Taking bells on planes

["Herbert G. Geisler" <HGeisler@concentric.net>]

HOW CONCORDIA PACKS BELLS FOR FLYING:

Our honorable alumna and former student director Liz Cottrell reported
about our packing bells.  I'd like to add:

Our quilted wrappers worked well, but wore out after many years of use
and needed some design improvements.  

We designed our own new covers made from almost bulletproof parachute
material with heavy-duty zippers,  then lined them with foam.  We also
stuff the big bells with diaper cloth (also used for buffing) and lay
even more diapers around the bells to nestle the clappers and
handguards.  

We have had no travel problems with these procedures.  They have taken
us all over the US and to Japan and Hong Kong with hardly a sign of
snags.

Find a seamster who's well-equipped, though.  The kind lady who did the
covers vowed never to do it again because the material was so tough to
design and work with.  It takes heavy machinery to do it efficiently. 
She did a great job, but is NOT looking for new customers.

Herb Geisler
Concordia University at Irvine, CA