Wheeltug goes public

IABG, the highly regarded German test house, has been chosen to conduct a test campaign for WheelTug’s innovative Boeing 737NG series self-drive electric-driven nose landing gear.  Last week, with the assistance of Zoom, it very much went public at Memphis International Airport.

Preliminary mass property measurements started in August 2020 at IABG’s engineering base in Ottobrunn, with ground vibration tests commencing this month. Drop tests will be performed in October; static stiffness tests as well as high-speed shimmy and steering tests will take place towards the end of 2020 and continue into 2021.

The WheelTug electric drive system uses high-performance electric motors, installed in the nose gear wheels of an aircraft, to provide full mobility while on the ground, without the use of the aircraft's jet engines or tugs for both pushback and taxi operations.  WheelTug enables aircraft to be electrically driven from the terminal gate to the take-off runway, and upon landing from runway exit to the gate.  The resulting improvements in efficiency, flexibility, fuel savings, and reduced engine foreign object damage (FOD) reduces operating expenses per aircraft per year, plus substantial reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions.

WheelTug was first announced as long ago as 2007.  To date more than 25 airlines representing 2,000+ aircraft have now signed Letters of Intent.

www.wheeltug.com

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