Radian RFing on a plane?

mrosehughes · Oct 25, 2011

Radian RFing on a plane? UPDATE first post

In a large part due to help from many of you, I've decided to give flying with our radian a go. So, for those of you that used a radian on a plane, was it RFing or ffing? I'm not even sure it will fit RFing, and if that's the case it'd be nice to know ahead of time. DS will be just two for this trip, so ffing is ok, but RFing would be better.

Update:
I didn't bother trying it RFing, but FFing this seat rocks for travel! FFing on the plane was super easy (although I did like having DS RFing a little bit more), but best of all, the radian fit perfectly in our maclaren umbrella stroller, and was easy to get on the plane on my back. Plus all the straps/latch buckles have a stowing place, which is great. This will be our flying seat from now on!

Jan06twinmom · Oct 25, 2011

I was told that the Radian would not fit rf so I've only used it ff. It's a great forward-facing seat. My DS loved how he could use the tray table on the plane while he was in his car seat. It also gave him a decent amount of leg room on the plane, which isn't always true with some other car seats.

At 2yo, my suggestion would be to use it ff on the plane and rf when you get to your destination. You'll need to adjust the harness straps so they are above his shoulders for the plane ride. Then move them back down to below his shoulders for the car. I would probably take the rf boot in my carry on bag just to keep it safe and with me for the flight.

Melanie

ketchupqueen · Oct 26, 2011

On a very small minority of planes, it will fit rear-facing in the bulkhead seats only. In many planes, it won't even fit there, even if you can get those seats.

At 2 I'd use it forward-facing on the plane without worry, too.

KaiLing · Oct 26, 2011

I used a Radian RFing in a bulkhead seat on an overnight flight so my 2 year old could sleep. I wouldn't do it again, but once I got it in there it was just time to go, so we did it that once. It was way back at a 45 degree angle, the flight attendant was polite but very dubious (and of course I told her politely that I was a CPST), and getting it in and out was really difficult because the arm rests don't go up. I think it would have been fine with an under 12 month old, if that's the seat you had and you had no other options, but I wouldn't do it over.

You can always check your airplane seat assignment at seatguru.com to see the size. I really love the Radian FF on planes. I really hate carting it through the airport, though.

jnamommy · Oct 26, 2011

The Radian is a dream to install FFing on a plane. RFing it may not fit on most seats. But if it does fit RFing, you may need to ask for a seatbelt extender.

lanwenyi · Oct 26, 2011

We've flown w/ it, but only ffing. Even if we'd had bulkhead seats, there was no way it was fitting rfing on the planes we were on. DD was 3, so we sat her ffing.

I know other people love flying w/ the Radian, but we hated it. It was heavy and awkward. We much prefer flying w/ our Avenues. The big advantage to the Radian was that the tray on the airplane seat was useable when the seat was ffing. Well, once we turned DD ffing (on planes) in her Avenue, we found that they tray worked w/ that one too. It does not work w/ our Britaxes.

vmmatula · Oct 26, 2011

jnamommy said:
But if it does fit RFing, you may need to ask for a seatbelt extender.

But is it really okay to use an extender with a car seat on a plane? I know the couple of vehicle manuals I'm familiar with say never to use a seatbelt extender with a child restraint(though there's really never a reason to in a car, it just makes me wonder about it on a plane).

jnamommy · Oct 26, 2011

vmmatula said:
But is it really okay to use an extender with a car seat on a plane? .

Absolutely it is safe. And depending on your carseat, it is very necessary. If you have a carseat with a closed belt buckle, it is impossible to "lift" the airplane buckle to undo and remove the carseat. The only way to get the carseat uninstalled is to remove the seatbelt from the seat.....been there, done that, not fun

Just ask the flight attendants for a seatbelt extender when you get on board and they will bring you one. This allows you to make sure you have access to a buckle and can undo the carseat when you arrive.

leighi123 · Oct 29, 2011

It fits RF in "economy plus" seats.

I've flown with it RF in regular economy seats too, installed without the RF foot, but its just as upright if not more so than FF.

Radian RFing on a plane?

mrosehughes

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Jan06twinmom

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ketchupqueen

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KaiLing

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lanwenyi

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