I've got a location shoot this week, and one of the connecting flights will be on one of those tiny American Eagle (SAAB?) planes - has anyone carried something the size of a V1U on one of those flights - is it safe to bring just the cam onboard, since there won't be room inside for the camera bag.

This shouldn't be a problem at all. I have carried a camera as a big as a Beta on one of these flights. I have also carried a bag like a Petrol PCCB-1N and just put the camera bag underneath the seat in front of me. It's a little bit of a tight fit but commuter flights tend to be short.

Thanks Nate - to report back with my experiences, you are absolutely correct - for some reason I didn't think under the seat would have sufficient room, but there was. Everything went fine.