We hit on lucky when we got the first of the new-SSD Airs in that OWC had just started selling the enclosure, so we were able to get one pretty quick.
They went out of stock (understandably as they were/maybe still are the only company who sold such a thing) for a while after that - when I checked the site the other day for this thread it was the first time I'd seen them back in stock since!
Well, we've found another option to the OWC enclosure from Digital Intelligence
http//
Which at 40USD is certainly not bad.
Getting one now, and my previous post would change to
Open it up, remove the drive SSD 'stick' - connect to adapter, connect through write blocker, preview/image.
(make that 45 if you get the pentalobe screwdriver as well)
They also have a LIF adapter for the previous models of MBAs as well, I notice (similar looking to the tableau ones)
I just found that DI adapter myself (I was searching for pricing on the new Tableau TD3) and thought it was reasonably priced.
If you want a fairly reasonable Thunderbolt solution try the Seagate GoFlex Thunderbolt adapter ($99.) You will need a Thunderbolt cable ($49) and a hdd. Initially I bought a GoFlex 1TB hdd ($140) but I found that you can use any 2.5" hdd in a pinch with the adapter. The Thunderbolt adapter does get warm so if you are considering a large acquisition be sure to add a cooling device.
What is wrong with booting into CAINE from a USB stick and imaging from there to USB?
Generally nothing, except it (the MBA) isn't guaranteed to boot from USB.
Your usbkey could fail.
The USB port could be faulty.
The keyboard could be faulty, not allowing selection of the USB as the boot device.
It could have EFI security enabled to prevent booting from USB.
All these scenarios (unlikely, but far from implausible) would result in the MBA booting up from the SSD and now we're in a live examination…and having data being overwritten on the drive.
It's just managing the risk - if I have the option to easily prevent these problems (by removing the storage device and connecting via a tested write blocker) then that's my preferred option.
But I agree with Byran- there's nothing 'wrong' with using a bootable environment and acquiring to a connected device.