and a quarter inch deep or less however it caused one cell to short out internally.
I realized something was wrong when I looked at the rear view mirror and saw that the entire area behind the front seats was filled with dense white smoke. Yes, it was that quick and only seconds later the smoke had filled the entire passenger compartment such that I was barely able to see enough to quickly pull over to the side of the freeway. I stopped the vehicle as quickly as I could, jumped out, ran around to the rear and opened the back door to billowing smoke and flames. Since the battery was on fire in a box of other batteries there was no way to grab it and remove it from the SUV without getting seriously burned however I was able to grab the edge of the cardboard that protected the carpet and slide the entire contents out of the SUV onto the ground where I was able to grab the heli out of the way, push over the box of batteries, and use an umbrella to push the flaming battery away from the others and off the cardboard.
It burned for over 20 minutes lighting off each cell of the battery cells in sizzling and mildly explosive succession eventually generating flames nearly as tall as myself and much billowing smoke. I tried a halon fire extinguisher I kept in the SUV to absolutely no effect. Burning LiPo batteries generate their own oxygen. When it finally stopped burning and was cool enough (over an hour later), I was able to pick up the offending battery by sliding a piece of sheet metal under it and leave the scene.
Had I not been able to remove the flaming battery from the vehicle so quickly, there was no doubt in my mind that the vehicle interior would have caught fire and very likely destroyed the entire SUV as well as likely causing other batteries to light off. In the end, the only serious damage was the loss of a $120 helicopter blade set and a hundred dollars or so of burn damaged batteries.
Lesson learned, I now transport all batteries in a container designed to transport LiPo batteries and I never, ever take them on an airplane without safety packaging and proper declaration and labeling.
A second experience was as a passenger on a commercial airline flight from San Jose, Ca. to Tokyo. Midway over the Pacific Ocean the pilot announced over the intercom that we were “having a problem” and had to land at the nearest airport. We were a good 4 hours from ANY airport and ended up landing at some airport in northern Japan. They parked us far away from the terminal and deplaned us via buses. On the way out I was able to view the open cargo hold and saw much smoke damage. I later found out via the NTSB that “a small lithium based battery being transported in checked baggage in the cargo hold ignited destroying the contents of a baggage container. The resulting fire was contained in flight as a result of the aircraft fire suppression equipment in the baggage hold”. I had only carry-on baggage but apparently, most everyone who had checked baggage lost their luggage.
These personal experiences drove home for me that, because of their extremely high energy density and relative fragility of Lithium based batteries, they are a serious hazard and one should take every precaution to transport them safely and certainly never try to transport them on airplanes without following airline rules for packaging and declaration to the “T”. It could save your life and that of others.
Thanks for reading,
Wingspinner
Hi Oscar, I found when I went abroad with a quad the rules were very vague, almost up to the carrier themselves, I took a 160 sized quad and those batteries I brought of you! I phoned the airline ahead of even planing how to pack the quad and was expecting to have to carry the lipos in hand luggage. It all went in the hold in a flight case I’d brought, they didn’t seem bothered at all. I think for the smaller quads you’ve got to think the lipos are smaller than a laptops…..
They just stuck a fragile sticker on it and it was all good.
Hi Ben
yea the whole thing is new to everyone and nothing seems to be standardised yet. but it wouldn’t hurt to be a bit more prepared i guess :)
thanks guys! But would you recommend running around on an airport with two quads attached to the back of my backpack?
I have seen some people do it, but I would recommend putting them in a bag so they don’t get stolen or lost.