The manufacturer of the Lektro electric aircraft tug brought its 4,500th tug–an AP 8850 SDA–to this year’s NBAA show and will present that tug to the customer, Jet Aviation Dubai, at Booth 1881 tomorrow. Warrenton, Ore.-based Lektro, the official NBAA static display towing provider since 1996, began making electric-powered aircraft tugs available for the show at the 1986 convention in Anaheim, Calif.

This is Lektro’s 69th year in business. Starting in 1945 as the Willamette Aircraft & Engine Co. in Beaverton, Ore., as a seller of war surplus equipment, the company relocated to Warrenton in 1948. Two years later founder Wilt Paulson began inventing and building clean, quiet electric-powered low-profile “meat-feeder”vehicles to replace noisy, fume-producing diesel machines used to feed confined meat-producing livestock. In 1954 Paulson invented and introduced what is believed to be the first electric golf cart, leading directly to present golf cart designs.

The company name Lektro began to appear in the late 1950s when Paulson and a friend who owned the Flightcraft FBO at Portland International Airport decided to find a way to move aircraft more safely, quietly and gently. The eventual result was a modified meat-feederthat became the first all-electric aircraft tow tug. In 1967 Lektro introduced the first electric tug without a towbar. Towbarless electric aircraft tugs are today the company’s sole product, and Lektro said it provides the aviation industry with more towbarless tow tractors than any other manufacturer of electric tow tractors. Lektro manufactures only all-electric emissions-free vehicles, as it has since 1945.

New Model This Year

In 2014, Lektro’s noteworthy events included the release of the new AP 8360 model, capable of handling up to 15,000 pounds and designed for lighter aircraft, entry-level corporate owner-operators and educational institution programs. It also delivered its 4,300th tug in late March to Million Air Calgary, and this year has experienced all-time record sales growth.

Lektro received a large order from a major airline soon after the AP 8950 SDB-AL-200 was certified to tow the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families. It continues an aggressive certification program that the company claims has yielded more manufacturer certifications for its tugs than any other towbarless tow vehicle manufacturer.

Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault, Embraer and Gulfstream are among those that have certified Lektro tugs to tow specific aircraft models. Many OEMs even use Lektro tugs in their manufacturing facilities. Embraer recently certified several Lektro tugs to tow the new Legacy 450 and 500.

The company recently announced that the AP 8950 SDB-AL-200, its largest tow tractor, has been certified by Airbus to move the A321, less than six months after the company received certifications to tow the A318, A319 and A320. Now certified to tow the complete Airbus A320 family, and already certified for the Boeing 737 family, the AP 8950 SDB-AL-200 is approved to handle all major single-aisle jetliners.

Capable of towing up to 210,000-pound aircraft, the AP 8950 SDB-AL-200 was introduced in 2013, paving the way for Lektro to break into the large airliner market. Not long after announcing the new tug, the company began certification programs with Airbus, ATR, Boeing, Bombardier and Embraer.

“Beyond our legendary reliability and smooth operation, Lektro has more OEM certifications than any other towbarless towing vehicle manufacturer,” said Lektro spokesman Henry Balensifer. “In particular, the AP 8950 SDB-AL-200 is the only towbarless towing vehicle certified to tow aircraft ranging from the Dash 8/Q400 all the way up to the A321 and B737-900ER.”

During the certification process, Lektro invented an automatic aircraft recognition system that senses aircraft weight and adjusts the tug’s acceleration characteristics to eliminate nose gear stress. This feature is standard on all AP 8950 SDB-AL-200 tow vehicles.

“A lot of hand-craftsmanship goes into our tugs,” Balensifer noted. “We outsource very few of the components. All of [the tugs] are fabricated on-site, with a lot of in-house quality control. Many of our employees have more than 20 years with the company, and we have a number of father-son teams.”