SOURCE: WheelTug plc
GIBRALTAR–(Marketwire – December 13, 2010) – WheelTug plc, developer of the WheelTug® integrated aircraft electric drive system, today welcomed Gibbs Gears Precision Engineers Ltd. as a member of the WheelTug development team. Gibbs Gears will provide design and manufacturing services for the gearing interface that links WheelTug’s twin Chorus® Motors to the nose landing gear wheels.
“We are very happy to be welcoming Gibbs Gears to our WheelTug development team,” said WheelTug plc CEO Isaiah Cox. “Gibbs brings decades of expertise in all areas of gear design and engineering, and their reputation for quality and precision makes them an ideal partner for WheelTug system development on the Boeing 737NG and further aircraft types.”
“Gibbs is very pleased to be coming onboard WheelTug’s development team, and we’re excited to have a part in bringing this important and forward-thinking new technology to the aerospace market,” said Reece Garrod, Managing Director of Gibbs.
The patented and proprietary WheelTug® electric drive system uses high-performance electric motors, installed in the nose landing gear wheels of an aircraft, to provide full mobility while on the ground, without the use of the aircraft’s jet engines or external tugs for both pushback and taxi operations. WheelTug enables aircraft to be electrically driven from the terminal gate to the takeoff 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) yield projected savings of more than $500,000 per aircraft per year, plus substantial reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions.
The WheelTug system is being developed initially for the Boeing 737NG, one of the world’s most widely-flown aircraft; systems for other models of commercial and military aircraft will follow.
Gibbs Gears Precision Engineers Ltd has over 60 years of experience in the manufacture of cut gears, and provides design, engineering and manufacturing services to customers in all sectors. Gibbs Gears is the leading gear company and gear manufacturer in the south of England. Gibbs operates under a complete quality control system and is approved to ISO9001/2008 and AS9100B:2004.
WheelTug plc is a majority-owned subsidiary of Chorus Motors plc (
Forward-Looking Statement: http://www.wheeltug.gi/fls.shtml
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