![]() CargoLifter hopes to pull in revenue using the CL 75 in Canada by the third quarter of 2002. The balloon can be towed by trucks, ships or helicopters, as well as a stationary winch-cable device. While readying to get the big ship off the ground, the company will focus on a transport balloon it calls an “AirCrane” that can lift 75 tons. The company cites these overruns and date setbacks as part of the price for bringing a major technological effort to market. And the initial cost projections for producing the CL 160 have jumped from 80 million euro (about $68 million) to 590 million euro (about $502 million). The CL 160’s viability has been called into question by the German press, as the dates of the first flights have been pushed back. The project has seen its share of setbacks. Now being tested, the unmanned CL 75 “AirCrane” can tote up to 75 tons, the company says. The airship need not land to unload its cargo, which is why it is sometimes referred to as a “flying crane.” The payload can be discharged while the CargoLifter hovers at 300 feet. When the CargoLifter reaches its destination, ground cables are connected and water is pumped into the CL 160 to hold it in place if a cable breaks. Another four CT-7 engines maneuver the airship. ![]() Once aloft, the airship can reach a maximum altitude of 6,000 feet, propelled by four 1,900-horsepower General Electric CT-7 helicopter engines. The weight of the payload is distributed along the keel.Ĭoming out of the hangar, the CL 160 attaches to a mobile mast that is pulled along by a rail car. And unlike a blimp, the CargoLifter has a keel, which runs along the underside of the helium-filled envelope. Zeppelins have rigid skeletons, while the CargoLifter holds its shape from internal pressure of the helium. A prototype craft is 260 meters long, 82 meters high, and requires 550,000 cubic centimeters of "lighter than air" helium gas in order to take flight.Edwards notes that the CargoLifter CL 160 isn’t really a zeppelin, but a semi-rigid airship. Technically, the CL 160 is seen as the modern answer to the country’s famous zeppelins, which plied the German skies between Berlin and Lake Constance in the early part of the 20th century. Government officials and Cargolifter executives heavily promoted the project both domestically and abroad. Politicians long hoped that the Cargolifter project would provide a needed boost to the economy in the eastern state of Brandenburg. for commercial, security and "homeland defense" purposes.īut Cargolifter has been unable to secure government aid or a private round of financing to keep the CL 160 project afloat.įriday’s news led to an eight percent decline in Cargolifter shares, which closed at 1.30 euro ($1.20), down from a high of 23 euro ($21). aerospace giant Boeing for the joint development of "lighter-than-air" vehicles for use in the U.S. Cargolifter’s chief director, Carl von Gablenz, said on Friday he was planning layoffs, and that the Brandenburg-based company would shift its focus to the manufacture and sales of smaller transport balloons.Īs many as 500 jobs are said to be on the line at the company, which has been plagued by financial problems for months now as it has developed the CL 160 blimp.Įarlier this month, Cargolifter struck a deal with U.S. ![]()
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