Ground Support Equipment in Aviation Museums

[m50a1ontos]

My I-9 has steering brakes in addition to the regular foot brake, it also has the same rear end as a 2 ton truck. Or so I was told. It originally had dual rear wheels and a front receiver like mount for pushing and pulling aircraft tow bars and those big tripod like masts that the blimps etc moored to. It has wheel weights on all four corners as well. When I found it, it was yard art. The engine is loose but the carb and electrical system is shot. I'll get around to restoring it at some point, unless some museum is interested

[ZRX61]

Fox Field, Lancaster Ca. It's not for sale, I already asked... It runs, barely...




There's a bunch of vintage tugs at VNY, including several of those tiny Clarks(?) & a custom painted David Brown

[ZRX61]

VNY:

No prizes for identifying this one....

[ZRX61]

[Noha307]

Here's an interesting one: 1943 Yale Electric Boom Crane Model K31A-6 at the Connecticut Air & Space Center

• Link to Oversize Photo

[Noha307]

Clarktor CT-21 at the Hiller Aviation Museum

• Link to Photo Gallery

[Noha307]

GSE at the National Museum of Commercial Aviation

Tug Technologies #1 Tug


Early 1970s Ford Air Stair Truck


1985 Ford Food Service Truck


GSE at the Carolinas Aviation Museum

• Dodge fuel truck
• Coleman tow tractor

Reference: CAM News

[Noha307]

GSE at the Brooklands Museum

• AEC Mercury MkV Aircraft Fueller - 1963
• AEC Sparshatts Airport Bus - 1972
  
• BEA Bedford HA 110 light van - 1978
• Bedford TK Mobile Control Tower - 1983
  
• BMC 420WF 'AVGAS' Refueller - 1968
  
• BOAC Bedford CA Crew Bus - 1960
  
• British Caledonian Airways Morris Minor van - 1970
• Dan-Air Morris Minor 1000 Pick-up - 1958
• David Brown Heavy Industrial Tractor - 1948
• Hawker Snowblower - c1960
  
• Landrover 109 Series III Ambulance - 1972
  
• Leyland Atlantean BOAC Airport Bus - 1966
  
• Linde Electric Airport Tug
• Mercury Airport Tractor - 1956
• Merryweather Fire/Crash Tender - 1940
• Morris Minor Aero Engine Test Bed - 1971
• Range-Rover Commando Fire/Crash Tender - 1976
  
• Ransome & Rapier Mobile Crane - 1950
• Ransomes Electric Airport Tug
• Ransomes Electric Tractor - 1940s
• Reliance Mercury Airport Tug
• Thompson ‘Mobile Refuelling Tender’ - 1937

[Noha307]

GSE (and Other Land Vehicles) at the National Museum of World War II Aviation

• M2A1 Half-track
  
• White Motor Co. WWII, M3A1 Scout Car
  
• White Motor Co. WWII, Airfield Crash Truck
  
• Chevrolet Co. 1941, M38A1 Jeep W/Trailer
  
• American Coleman
  
• Willys Co., Clarktor 6 Tow Tractor
• Clark Tug Co. 1945, CT-21 Tow Tractor
  
• Clark Tug Co., Tow Tractor
• Mobilift Co., Tow Tractor

Writing out this list brought up an interesting point. Does anyone know how to tell the difference between a Clarktor 6 and Clark CT-21? This page claims that CT-21s are not as heavy as the 6's, but that does nothing to help visual identification. Another page on the website seems to show that the 6's have sunken in wheels/hubcaps, and the CT-21s have wheels/hubcaps that are flush with the tire rim. Can anyone confirm?

[Noha307]

Tug at the Ferrymead Aeronautical Society


GSE at the Akureyri Aviation Museum

• 1983 SAAB 900 Turbo, R14016 - for braking testing to determine runway friction
  
• Oshkosh Truck
  

GSE at the National Transport and Toy Museum

• Belt Loaders
• 1988 Daihatsu Delta V57PWS
• 1970s Hastings-Deering Air Stairs
• Kairangi Tow Tractor
• Mercury Tow Tractor

[Noha307]

First, here's a short timeline of GSE

Clarktor Tug at Unknown Museum
Source: Aircraft Tugs - G503.com

Harlan Tug with Baggage Trailer at Syracuse Hancock International Airport

Source: MUSEUM MONDAY: DISCOVER THE AIRPORT! EXHIBIT AT SYRACUSE AIRPORT

Unknown Tug at the Classic Rotors Museum

Source: Full Time Photo Gallery - Jan 2006

493rd Bomb Group Museum

• Hebard Aircraft Tug - Marked as "493-6284"
  

Bentwaters Cold War Museum

• 1986 Jeep CJ-10A Aircraft Tug - Marked as "85C 504", Restoration Thread
• 1960s MB-4 American Coleman Aircraft Tug - Donated by the Vulcan Restoration Trust
• 1964 International Harvester Bus - From RAF Upper Heyford, former USAFE

Estrella seems to have updated their website, and as a result have listed 3 more tugs on it. One was noted previously in this thread with its own page on their website and is not included below. Another of the tugs listed below (marked as #3) was also pictured in this thread previously, but without its own page. Finally, a third tug (marked as #2) pictured with the latter is does not currently have a page on their website. In sum, it appears that the EWM has, or had, at least 5 tugs.

• 1940 Clark CK20 Aircraft Tug
  
• Clarktor 6 Aircraft Tug - Previously marked as "457201"
  Before Restoration
  
  After Restoration
  
• 1942 Cletrack M2 Tug
  Before Restoration
  
  After Restoration
  

Cheating on the narrow specificity of this thread a bit, here are a few in non-aviation military museums:

Federal F-55-AF 1954 at the "ArmyCars Museum" - museum has since been reported as being closed, with the entire collection claimed to be moved to the Overloon War Museum


Aircraft Tug at the General Patton Memorial Museum

[Noha307]

The Flying Heritage Collection has probably the most interesting piece of GSE I have come across so far: a Scheuch-Schelepper used for towing Me 163s!

[phil65]

It looks like an early Slingshot ...

http://polaris.hs.llnwd.net/o40/slg/201 ... ngshot.png

Phil

[Noha307]

The Pima Air & Space Museum appears to have some sort of Oshkosh firetruck:


GSE at the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum

• RCAF Crash Truck - used at number 10 Service Flying Training School at Dauphin, and after that the St. Rose Fire Department; painted red
  
• Fuel Tender - painted yellow
  
• Ford Tractor - used at Brandon Municipal Airport during World War II
  

I also found this interesting website: Fire Trucks at War

[Noha307]

My last post reminded me of something that I had come across before, but hadn't thought to include here until now. Goodfellow Air Force Base is the location of the school for USAF fire fighters, and as such the Military Firefighter Heritage Foundation has arranged to place a number of firefighting apparatuses on display there. For example, here's a story about one such recent arrival: Fire truck comes to Goodfellow display. And another about the completion of a restoration back in 2004: Firefighters, community preserve Air Force history (Archived)

GSE at Goodfellow Air Force Base

• Mack O-4
  
• 2500L
  
• Ansul Jeep
  
• Ford Pumper
  
• Navy Pumper - International R185
  Link to Oversize Photo
• Magarius Ladder
  Link to Oversize Photo
• 1958 O-6 Cardox
  Link to Oversize Photo
• O11a
  
• P-2
  
• P-4
  
• P-12 Telesquirt - Ford
  Link to Oversize Photo
• P-15
  
• P-16
  
• R-2