A friend has bought an expensive sewing machine on e-Bay. To avoid shipping costs she wishes to take it home with her after a trip to the seller's location (being made for another reason). The particulars are Tampa to Toronto on US Air with a conection in Pittsburg. She phoned US Air and was told it was not a problem. Presumably the final leg will require gate checking for the flight on a Dash 8. TSA makes no mention of sewing machines. (The needle will be checked.) Does anyone see any issues with this plan?

No, assuming between now and her flight there's no one trying to hijack a plane with a sewing machine.

And it does not exceed the weight restriction for carry on

"Gate checking" on small planes - sometimes that means you carry it to the plane and you put it yourself into the underbelly of the plane

They won't want you to walk around a Dash-8 with the propellers. Usually, they put a luggage cart right next to the stairs where you'll put the gate-check item before you climb on.

There are size and weight restrictions for carry-ons. If the shipping cost is so hign that she wants to fly it herslf, it might violate one ot the other of these. In which case, she's dealing with the size and weight restrictions for checked luggage.

When I first read this post I was worried you wanted to use the sewing machine in flight.

No Gail she does not want use the sewing machine in-flight! Appearantly it's not very big or heavy so it would seem to be good to go. Thank you all for your thoughts.

But why not? Some planes have 110V AC power! And I've never seen a sewing machine being mentioned in the banned electronics list.

Just imagine sitting on a plane and the person sitting next to you whips out a sewing machine and starts making curtains.

That's the newest inflight entertainment for those sitting close by.

"Just imagine sitting on a plane and the person sitting next to you whips out a sewing machine and starts making curtains." - no, I would allow only quilt-making on flights. This way, everybody will be happy to advise, and the airline can save on entertainment.

This means, the tickets will get cheaper. Everybody wins.

No quilt making - that involves scissors and pins - both deadly weapons.