Importance

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Abstract

A recovery and towing vehicle which has been specifically designed for transport in a freighter aircraft and must necessarily therefore be of low profile to fit within the cargo space of an air-transport vehicle comprising a main chassis (1) on which is mounted a cab (3) with a removable upper part (5) and a slewing crane (7) having an extendable boom (11), a winch (10) and spades (23) mounted in slideways (29). The vehicle also is provided with a traditional supported lift towing boom (25) but instead of being mounted for pivoting movement on the chassis (1), the boom (25) is mounted for generally vertical sliding movement. For this purpose, slideways (29) are provided on the inside of housing (31) for the spades and vertical movement of the boom (25) is under the control of the main crane boom (11) which can be connected to the boom (25) by a lift strop (41). By providing for the boom (25) to be movable vertically in slideways rather than being pivotally mounted on the chassis, a low profile chassis can be provided and the vertical dimensions of the vehicle can be kept compact. The slideways (29) may be straight or arcuate, arcuate slideways having the advantage of providing increased lift. Such increased lift can also be achieved by inserting a spacer wedge (61) between an anvil (55) at the base of the mast (27) and an abutment surface (59) on the folding boom (33).

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First Claim