M2 High Speed Tractor

The M2 High-Speed Tractor (or colloquially M2 Cletrac) was an aircraft tug used by the United States Army Air Forces from 1942.[1][2]

M2 High-Speed Tractor
TypeAircraft tug
Place of originUnited States
Service history
In serviceBy 1943
Used byUS Army
WarsWorld War II
Production history
DesignedFebruary 1941
ManufacturerCleveland Tractor Company
No. built8,510
Variants1
Specifications
Length166 in (4.22 m)
Width70 in (1.78 m)
Height68 in (1.73 m)
Crew3
EngineHercules WXLC3, 6-cylinder, petrol engine
150 hp (112 kW)
SuspensionVolute spring
Operational
range
100 mi (160 km)
Maximum speed 22 mph (35 km/h)

Construction
Cletrac in front of a P-47 Thunderbolt of the 406th Fighter Group

The M2 is a fully tracked vehicle designed to tow aircraft on primitive airfields. It was equipped with a 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) winch with 300 ft (91 m) of 3⁄8 in (9.5 mm) cable, an auxiliary generator (3KW, 110 Volts, DC), and an air compressor (3 stage, 16.7 CFPM, 2.000 PSI)

History

The M2 was standardized in February 1941 as Medium Tractor M2.

Surviving artifacts

Surviving examples are at the Estrella Warbird Museum,[3] the Wright Museum,[4] the AAF Museum in Danville, VA, Overloon,[5] the Pima Air & Space Museum,[6] the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, the Yanks Air Museum, Chino CA, the March Field Air Museum in Riverside CA, The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Bright's Pioneer Museum, Plainsburg CA, two at the Danville Armour Museum, Danville, VA, and one privately held in Belton, SC, USA.

See also

References
  1. United States. War Department. TM 9-2800 Standard Military Motor Vehicles. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  2. David Doyle (2003). Standard Catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles. Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87349-508-X.
  3. "EWM Webmaster redirect". www.ewarbirds.org.
  4. "Wright Museum - M2 Cletrac High Speed Tractor". www.williammaloney.com.
  5. Overloon, Oorlogsmuseum. "Home - Oorlogsmuseum Overloon". www.oorlogsmuseum.nl.
  6. User, Super. "Museum Aircraft". www.pimaair.org.
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