Electric tug for Piper aircraft

Piper singles and light twins spend a lot of their life in rows: a wingtip close to a door, a neighbor close to the other wing, and a nose wheel that has to come out straight before anything turns. The awkward part is rarely the length of the tow. It is seeing both tips while something holds the nose. An electric tug for Piper aircraft is useful when one person can walk the wing and still have the nose wheel secured.

ROVER is the tug that names Piper. The published line is the same one used for Cessna: single-engine and twin-engine aircraft such as Cessna and Piper types through light twins, within its rated towing capacity. That rating is 5,000 kg, and up to 7,000 kg depending on configuration. You steer from the remote, which is included, and you can stand at the wingtip while the tug stays on the nose wheel. That is the difference from a hand-steered tug, where you are back at the handles and the far wing is a glance over your shoulder.

The hardware under the nose is low. ROVER is 27 cm tall and 6.5 cm off the ground, 115 cm long and 114 cm wide, and it weighs 190 kg. The electric winch loads the nose wheel onto the deck with a webbing attachment. Maximum load on the ramp is 750 kg. The drive is 1.4 kW, electric. The standard 14 Ah battery is published at about 30 minutes of towing per charge, with a 28 Ah battery available when the day is longer than that. An integrated LED bar is standard, which matters when the hangar door is the only light left.

Not every Piper is a light twin, and not every single needs a remote. DISCOVERY is the hand-steered electric tug for single-engine pistons up to 2,500 kg on straight ground. Its named example is the Cirrus SR22. If your Piper is a single inside that published limit and you prefer one gear, forward and reverse, ask us to check DISCOVERY rather than assuming ROVER is mandatory. We will not invent a fit for a specific Piper model the catalog does not name.

Turboprops and light jets are a different page. GRAVITY is published for the Vision Jet, the Daher TBM series and the Pilatus PC-12, at 5,000 kg or 7,000 kg with the optional upgrade. CHALLENGER remains a coming-soon ride-on for large-cabin business jets, with compatibility still to be confirmed at launch. A Piper single or light twin does not belong on that future machine.

The Cessna guide describes the same ROVER from the other family it names. If you operate both, one tug rating covers the published class, and the quote form is where we confirm the model, the surface and the configuration. Start with a quote for your Piper.