Cost savings for airport operators

iglidur® bearings defy aggressive conditions in various airport applications

The Quickloading development office develops solutions to facilitate and accelerate the handling of aircraft. Various bearing solutions are used here all year round outdoors, in extreme cold and heat as well as under the influence of acidic de-icing agents. The company now uses plain bearings made of the materials iglidur® G, iglidur® Q, iglidur® X and iglidur® Z in all possible types for the various applications. They are light, robust, weatherproof and lubrication-free, which means they can be used in extreme cold, for example.

Further practical examples convince airport operators

Quickloading also uses its self-developed hose and coupling for a third product: The Fanblade De-Icer (FDI). The lower weight compared to conventional systems makes it possible for a single employee to supply both engines of an aircraft with contour nozzles and to run the de-icing process largely automatically. Previously, two employees were tied to one aircraft until the work was completed. The company responsible for de-icing and aircraft towing at Munich Airport has praised the developers for this remarkable achievement: It is the only system with which EFM can solve this task economically, in other words, where the costs for the total expenditure are lower than the fees collected.

Another project was the "Swiss army knife" of coupling rods. If the aircraft are towed from the parking area towards the tarmac, the appropriate coupling rod for the aircraft type must be used, as the attachment points are not standardised. Tugs are often only equipped with two or three different rods and can therefore only operate certain types of aircraft or have to fetch the right rod from the depot, which takes time. This is how work began on a tow bar that initially combined four, and now even six different couplings. They are arranged in a magazine and the head change takes just 30 seconds. The system has a spring-mounted and adjustable chassis with which the Quick Towbar Changer can be balanced, ergonomic handles for one-man operation and, of course, lubrication-free, weatherproof iglidur® bearings.

The quickloading developments are offered to airport operators worldwide. Very few people have heard of lubrication-free plain bearings. But certifications and word of mouth from Lufthansa and Munich Airport are convincing arguments. Ultimately, the products are put through their paces in in-house tests. There have been no complaints so far.