Cello's First Flight

I wish I had a picture of me with my old Bam travel case. There are so many memories with that thing. Moreover, it's the first flight with my cello that brings me to this blog post. It was with the Bam travel cover that I took to the skies with my cello on board for the first time. The case was more like a giant blue marshmallow in the vague shape of a cello with wheels and one awkward handle in the back, half way down the neck. That would put that handle about three quarters of the way up the case or about belly button level for me. If I wanted to push it while holding on to the handle I had to reach around the bulky head or let the bulk continually rub against my arm with every stride.

Why not grab a hold with two hands and push, one hand on the head and the other along side to guide it? Ah yes, a quick solution the the problem, if you aren't carrying another piece of luggage! One hand for my cello and the other for my luggage. Let's imagine for a minute how that must look when walking down the concourse finding the check in counter. One arm is trying to keep the awkward bulk, weighing in at about 20 lbs--not too heavy I must admit--from swerving into oncoming traffic with their own luggage spilling out of the cart and causing the bags to tumble all over the floor. The wheels on the travel case are so close together that turning is not the issue. Nope, as I said before it was trying to keep it on a straight path that posed the problem. So, the other arm is guiding the luggage, that has wider set wheels, therefore allowing me to focus more of my attention on the cello and keeping it on the straight and narrow path that is necessary in busy airport concourses.

I did manage to find this stock photo of the Bam travel case. This one is slightly different from mine though. See the handle sticking out really far in the back? That was not the handle I had. Mine was a comfortable rubber handle that was stretched snuggly around the back side of the neck (similar relative location as the handle in the picture) so that my knuckles would be rubbed raw after long haul from parking lot to check in counter.

The case was not hard like one would think but rather a layer of rather stiff cushion overlaid with a synthetic material tough enough to withstand average wear and tear of travel. I believe it was the same material that most soft sided suitcases are made with. Once the smaller hard case was fit snuggly inside the cushioned travel cover I was prone to think of trying to bounce it off the ground to see how much of a rebound it was give. Although I could see the reason for using the cushion as protection I would learn in 2004 on a trip to Germany that it was no match for machinery that, if it chose to, could tear and chomp through the cover without any effort at all.

However, back to the first trip with the marshmallowy, whale-like creature of a case. The anticipated first trip with the case was also the first trip to Europe. It was the summer of 2000 and my brothers and I had decided to travel abroad to study German in Seminar Schloss Bogenhofen. While the violinists and violists were privileged to carry their instruments on board as the piece of carry on, the larger instruments like the cello had to go underneath or provided for with a ticket just like a person.

I don't remember a whole lot about the check in process in Chicago O'Hare Airport but I do vaguely remember the attendant asking whether I was checking it in or buying a ticket for it. After I told her I was checking it in she looked a little befuddled and seemed to be wondering to herself what that monstrous blue thing really was. Of course, I told her it was a cello and was fragile and if there was any way to give it extra protection even though it was going underneath the airplane that I would be really really grateful to them. A couple of fragile stickers and some assurance that it would be taken care of and off it went laying on the bridge on the conveyor belt that led to the dungeon of luggage and...Well, ok, I don't really know but it sure is a feeling of helplessness when you see your instrument that cost thousands of dollars disappearing into the unknown.

After a long flight and choppy air half way over the Atlantic Ocean we arrived in Munich, Germany. First, through customs with some angry looking officers, who seemed to take no pleasure in their monotonous task of asking customers what they are doing in their country and how long they were staying. On to baggage claim and the search for the cello was on. At that point in time, airline companies had no clear set policies on how to handle oversized baggage that were also covered in fragile stickers. Besides that it was my first time ever, to pick up my cello after a flight. Where would it come out? Was there a special area for fragile items? Or would it be treated with the same cold disregard that regular suitcases were?

Standing amongst the hundreds of other passengers and trying to catch a glimpse of my own luggage and at the same time keeping one eye peeled in the case that the blue whale would breach the floor. Standing for what seemed like an hour and pacing up and down the carousel looking and hoping the cello was alright, I finally caught sight of the case. It was coming up out the depths and spilling down onto the carousel like any other piece of luggage. What? They actually don't care about those fragile stickers? Are they there to decorate the cello case? I got my cello off the belt quickly and examined the case for damage. Amazingly there was only a slight smudge here and there presumably from the act of loading it on and off the belts.

The trip itself was uneventful for my cello thank goodness. The cello turned out to be in perfect working condition. I had loosened the strings and stuffed the inside of the hard case with some soft T-shirts so that the bridge wouldn't even have a chance to be knocked out of place allowing the tail piece to fall onto the soft pine, scratching the living daylights out of it. I was happy about the whole process in the end. The biggest problem really had been figuring out how to pack the cello to avoid damage and worrying about how the airlines would treat it. First flight done and over with. Onto to a summer of German, impromptu concerts, castles and mountains, not to mention the "Sound of Music".