Why is this unit attached to the main landing gear not a common unit for towing or pushback? Less loading is applied to the fuselage with this method compared to towing or the towbarless way. Why is it not really common?



I'd like to detail this. There's my point, wouldn't it reduce cycles of loading to the fuselage, less fatigue resulted. Then we can eliminate shear pin &amp; speed limit such stuff, doesn't it ?

In my opinion. For safety. This is much safe then the towing method.
I think it might not have enough clearance for smaller aircraft, while a towbar would work with pretty much everything.

Also the force you apply needs to be pretty much the same, independent from where you push/pull, as you only need to overcome the rolling resistance of the landing gears. The airframe and landing gears are sized for much larger loads, so there is not a lot of saving in my opinion.