The electricity coming out of an airplane socket is no different than that coming out of a car socket. Nor is the electricity consumed by an inverter any different than that consumed by any other device. Airplanes don't use purple electrons instead of green ones. There is a tendancy to consider electricity as a "mystical" energy until one knows what it's doing, but all of this stuff is well understood and shouldn't be a problem.

I have a TrippLite inverter which works great. Even had a little picture of an airplane on the package - although I'm sure an APC without the little picture of an airplane is the exact same thing

Also, I have never even been given a second glance using it on an airplane. I don't hide it - it's right out in the open. Not to say that in any way I expect a problem, but if there were some sort of electrical overload, my device has a fuse, and I'm sure that the seat outlets have either fuses, breakers, or fusable links built into them to prevent overload.

One last thing: The IFE system that caused the airplane crash WAS because of an electrical system overload. The problem was that this system was drawing so much power, they had it wired into the "essential" systems bus - which can handle more current. When the cockpit noticed the abnormality they turned off everything in sequence, non-essential stuff first, just like would make sense to any normal human being. They probably weren't aware that this IFE system was wired in the "wrong" place. Sounds like a shoddy implementation was the problem there.

I'm off to go find me some of those newfangled turquoise electrons

- cheapo

[This message has been edited by elCheapoDeluxe (edited 03-18-2003).]