Rollaboard Maintenance

Your first question might be, "What the hell is a rollaboard?" If so, this post might not be for you, but just to clarify, a Rollaboard is the wheeled luggage that a flight crew member will use to carry around all their personal belongings while on a trip. (i.e. shirts, jeans, undies, socks, deodorant, toothbrush, etc, etc, etc.) I believe the term comes from that fact that air crews sometimes will fly on a lot of different airplanes during a multi-day trip. So as they go from plane to plane, they have their stuff and, "roll it aboard."

One of the most common flight crew luggage choices is made by a company called, "Luggage Works." These have been around for a while and have gone through quite a few iterations to become one of the best rollaboards you can have. Especially when flying in the regionals when most planes don't have a place for you to keep your rollaboard in the flightdeck. Some don't even have a place for you to keep your rollaboard in the cabin! Yup, on some regional aircraft, the crew bags ride in the cargo bin just like the passenger bags. The LW bags are very stout. They aren't the lightest bags you will find, and not the cheapest, but they will last better than just about anything else.

I love mine because of its size, its durability, and two other key features that I couldn't find on other bags: a long handle and real roller bearings in the wheels. And, those wheels are placed at the widest possible places for maximum stability. This might not be necessary for people that only fly a couple of times each year, but for people that fly around 250-200 days per year, and considering just how much time is spent pulling it around, its worthwhile to have something top notch.

Well, its been more than few years since mine first entered service. It was in need of some basic maintenance. Others with LW will attest to regular screw-tightening rituals. I have also noticed some screws missing now. So, I decided to put a bit of time and money into this thing. After all, it is my, "Mobile Home."

For those interested in some maintenance on their LW bags, here's a few things I can recommend. The closest match for the external screws that loosen from time to time, are #8 x 5/8" sheet metal screws that can be found at any hardware or home improvement store. A pack of ten screws will run you a buck or two. Also worth noting, the 3 screws along the bottom edge of the front of the frame on the LW, are #8 x 1/4" sheet metal screws. They are the same thread and width as the others, just shorter.

I highly recommend taking 10 mins out of your day to use thread lock all these screws. I use this product from Loctite. Go one by one, around the frame, remove a screw, squirt some of this goo on the threads of the screw, and then screw it back in. (Cordless drill with Philips screwdriver bit exceedingly recommended here.) Keep some paper towels at hand as this loctite stuff can be slightly messy, but it will really assist in those screws not working loose.

My wheels are still in decent shape, but when it comes time to replace those, all it takes is a visit to any rollerblade or sporting goods store as the LW bags use rollerblade wheels and bearings. So, pick whatever you like and you're set to go there.

All in all, I think the LW bag is the best you can have for this career. It's also quite often you see flight crews from all sorts of companies using this bag, so I'm not alone in this opinion. If your interested in one, you can find more info about them at http://www.luggageworksonline.com/.