TromboneChat

Hi all,

Wondering specifically if anyone has flown on a Bombardier CRJ900. A friend is flying to a festival on that aircraft with an Edwards T-396A case, wondering if he can fit it in the overhead.

Any info would be much appreciated!

Nate

CRJ900's are very small. I would be surprised (assuming he gets the case past the gate agent) that it would fit in the overhead bin even if he was the only person on the plane.

If possible, before you arrive at the airport remove the mouthpiece and pack the trombone securely with padding/bubble wrap so that it doesn't rattle in the case, check the case at the boarding gate, and request careful handling. And cross your fingers!

CRJ700/900/1000 are bigger than people think. They are the largest regional jets and are not that much smaller than the smallest medium-long hauls like the 737 or A318. Narrower but longer. They have much larger overheads than the original CRJ100/200. Granted, my experience on them was with a small tenor gig bag, not a large tenor hard case, but I've never come close to having trouble fitting my horn in the overheads, with room to spare.

I would try to get a more compact case for flying and making sure the horn is packed with extra padding. The worst that will happen is having to gate check it, which is a lot less dangerous than regular check as it only gets handled from the door of the aircraft to the hold, and from the hold to the door, and it's put into the hold after all the checked luggage so it will be on top of the pile. I'd still try to get a more compact case as gate check is still very stressful and not fun.