leaving in 14 days and getting anxious

[Barbj38]

Hi everyone. My daughter and I are going in 14 days. She is 19 and has cerebral Palsey. It is our mom and daughter trip,before she heads off for her sophomore yr in college. She uses a power wheelchair and we r flying. Last yr we flew it was a nightmare. We r using a different carrier and hoping for the best. I guess I'm wondering if anyone has flown with a power chair can give me some tips on how to avoid disaster. Last yr they broke the chair going and coming home. Any advice or insight would be very appreciated. Thanks

 

[mistyfountain]

We have travelled several times with my daughter's power chair. What we do is remove all possible bits of the chair- arm rests, head rest, controller etc and put into a large holdall which then goes onto the plane with us. We then release the manual brake so that it can be pushed. So far it has worked. We've had a few minor knocks and scuffs but nothing major broken. Going to Orlando in two weeks so fingers crossed it works again this tine.

 

[Barbj38]

Thank you. I appreciate the info. Her controller doesnt come off easy st all but the other stuff I will keep in mind,.Thanks again

 

[SueM in MN]

Thank you. I appreciate the info. Her controller doesnt come off easy st all but the other stuff I will keep in mind,.Thanks again

It may not be as hard to take off as you think.
We thought our daughter's would be hard to take off, but the wheelchair repair tech showed us several ways to take it off. Most involved a couple of screws, but one only involved removing a pull pin to take off the whole armrest itch the controller still attached!

Detaching the wires usually involves a quick connect, similar to plugging a monitor into a computer and fastening 2 turnscrew a tight.

If you don't take it off, we were advised to make sure the swing away on the joystick could not move. The tech also suggested wrapping the controller and wires in bubble wrap, whether of not we removed the joystick.

The other advice is to remove anything that is velcro'd on or easily removed so it doesn't come loose during the trip. Bring those items with you into the plane. I carry a medium size nylon laundry bag to stick it all in. The bag folds up very small and I keep it in the front pocket of my carry on so I can pull it out easily.

Put instructions on the wheelchair that tell any information they need to know. One important thing is how to put it in and out of freewheel. They will need it in freewheel to push it, but need to put it out of freewheel or it will roll inside the plane.

Check the size of the door on the baggage hold. If the wheelchair is too tall, they my turn it. That is how a lot of damage occurs. See the last post on page 1 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread for more info about air travel. You can find that thread near the top of this board or Ollie the link in my signature.

Last, if your daughter has a pretty common type and size of power chair without a lot of special adaptations, you might be able to rent one and avoid taking hers on the plane. There are several companies that rent power wheelchairs. You can find out more in post 2 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread.
We looked into that one year, but DD's wheelchair is an unusual seat size (14 inches wide by 18 inches long) and she has a special seatbelt, J Deep contour seat and back and mole straps.
None of the companies old provide that. If we had been ble to rent one, we would have brought her manual chair and rented a power one.

 

[Barbj38]

Thank you for all your advice. I'm going to look into the bubble wrap,her chair is a quantum and to get the control off is very difficult. My husband,whom uses a quantum also,(both in power chairs long story) think taking off the controller isn't a good idea. The connection is enclosed in the back of chair,hard to explain. Anyway I know I will take off leg rests,and cushion. I don't think renting one is an option because she has spastic cerebral parsley and needs her seating on her chair. I will continue to pray all goes well,and I thank you for all your advice.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thank you for all your advice. I'm going to look into the bubble wrap,her chair is a quantum and to get the control off is very difficult. My husband,whom uses a quantum also,(both in power chairs long story) think taking off the controller isn't a good idea. The connection is enclosed in the back of chair,hard to explain. Anyway I know I will take off leg rests,and cushion. I don't think renting one is an option because she has spastic cerebral parsley and needs her seating on her chair. I will continue to pray all goes well,and I thank you for all your advice.

Yes, I understand. That chair has the quick connect for the joystick under the rear shroud, so the shroud needs to be removed first.

Depending on the size, they may be able to get her seating on the chair.
It wasn't an option for us since the narrowest chair we could rent was 16 inches wide and our daughter's seat and back are 14 inches. If they had been 16, the company could have worked something out.
She uses a Jay Deep Contour seat and a Jay 2 High back. She has mixed CP, mostly spastic quad.

If you want to look at renting one, try looking at Care Medical - they are full DME providers, not just renting wheelchairs and ECVs.

If you don't take the controller off, I would still wrap it very well. That is the most expensive and delicate single piece of the wheelchair.