Flying to South Africa with video gear

I'm just writing the intro page to my now completed chapter in my SA steam memoirs book that covers my 1991, and last trip there. I cannot be the first gricer who has done this with excess cabin baggage to make sure everthing vital for a long trip (26 days in this case) didn't arrive several days later!

Here you go:

For 1991 I had advanced to a Sony professional 3 CCD Hi-8 camera, which due to its size, spare batteries, a charger and Hi-8 tapes, required an adapted and reinforced luggage bag barely within aircraft cabin baggage size limits. Plus a very large and heavy Vinten 5 tripod that was vital for me to get decent footage during my long trip. So my plan at Heathrow was to check in my normal luggage bag as usual and then try and get both my camera bag and tripod into the aircraft cabin to make sure they both got to Johannesburg with me. By holding the tripod low down at the boarding gate and then hurrying onto the aircraft, I managed to get to my seat, push the camera bag under the seat in front of me and, to my delight easily get the long and heavy tripod in an adjacent overhead locker. Just as the purser hurried down to my seat (middle row aisle seat) asking what was this about someone carrying two very large pieces of hand luggage on board? My reply was, no problem, all stowed away out of everyone’s way, so he left me. Phew, that was close, and I was very, very lucky as it was my first flight on one of South African Airways new Boeing 747-400 aircraft, and it had much larger overhead lockers than earlier 747s. There was nowhere to comfortably place my legs on the long flight out, but at least I arrived at Jan Smuts airport along with all my vital filming kit.

Bryan

 

on a similar theme, I was travelling with a friend to China for steam and because of a serious food allergy, he had packed his suitcase with an emergency supply of stuff that he could eat without without fear of reaction. When he put his suitcase on the scales at the check-in desk, I noticed that it was way over the limit. Fortunately, the checkin girl was busy doing something else so I managed to wedge my toe underneath the scales and reduce the “weight” of his luggage sufficiently to avoid him getting excess baggage charges.

 

I travelled back from Cape town with a fellow traveller on a steam rail tour.
He bought a loco whistle, and I a class 33 diesel cabside. He also bought a 6ft souvenir giraffe, all three items as hand luggage.
No problem boarding a 747. The giraffe was easily stored under the staircase to the upper deck. The loco items went in the overhead lockers.

There was a slight frisson at the uk customs.
What have you got in that shoulder bag, sir?
Er, a locomotive whistle
Pass!
And how about you sir, What's in your shoulder bag?
Er, a locomotive cabside...

Aha! Trying to smuggle the locomotive through in bits, are we?

British customs, don't you love them!

 

First trip to SA was in 2002. Many of the group, myself included, were shooting on medium format and had a couple of bodies, a selection of lenses and a shed load of films. On the way out, South African Airways were happy for us to take our stuff in as hand luggage as the bags complied with the more generous allowances available on long distance flights. On the return, SAA staff refused to let us take the camera gear with us. Cue a long standoff. They capitulated in the end.

 

Did an event for Porsche a few years ago, flew back from Gibraltar with the some of drive team, plus the media team and the support crew.

Because of the amount of gear we had to take to support the event and the vehicle convoy, all of us ended up with radios/chargers/gps/cameras/diagnostic equipment, multiple phones etc in our checked luggage.

A number of the team got taken into one of the "behind the scenes" areas and asked to explain the contents of the bags- I was lucky and managed to avoid it by chance.

Was an interesting few days.

Another friend of mine got the "full treatment" after doing some vehicle testing that ended up with an impact and airbag deployment.

Absentmindedly he then wore the same jacket when he was due to fly out and got swabbed for residues......then ended up getting the "full" treatment from the airport security, requiring a phonecall to someone from the test facility to confirm what had gone on......

 

At the 1989 South African steam festival South African Railways Museum had a sales tent at Witput, and after persuasion from a friend I purchased a 25 NC 4-8-4 loco cab side number plate.

I was give a receipt for the amount I had paid, and that amount was shown on the receipt. And directly under the amount of Rand I had paid, and to 'help' me get it though UK customs, the Museum had written 'This item has no commercial value'

The story goes on.

Checking in my hold luggage at Kimberley airport for the journey home via Jo'burg, my bag was well over the weight limit because of the number plate. So the lady checking me in said that whilst she couldn't book me through to England first class, she would book my bag through as first class as that had a higher weight limit and I wouldn't need to pay an excess charge. Maybe because she didn't often check in anyone from the UK flying to London, or perhaps she had seen/heard some media articles/interviews I had done about Kimberley to De Aar steam in SA - one was on South African Radio. The 1989 steam festival arose from a 1988 meeting I had with the local tourist office manager at Kimberley, and because of that and other reasons ( I had an invite to join the SAR official party for the steam festival opening ceremony etc) I had been getting some media attention in South Africa - you know the sort of stuff that makes headlines 'Dinosuar seen filming 25Ns at Oranjerivier' etc etc.

Anyway, I was hoping for a reaction from the customs officer who I declared my 25NC number plate to after I chose the red channel at LHR. But just a dead pan face and a small amount to pay after I showed him the receipt with 'no commercial value' written under the amout I had paid for it. I would have expected a bit of a laugh at the least. Or even, oh, nothing to pay, I can't find 25NC number plates on my list of chargeable items.

Bryan

 

On my first visit to South Africa I chose to take the new Ektachrome film rated at the then high ISO of 160 but before our departure concern was raised about the film sensitivity under the the then also new X-ray machines. Being slightly worried the group of 4 duly made the tour and arrived back at Johannesburg for return home with our booty - I had 40 reels of film, one group member had a similar number and our other 2 friends each had 35 reels of cine film. On our day of departure we arrived at the airport in good time and the baggage handler started to check our luggage through the X-ray machine. Mine was first then I pointed out 40 reels of film which I did not want going through the machine and demanded a hand check; the baggage handler began to protest but I insisted as was my right and he was forced to back down. The rest of the group also then demanded the same right and the baggage handler became visibly angry but had to accept our right. He saw us in the cafe later and was still visibly angry but could do nothing - we had the right to call for hand check and took it.

 

First SA trip involved a few days stay on the outskirts of Cape Town. Hotel ran a bus service to and from the waterfront area for those wanting a night on the town. We were told under no circumstances should we take public buses or book a taxi. Second night we went to a seafood bar for something to eat and drink and on arrival we were confronted by three massive doormen. They made the Springbok front row look a bit lightweight. “Good evening gentlemen. Are any of you carrying firearms?”