Hello,
I would like to buy a Redline Sidewinder Power Driver. The manufacturer itself apparently does not deliver to Europe.
At aircraftspruce.eu you can order the part, but they canceled the order (it is dangerous goods which can not be imported from the USA).
Does anyone know of any other sources of supply, including used ones?
During research I saw that a few weeks ago such a part was sold for 600 €.
Thanks and greetings
Interesting product
Lithium batteries can be shipped but with a different method. I recall it may need sea freight rather than air, and while that is really cheap per kg it is not economical for small packages. However, Aircraftspruce.eu (Sandelving GMBH, not related the Aircraftspruce US) are just being unhelpful; they could quote a price for doing it. The weight is 10kg, so say 15kg in a box, and a few of them would be fine to ship fairly cheaply.
Various aircraft owners have been screwed by this, trying to buy tugs which use standard car-size lead acid batteries. The US manufacturer would not ship without the batteries 
That drill is obviously a bought-in item and if you can locate the model you can probably buy it locally, keep the battery, and put the drill on Ebay That assumes the US firm will ship it without the battery. I would ask them. It’s crazy to refuse business like that.
Maybe we can organise a multi purchase via EuroGA?
US dollar is pretty cheap nowadays. Might be the right time.
I bought one direct from the manufacturer in 2016. They shipped to Europe back then…
I don’t use it anymore, mostly because my nose gear is modified from the standard one, and thus the adapter fits in poorly. Maybe you can buy just the adapter and take over mine?
If you want, I can send pictures of mine with the battery brand and model, etc to follow peter’s line of reasoning. I think it is a bog-standard (American) brand of power tool.
Order the product without the battery. Replacement Milwaukee batteries are available in Europe. Alternatively a battery can be carried in hand luggage if you’re ever allowed to travel again.
It is a totally standard power tool and battery, that was the starting point for the design. The developer is basically a one man band working out of a hangar so may have some constraints. If you think it would help I could ask him. If he doesn’t want to ship to Europe but wants to sell one for pickup minus battery or ?, I could ship it assuming you could reimburse me. I’m guessing shipping will be costly, but VAT will likely not be payable, only 7.75% local tax added to the sale price.
We got one this year. I’ll ask where it was purchased from.
Can’t say I’m a huge fan of it.
It struggles with our aircraft (PA28-200R) on any kind of incline (that is one that isn’t really visible to the naked eye, but you’d notice trying to push/pull the aircraft…not even a major slope). If the nosewheel is wet, it really struggles.
When it struggles, what happens is that the ‘gripper’ spins against the tyre which could very quickly damage it, even thought it’s tightly compressed against it.
I’ve no idea what the alternatives are, but I’m not a fan of this at all.
I’m told we got ours ordered directly from Redline USA but that they weren’t the easiest to deal with.
Redline Aviation
Faced with the same issue, I ended up buying a supposedly equivalent product from those guys
Super fast service (they answered the order on a weekend) and delivery. Product is built very solidly but basically doesn’t work – it only moves the aircraft in situations where it can easily be pushed by one guy.
That’s where the super fast service stopped. I haven’t been able to send back the product. Avoid.
The sidewinder has great reviews from PA46 pilots in the US (including the heavier turbine) but the reality of aprons over there is very different from the slopped, grass or gravel situations we commonly have in Europe.
dublinpilot wrote:
I’ve no idea what the alternatives are, but I’m not a fan of this at all.
You could get something like this one: https://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/ap/van_towbars/gasdragger.php
When I recently did my multi training we used something similar to maneuver the airplane in and out of the hangar. Worked well. If unable to purchase in Europe, this shouldn’t be difficult to ship – no batteries.
