I need to take a rather large (tuba) musical instrument with me on a flight later this week. I only have a padded case for this instrument (It's a cordura bag, not a hard case) and was wondering any tips people might have for getting my instrument safely there in one piece. I'm flying ComAir for the trip there and Delta for the trip back. My current packing plans are to bubble wrap the horn, put it inside a sleeping bag and then in the cordura case. The cordura case has about an inch think padding, the sleeping bag will add another inch and the bublle wrap should add some more impact protection. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get this horn on the plane without it being too badly abused?
(It's way too big to fit in an overhead bin.)