Airport Support Vehicles, by Nigel Williams
When you're sitting in the airport departure lounge, nervously wondering whether your flight is going to leave on time, have you ever gazed out of the window and wondered what all those strange little machines and vehicles buzzing round your waiting aircraft are doing?
Technical author and researcher Nigel Williams has created this profusely-illustrated book to spill the beans on all this specialised equipment, without which even the most sophisticated 21st-century airliner would be completely helpless.
Some of the equipment you might see on the aircraft apron, and described here, includes:
- Refuelling systems
- Aircraft tugs
- Catering vehicles
- Water supplies and sanitation
- Passenger transportation and loading
- Baggage handling
- De-icing equipment
- Power supplies and engine starters
Some more equipment, also described, that you may not see on the apron itself, but which is equally important in keeping the aircraft running, includes:
- Cargo handling and loading
- Emergency vehicles
- Runway maintenance
- Snow-clearing equipment
After reading this book, you will have a much clearer idea of what's going on around your aircraft, and, who knows, you might be able to steal a march on your fellow passengers by being able to tell ahead of them when the aircraft really is ready to board (as opposed to trying to make sense of the conflicting messages being read over the public address system)!
And one last thing: the book includes details of the only vehicle in the world that has wheels only on one end - and is fixed down at the other! Can you guess what it might be?
Currently in development