This complex looking apparatus built by Hanns Widl and on display at the 2012 Fulda Meet is actually a snow-removal machine know as a MPU or "Multi-Purpose-Unit". They are built primarily for quickly clearing snow off the runways of airports and military air bases. The cab, as you can see has a wide-bladed snow plow mounted on it. The middle brush attachment further sweeps snow off the runway. The rear section is a ducted high-power air-jet blower that blows any snow remaining on the runway surface after being plowed and swept.

These machines, built by several manufacturers including Schorling, Vammas Schmidt and others were created to cut down on the number of vehicles needed to clear a runway quickly. The MPU performs the functions previously done by three separate machines. A "conga line" of these MPU's can clear a major airport runway from end to end in 12 minutes, as opposed to the 20-30 minutes it takes for a fleet of plow trucks, runway sweepers, and ancillary equipment to do the job.

The MPU's secondary purpose is to clear debris (such as blown aircraft tires, etc.) off the runway during spring/summer/fall  by using the sweeper head and jet blower (the plow would be detached for this type of work).

NOTE: Special thanks to Michael Slepetz for providing this information

Posted November 12, 2012