Julian Here's another option for you to consider.
For my trip to the UK a couple of years back I purchased a standard sized, hard plastic shell, cabin baggage "flight" case. It also had the advantage of a pair of wheels and a telescopic handle for ease of lugging around. There are usually two different sizes of flight case ... "domestic" which is smaller than "international", the international is the one I chose. Check with your airline for the exact dimensions but most are pretty standard. There is no problem then taking it on as cabin baggage...... I'm not sure I'd want my pipes travelling hold baggage. My pipes easily fitted into the case and I was so pleased with its versatility during my trip that I now use it to carry around my 2 sets of NSP, SSP chanter, six harmonicas, whistles of various sizes, tuner, metronome, emergency maintenence kit, cleaning rods, and a pile of other junk.............. and still room to spare You will have to shop around for the right shaped case (look for a domed one) so that the pipes are an easy fit. If you are only carrying one set of pipes you will have heaps of room for clothing up to your cabin weight allowance so what better packing could your pipes wish for? As a footnote......... it will be a darned sight cheaper than a sax case and if you want to revert back to an ordinary pipes box then you have the flight case for future trips..............win win I reckon. Cheers Ian Bartlett Auckland, New Zealand.............................Go the All Blacks!!!! -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
