LEKTRO Inc., recently announced its largest aircraft tow tractor, the AP8950SDB-AL-200, has been certified by Airbus for use on the A321. This comes less than 6 months after the company received certifications to tow the A318, A319 and A320. Now certified to tow the complete Airbus A320 family, and having been certified for the Boeing 737 family of aircraft, the AP8950SDB-AL-200 is now approved to handle all major single aisle jetliners.
Capable of towing up to 210,000 lb. aircraft, the AP8950SDB-AL-200 was introduced in 2013 paving the way for LEKTRO to break in to the major airline market. Not long after announcing the new tug, LEKTRO began an aggressive certification process with Airbus, ATR, Boeing, Bombardier and Embraer to ensure the new tug’s success.
“Beyond our legendary reliability and smooth operation, LEKTRO has more OEM certifications than any other towbarless towing vehicle manufacturer” said Henry Balensifer, LEKTRO’s Communications Director. “In particular, the AP8950SDB-AL-200 is the only towbarless towing vehicle certified to tow the Dash 8/Q400 all the way up to the A321 and B737-900ER. It is the most versatile, OEM approved towbarless tow vehicle in the single aisle market”
During the certification process, LEKTRO invented an automatic aircraft recognition system that senses the aircraft weight and adjusts the tug acceleration characteristics to eliminate nose gear stress. This comes standard on all AP8950SDB-AL-200 tow vehicles.
LEKTRO, Inc. is an Oregon based company known for its expertise in manufacturing all electric towbarless tow vehicles. In 1967, LEKTRO unveiled the world’s first towbarless tug and continues to lead the towbarless towing industry.
Fonte: AviationPros
11/09/2014
Foto: AviationPros
