Truck for transport of airplane by its nose landing wheel

Abstract

The disclosure is of a wheeled truck or transport vehicle, adapted for elevating and supporting the nose wheel of an airplane, of the small or private class, and transporting it about the landing field. The truck has a horizontal nose roller, adapted to be rammed under the nose wheel of the airplane landing gear, and to thereby elevate the nose wheel. The advancing truck has, just behind the nose roller, a horizontally pivoted gate, initially swung down to act as a platform, and behind that a turntable. These ride under the nose wheel, one after the other, as the nose roller is thrust under the nose wheel of the airplane and then on beyond. The gate already mentioned is initially positioned in an approximately horizontal position, just in back of the nose cylinder of the truck, and is pivoted at the bottom on the normally front edge of the turntable. As the advancing turntable centers under the nose wheel, it engages a rearward gate, pivoted at or below its lower edge on the normally rearward edge of the turntable. When this rearward gate is engaged by the nose wheel of the airplane, it tilts back, and, through links, tilts the front gate up. At the end of this action, the nose wheel of the airplane is trapped on the turntable, between these gates, and an automatic locking device has become engaged. Means are provided for unlocking this device, whereupon the gates can drop, and the truck pulled out from under the nose wheel of the airplane.