Holy cow...

DO NOT TRY THIS TODAY. During the mid/late 1980's I worked for a firm that made MIL-STD-1153B devices and test systems. AS some of you may know that standard is for a serial communication protocol used on many aircraft. Most of the time I would hand carry the items I was transporting if they were small to avoid any issues with "lost baggage". On one trip (domestic US travel), I was carring a portable test fixeure that was built into a ruggedized briefcase. This device was capable of running on battery and had lots f blinken lights and indicators. I had opened it up to give a demo to a fellow passenger [engineer for Boeing] and had left it on when a stewardess came by nd asked what it was. Without thinking I said "It is a device for controlling all of the electronics abort a modern airplane". She gave me a VERY strange look, and quickly dearted for the cockpit area. About 90 seconds later on of the light crew came back and sterny demanded I explain myself. Fortunately he was up to date and knew was MIL-STD-1553 was. He was actually interested and had me give him a quick demo (after he made a quick trip back to the cockpit to calm down the rest of the crew). While this incident turned out to be rather funny in retrospect, I shudder to think of what would/could happen in the post 9/11 world. [Or in travel thorugh other countries independent of era [don't even ask about the German Camera Incident....] David