Patent ID: 8820675

Claim:
A self-propelled aircraft undercarriage for driving an aircraft on the ground, said undercarriage comprising: a. a nose or main landing gear strut supporting an axle with one or more wheels, each wheel being rotatably mounted on said axle; b. drive means for driving each of said one or more wheels to move an aircraft on the ground, wherein said drive means is a motor rotatably mounted over said axle completely externally of said one or more wheels in a selected location comprising on a side of said one or more wheels between said strut and said one or more wheels or on a side of said one more wheels farthest away from said strut, wherein said drive means has a substantially disk-shaped configuration with a length less than a diameter designed to occupy a minimum amount of space, enabling said drive means to be mounted over said axle; and c. coupling means releasably connecting said wheel to said drive means when said drive means is mounted in said selected location completely external to said one or more wheels and connected to said one or more wheels on an aircraft without replacing or modifying said undercarriage.