Lift2Go and Mobilift Demos for Rick Hansen and Friends

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On October 4, Adaptive Concepts Ltd and Adaptive Engineering Inc conducted a series of demonstrations for a (literally and figuratively) high-flying group of accessibility stakeholders in the Vancouver area. This wonderful event was organized by the Rick Hansen Foundation and hosted by the Seair Seaplanes – Richmond Terminal.

The dryland demo showcased the unique ability of these products to reach across stairs – which alleviates the need to modify a location when providing temporary wheelchair access. A number of attendees tried out the Lift2Go and several were able to use it in self-operation mode. Chloe Angus’s comments that it “feels fantastic, is easy to use, and is stable without a lot of effort” were the greatest compliments that anyone could have given to our team!

Chloe Angus shows off how easy it is to self-operate the Lift2Go

After the dryland demonstration, the group moved to the Seair docks to conduct experiments on providing wheelchair access to floatplanes. Floatplanes are notoriously difficult to build accessibility equipment for – they have all the intricacies and tight dimensions of the aviation industry as well as the constant shifting, rocking and slippery-wetness of the marine environment. Both lifts showed great promise in this application and several attendees, including Rick Hansen, were easily able to board a Cessna Caravan using a specially adapted Mobilift (manufactured by our sister company, Adaptive Engineering Inc).

Rick Hansen was first in line to board one of Seair’s sleek Cessnas using the Mobilift. All good!

Anyone wishing to see Rick’s summary of the day can find it on his LinkedIn page here.

On behalf of the Adaptive Group, I would like to thank The Rick Hansen Foundation for organizing the program and Seair Seaplanes for hosting. It was a truly amazing day for everyone!

I would also particularly like to thank John Person (Engineering Manager), Dave Smith (Master Engineer Emeritus), Caitlin Lopez (Design Engineer), Roger Langlois (Production Manager) and the rest of the Adaptive development team for the incredible work that got us to this point. It’s been a pleasure working with all of you!

Graham Smith, President and CEO, Adaptive Concepts Ltd