OK, I only fly small airplanes with a Cherokee Six being the biggest. Powered towbars on the nose wheels of small aircraft are nothing new. I started losing track when A/C and bleed air and reverse thrust started coming up.
My understanding of jet HVAC is that high temp bleed air from the compressor section is mixed with low temp (around -50 C) outside air to provide make-up air under control of the cabin pressurization system. I think bleed air would have a minor impact on modern high bypass turbofan aircraft engines.
As far as pushing back is concerned, I can't imagine using the clamshells or beta thrust to do that except under some strange emergency. Are we talking about attaching these motors to a landing gear bogey? If we are talking about a connector nearby to power something that stays on the ground, I'm all for it. If it's an assembly that stays on the bogey, no thanks. We've had 2 incidents in the last year where we watched airliners that couldn't get three in the green, make fantastic precautionary landings. The more things that get hung on the gear, the more components to fail.
Joe
