How to Pack Your RC Car Tool Kit When Traveling by Air

Perhaps you’re getting ready to participate in one of Horizon Hobby’s popular signature RC events. Or maybe you’re just taking a well-earned vacation or going to visit friends and family across the country. Whatever your destination, if you’re traveling by air and hope to take your favorite remote control vehicles and RC car tool kit with you, our experts have some tips for you.

The security precautions involved with modern-day air travel present a number of challenges for passengers flying with RC tools. As you might expect, some careful planning and preparation are strongly recommended. The last thing you want is to have your long-awaited getaway become unexpectedly complicated when your models or RC tools are lost, stolen, or perhaps not even allowed to go with you on the plane.

A little information about flying with RC tools will help you avoid such surprises. With that in mind, here are some useful tips and some handy advice from other hobbyists that will help make your trip smooth and hassle-free.

Know the laws about flying with RC tools

One good way to begin planning for your flight is to review the information provided by the Transportation Security Administration at tsa.gov, an official website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This convenient resource explains the travel security screening process and what items you can pack in your carry-on and checked baggage. From the site’s “What Can I Bring?” page, you can search for specific items to see what restrictions, if any, you should expect.

You’ll learn, for example, that if you’re flying with RC tools that measure no more than seven inches long, these might be able to go in your carry-on luggage — as long as they’re not power tools. Power tools and all RC tools longer than seven inches will have to be put in your checked baggage.

If you’re flying with RC tools that have batteries installed, they must also be packed in your checked bags. If the batteries can’t be removed, be sure to pack the tools carefully so that they can’t be accidentally turned on. The TSA recommends that any electric-powered RC tools be placed in baggage with their cords securely wrapped.

The TSA website helps you predict any issues you might encounter when flying with RC tools, but it’s not the final word. Ultimately, it will be up to the security officer on duty to decide whether or not an item in your RC car tool kit should be allowed through a TSA checkpoint.

RC car tool kit items to put in carry-on luggage

Modelers who have some experience flying with RC tools and equipment recommend putting as many of the essentials as you can into your carry-on bags. That includes your vehicle, radio, and batteries. If you follow that advice, even if the checked bags containing your RC car tool kit would happen to get lost, you’ll still have everything you need to race on hand when you get to your destination. You might have to borrow some tools or a charger from another driver, but your important gear will stay safely with you.

To satisfy TSA regulations, any of your loose lithium batteries will have to go in a carry-on bag. Check out this article about flying with LiPos [link] for a closer look at the restrictions for RC batteries. Another helpful suggestion is to put expensive, fragile RC electronics in your carry-on bags.

Experienced RC travelers also recommend keeping a radio control car oriented magazine in your carry-on bag along with your RC equipment. The magazine will help the baggage inspectors understand what all of your RC tools and equipment will be used for.

Tools to put in checked bags when flying with RC

As you prepare to fly with RC equipment, be aware that different airports and security personnel will enforce the TSA regulations a bit differently, according to their own interpretations of the rules. Some RC car hobbyists with travel experience recommend not putting any hammers or “pointy” RC car tools like drill bits in your carry-on luggage, no matter what their length. If you want to play it safe, pack them in your checked bags.

Others warn that it will always be a bit of a gamble to pack any items from your RC car tool kit in your carry-on bags. A tool which seems to fit within the TSA guidelines and has been allowed to go through security checkpoints without question many times before — perhaps something like a small pair of flush cutters — could easily be flagged and denied on the next try, only because this particular TSA agent has decided that it’s too sharp.

You can never be 100% certain what you’ll be allowed to carry onto the plane. Suppose you take a chance with an item from your RC car tool kit and it’s refused by security. Now you’ll either have to try to recall your checked baggage and include it there, if you have time, or leave without it and probably never see it again.

And as mentioned earlier, to minimize your risk, you should definitely plan to pack power tools and any tools more than seven inches long in your checked bags. RC tools that have batteries installed should go in your checked luggage as well. If you pack items like chargers in your checked bags, wrap your clothing around them — it will help cushion and protect them if the bags get tossed around roughly during transit.

Once you reach your destination and open your checked luggage, don’t be surprised to find a TSA inspection card waiting for you inside. It will read, in part:

“To protect you and your fellow passengers, the TSA is required by law to inspect all checked baggage. As part of this process, some bags are opened and physically inspected. Your bag was among those selected for physical inspection. During the inspection, your bag and its contents may have been searched for prohibited items. At the completion of the inspection, the contents were returned to your bag.”

You can pick up more good tips for flying with RC by asking around at your local tracks and hobby shops. Listen to the recommendations that other RC car drivers have for flying with RC tools. Some other comments we’ve heard include the following:

• Don’t travel by air with your RC car tools in a cloth bag. After about ten flights, the bag will start to fall apart from rough handling. To avoid any potential confusion over what can and can’t go into your carry-on bags, put your RC car tool kit in a hard case and pack it inside of a checked bag.
• Expect your checked bags to be searched. The inspectors will dump out the contents, check through everything, and then stuff it all back into the bag. It’s possible that some or all of your tools could be lost or stolen, so don’t travel with your best tools if you can avoid it. Instead, buy a cheap set specifically for when you’re flying with RC. Then it won’t be quite so upsetting if your bags are treated poorly and your tools go missing.
• Finally, you might want to consider shipping your RC car tool kit to your destination ahead of time if possible. Box it up and ship it using UPS or FedEx. By shipping the tools ahead of time, you won’t have to deal with any potential airport security issues. Wait until you reach your destination to buy or borrow fluids like glue and shock oil.

Flying with your RC car tool kit doesn’t have to be a hassle if you know what to expect. Just plan accordingly and don’t leave home without it!