Patent ID: 7975960

Claim:
An apparatus for driving a taxiing aircraft on the ground, comprising, in an aircraft with a cockpit: two self-propelled nosewheels mounted on said aircraft, each said nosewheel having an electric motor drivingly connected thereto; equipment for flight located on said aircraft, said equipment for flight being operable when said aircraft is in flight and not operable when said aircraft is taxiing on the ground; dual-function controlling means switchable to operate both said equipment for flight and said nosewheels, said dual-function controlling means being disposed in the cockpit of said aircraft; sensing means in communication with said dual-function control means for sensing when the aircraft is on the ground; and switching means switchably connected to said equipment for flight and to said nosewheels and operable to switch said dual-function controlling means between operating said equipment for flight in the air and operating said nosewheels on the ground.