Tug wheel will save millions of dollars for passenger airlines

Modern passenger planes are very cumbersome and independent when it comes to ground movement at the airport. Jet engines are very inefficient for driving along taxiways and are absolutely useless with complex and precise ground maneuvers - if you need to fit into the hangar gate or back up, you cannot do without a tractor. However, today the production technology of compact and powerful electric motors has finally reached a level that allows elegantly solving this problem. WheelTug has developed a system for towing airliners using electric motors built into the wheel. A pair of “pills” weighing 150 kg, 12 cm thick and slightly less than half a meter in diameter is fixed on the front wheels and is powered by an auxiliary power unit of the aircraft.

Thanks to the WheelTug system, the liner gets the opportunity to maneuver on the airfield completely independently and does not include the main engines at all. In addition to the obvious fuel economy, engine wear is reduced - when working in close proximity to the ground, most of the garbage and dust get into them. The brake wear also decreases - while taxiing the plane constantly has to be slowed down, since it is impossible to change the thrust of the main engine quite thinly and quickly, and with an electric drive this is to nothing - the speed can be controlled very precisely within wide limits.

The tug wheel significantly speeds up the embarkation and disembarkation of passengers, since the terminal does not need a conventional tractor for maneuvering the terminal. In general, airport capacity increases by 3%, noise levels, air pollution and danger to airport employees from jet engines decrease. For the year, savings in operating expenses may exceed $ 500,000 per aircraft. Globally, the bill will go to billions.
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The final testing of the system took place in 2012 at the Prague airport. Now the company settles issues with certification and permits. For February this year WheelTug already has orders from 14 airlines for re-equipment of 785 aircraft. Active negotiations are still with 300 air carriers. So far, the wheel tow can be installed on medium-haul airliner level Boeing 737.

A similar system with similar characteristics is being developed by the European company EGTS International . True, electric EGTS offers to have in the rear landing gear. And the Israeli IAI is developing an alternative option - a semi-automatic TaxiBot , which the pilot can control directly from the aircraft cabin. The Israelis emphasize that their version does not require aircraft modifications, is capable of towing even the largest airliners and fits well with the existing infrastructure. True, TaxiBot does not solve the problem of spending time on docking and uncoupling a tractor with an aircraft, and the possible shortage of tractors during rush hours — these problems are in principle deprived of the system integrated into the aircraft. According to IAI, the cost of towing aircraft at airports by 2020 will be eight and a half billion dollars. With the widespread introduction of TaxiBot will be able to reduce this figure to three billion. The TaxiBot system is currently being tested at Frankfurt am Main Airport.