Goldhofer and Schopf announced on October 6 that they would be jointly releasing the fourth generation of the AST-2 tractor, the AST-2P/X, codenamed Phoenix. The company, formed when Goldhofer purchased Schopf in January 2015, is offering two versions of the tractor, the base model and an extended version featuring additional horsepower for more acceleration and a higher towing speed.
“We took a blank sheet of paper and designed the next generation from scratch,” Hubert Schaller, Goldhofer’s chief operating officer says in a release at inter airport Europe.
Goldhofer is touting the efficiency of working with the Phoenix tractor as well as the safety that comes with a differential lock to improve handling and traction in poor weather, specifically winter months.
“Our proven hydrostatic drive system, now combined with a differential lock, offers a new level of maneuverability,” Schaller says.
Aircraft pickup takes less than one minute, according to the company, and the driver’s cab sits higher than previous models, allowing the driver to see and handle all obstacles. Of course, the cab can be raised and lowered as needed for underbelly pushing or towing.
One of Goldhofer’s selling points on the Phoenix tractor is increased efficiency. A start-stop system in the engine reduces idling time on the ramp and “significantly reduces diesel consumption,” according to Goldhofer’s release. Additionally, the decrease in operating hours, since the engine is turned off, reduces maintenance costs as operating hour intervals are spread further apart.
When you inevitably have to perform maintenance, however, Goldhofer and Schopf built the Phoenix on the “one-shift principle,” meaning that any and all standard maintenance can be handled by one person in one shift. The result for the ramp is less downtime and little to no maintenance planning since maintenance points are labeled and accessible form the outside of the unit. In case of any maintenance or repair issues, Goldhofer and Schopf will schedule a remote access appointment with the customer through GPRS, wi-fi or LAN communications.
The Phoenix tractor does not come equipped with a GPU as standard, but both the regular and extended models can be retrofitted to include the unit.
“Goldhofer and Schopf are presenting their first mutual ‘baby,’” Schaller says. “However the merger goes far beyond this innovation and also means a tremendous boost in terms of engineering, testing know-how, capacity, experience, service and assistance.”
Ground crews can rely on the Phoenix to pull jets as small as the Embraer 175 to those as large as the Boeing B777-300ER.
There’s no word yet on what, exactly, the new Phoenix tractor is rising from the ashes of, but Goldhofer also showcased their stable of tractors at inter airport Europe including a number of hybrid and electric models. The rest of Goldhofer and Schopf’s portfolio includes the F70, a 16-foot tractor that can pull aircraft as large as the B767 class and the emission-free F110e, the world’s best-selling tow tractor, according to Goldhofer and Schopf. The future of the rest of the lineup has not been addressed in the wake of the announcement at inter airport Europe.
