Handling and Stability Study on Non-Rod Aircraft Tractor in Backward-Motion

The kinematic model of a tractor pushing an airplane without rod on the flat ground was established. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, backing up the system was proved to be an open-loop unstable problem by kinematic analysis. In this paper, we investigate the effects of different kinematic parameters on the manoeuvring stability of the system in backward-motion. The handling and stability of the reversing operation has been simulated with a steering wheel angle step input. A tractor drivers operation of correcting steering angle has been proposed according to the experiment results. Theoretical verification and experimental results indicates that it is referential to study the handling and stability of the non-rod tractor-aircraft system in backward-motion.