Dave Wimer, an engineer with the Global Hawk division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, designed a kit including a tow bar adapter and locks that keep the Global Hawk’s landing gear from collapsing during towing or when the aircraft is parked.
Officials of the Global Hawk program contracted with Mar-Con Tool Co., of Moraine, to manufacture 20 of the towing kits. The kit weighs 14 pounds and costs less than $2,000 to produce, the Air Force said.
The entire effort, from concept to deployment, took three weeks, Air Force officials said.
Personnel from the Global Hawk have scheduled a visit to Mar-Con Tool on Wednesday morning to thank company officials for their help.
The family-owned company, founded in 1959, specializes in computer-controlled production of tools. Mar-Con does work for General Electric Co., other aerospace industry customers and Battelle Memorial Institute, a Columbus-based research and development organization that serves a variety of federal government agencies.