Definition
A wheeled ground-handling device used at airports and in maintenance facilities to move equipment, materials, baggage, or aircraft components. In aviation maintenance, common examples include the hydraulic service cart, the oxygen servicing cart, the ground power cart (GPU cart), and the air-start cart. Each is purpose-built to deliver a specific service to a parked aircraft.
Plain English
A small wheeled unit that rolls up to an aircraft to provide power, fluids, gases, or other servicing while the aircraft is on the ground.
Context Anchor
Seen on the ramp, in a hangar, or during aircraft servicing before or after a flight.
Derivation
Cart originally meant a simple wheeled vehicle used to carry things. That meaning still fits aviation: the cart is the movable carrier for the equipment or supply the aircraft needs.
Why Pilots Care
Proper use prevents delays, damage to aircraft, and safety incidents during ground handling.
Intuition Check
Do not think of a cart only as a hand-pushed shopping cart. In aviation, a cart usually means a wheeled ground-service unit built for a specific aircraft support job.
Example Sentence 1
Before engine start, the lineman rolled a ground power cart up to the aircraft and plugged it into the external power receptacle.
Example Sentence 2
Maintenance used a powered cart to move heavy toolboxes out to the aircraft on the apron.