Air travel with Walther LP500

[jcf87]

Hi all! Wanted to see if anyone had experience with airplane traveling with a Walter LP500/Expert? Specifically the question I have is do you fully empty your canisters? I had a club mate mention that they have a tendency to get damaged if they are fully emptied, but with a caveat that it may have been an issue with the older carbon fiber canisters.
When the canister is empty, there is a rattling sound when you shake it and that loose component is what gets damaged. I’m not sure what that component is, but my club mate mentioned to leave just enough air to where it’s not rattling.

I’d love to hear any insight from anyone, bonus if you had experience flying out of Colorado Springs.

[Gwhite]

You HAVE to empty your cylinders to fly anywhere. If you don't, you run the risk of having them confiscated. I've heard that the people at Colorado Springs are especially fussy, and some people fly to Denver and drive down to avoid having to deal with them.

The rattle you hear is the valve flopping around. Some valves have very weak spring to hold them closed, but many rely on the air pressure to do that. No air pressure = nothing holding the valve in place.

If you want to do it the best possible way, you can empty the cylinders (SLOWLY) until the gauge reads zero (to keep the airport people happy), but there is still a tiny bit of pressure inside that you can hear hissing out. If you stop at that point, it does does two things: 1) It holds the valve closed so it won't rattle, and 2) It prevents anything from getting into the cylinder. The biggest risk is from moist air getting inside when the cylinder is cold from having been vented quickly (which is why you want to do it slowly, but it's hard to avoid some cooling). Moist air getting into a cold cylinder can produce condensation INSIDE the cylinder, which could potentially cause corrosion and shorten the life of the cylinder.

[lwy.todd.lu]

Learnt! Thumbs up.

[David M]

Flying with Air cylinders has always been difficult with increased airline security.
To the extent that I would take a pin spanner, o rings and a small tube of grease with me and actually dismantle the end off the tank.
On on occasion I was the only person to fly with my tank in a group of 18 people (multiple teams).

[Gwhite]

That can be easier said than done. I've taken apart a couple brands of cylinders (Morini, Walther/Hammerli, Benelli), and most of them require considerable force to open up. I use 3D printed vise blocks with a sheet of silicone rubber to get them apart, and it often takes a mallet on the spanner to get them started.

viewtopic.php?p=306808#p306808

Of course, once you've got them open, you can assemble them with less force so you can get them apart more easily.

[deadeyedick]

Just confirming what G White has said re cylinder disassembly.