Regarding the VMK-149 question: Kurzweil PC3 / PC3K7 have a TP8 keybed. So if you can try that somewhere - you would know how the TP8 handles.

My bad for being insufficiently precise in earlier references. (A perfect illustration of why precision in language is so important!)

The Studiologic boards relevant to this thread are the (mythical) VMK-149 Plus and the VMK-161 Plus; they make "non-Plussed" versions of the same board.

The difference is that the "Plus" versions use the TP8Piano weighted-key keyboard, while the "non-Plussed" versions use the TP8 semi-weighted (spring--controlled) keyboard.

The Kurzweil models you mention use the TP8 semi-weighted keys, not the TP8Piano weighted keys.

If I could settle for semi-weighted keys, I'd probably just stick with the NP-11 I have now. It's no gem, but it's cheap, has 61 keys, and I can check it on airline flights in a decent soft case. (There's every chance, of course, that airline baggage handlers will smash it flat the next time I fly, but at the NP-11's cost of about $150, I'm willing to chance it.)

The real crave, though, is for a weighted-key 49 or 61 key board that might be carry-onable. If you see that, send it my way.

I owned a VMK-161-Plus, it is a beast. I liked the action for playing software. I considered it very nice. However a Privia is much(by alot) easier to travel with!

The OS on the VMK is also quite primitive. I am only interjecting to offer a bit of 'common' wisdom.
Be careful what you wish for. It might just come true.
The non-plus version, I believe, uses water-fall style keys.

When I first raised this question some weeks back, I was focusing primarily on the length of the board as a travel impediment. A 49-key board seemed like something that might be feasible as carry-on luggage. Everything I've heard about the VMK since then (including your post) suggests to me that the VMK won't address my needs -- especially since the 149 can only be purchased at shops that sell real unicorn horns.

Since I'm now reconciled to the idea of checking my travel piano as luggage (in a suitable hard case), and unless someone comes along with a weighted-hammer DP with 61 or fewer keys, I'm sticking with my NP-11 for now as my compromise travel piano. I expect that ultimately a Casio PX-x50 in a hardshell case will be the preferred solution.

A VMK-149 Plus carry on would be funny, in a not so good way.
I have traveled on business trips in my car and taken a Privia and an ES6(not at the same time.
The ES6 is a beast, the Privia was wonderful(PX3), except for the sonics. I still own the ES6, but I don't travel anymore.

I'll repeat the possibility of shipping one of the 88-key models. Are the trips of short duration? If so, it doesn't seem much of a big deal to be without an instrument. If the trips are longer and at one destination, shipping might be the same or less money than checking luggage for a flight.

One factor is that the company might reimburse for the flight and any checked luggage, but not for shipping. That said, it would be a significant upgrade in instrument to have 88 keys with piano action vs. the 61-key NP11 with no action. Also with shipping, the instrument can be packaged better and likely to be handled more carefully.

If the NP11 is sufficient, maybe a downgrade to an Ipad with a keyboard attachment might be worth a look. Yes, even less of a "piano," and significant costs, but no package to check, and no bulky NP11 to lug around, and an instrument that one can take virtually anywhere.