Powered Towbar

[Dave Hall]

Our group is looking at buying an Aero-Pac APT-3000 to pull our TriPacer up a slope into the hangar when they're single-handed and there's no help about. It's a pretty hefty price, and is substantially a rechargeable lithium-ion powered motor with a drive band that presses on the tyre surface. Does anyone have experience of this product? Any opinion on it? Thanks for any help/advice.

[Ian Melville]

Dave, have you considered a DIY version? I am sure I saw an article on one somewhere recently.

[Paul Hendry-Smith]

Dear Dave

I signed up as an Aero Pac dealer, nothing but grief, hassle and ineffective and under developed products, maybe the situation has changed in the last 6 to 12 months but I would strongly urge that you look at alternatives.

Cheers

Paul

PS resigned dealership after first disaster

[Dave Hall]

Thanks for your warning Paul. I think the new model looks less like a power drill in a handle, but it uses a friction band drive onto the aircraft nose-wheel, which I can imagine would be prone to slip on the upslope into the hangar - their demonstration video shows a minimal slope.

Yes, thanks Ian, I think I recall seeing something somewhere in the past year or so. Maybe someone remembers if it was in Light Aircraft, or somewhere else. I'll try a search there.

[MikeM]

LA, May of this year, pp22-23

[Dave Hall]

Thanks Mike. Sod's Law says that's the one I took to Colorado in June and gave to the Colorado Springs Aviation Museum Director (National Museum of World War II Aviation), to show what the LAA gets up to! I'll have to see if I can pick another copy up at Turweston. Should be a great museum when it opens (scheduled Oct 27th) - it's on the same site as Westpac who restore warbirds.

[macconnacher]

Would it be possible to use a winch / electric hoist mounted at the back of the hangar. I know that many hangers in Canada use this system even on the flat at Brampton, ont. Another source of drive is used to move caravans (a powered jockey wheel) which might be available S/H from your local caravan dealer and this might be capable of being modified for your purpose.

[Bill McCarthy]

Get a battery powered disability scooter, make up a small trolley for the wheel and tow it about with that ! Anyway there was an article in our mag yonks ago of a DIY outfit that someone had made up.

[Nigel Ramsay]

I have to move my Taylorcraft sideways in/out of our Polytunnel hangar. My original design was based on a tethered 12v boat winch and a constant loop which required a pulley outside beyond the ultimate position of the 'sideways' trolley (easier to understand in a picture!). I had built the trolley when a friend loaned me a garden tractor... no point in spending flying time going any further at this point! So now I just have to re-position the towbar from one side to the other! I don't have rails by the way, the trolley is very 'long wheelbase' in reality, something like 7' long by 18" wide so it tracks pretty well.

The recent article, using the axle and motor from a disability scooter would seem the easiest method as you even get a speed controller thrown in. It's the way I would go if I lost the tractor for any reason.

[Dave Hall]

Well, it's out of my hands anyway - the group has ordered one at a huge price, so I shan't need to pull it back up the slope with my car again - only needed to do that once in several years. I'll report back on how well it does.