Cargolifter
Encyclopedia
Outsize cargo
Outsize cargo as defined by the United States military, is cargo that because of its size or weight can only be airlifted by C-5 Galaxy or C-17 Globemaster III; e.g., an M1 Abrams tank. The formal definition is a single item that is longer than 1,000 inches , wider than 117 inches , or taller...
loads. This service was based on the development of a heavy lift
Heavy lift
- Definition :The transportation, handling and installation of heavy items which are indivisible, and of weights generally accepted to be in the range of 1 ton to over 1000 tons and of widths/heights of more than 100 meters that are too large to fit into normal containers or onto conventional...
airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
, the CL160, a 550,000 m3 vessel designed to carry a 160-tonne payload. Today the shareholder-founded CL CargoLifter GmbH & Co. KG company seeks to continue selling the lighter-than-air technology.
History
Cargolifter AG was created on 1 September 1996 in WiesbadenWiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. A public stock offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
took place in May 2000, and the resulting shareholder structure was characterized by a high proportion of small investor
Investor
An investor is a party that makes an investment into one or more categories of assets --- equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, derivatives such as put and call options, etc...
s, attracted by substantial press coverage of the new breakthrough technologies
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
being promised.
The first CL 160 airship was never built, though a considerable amount of design and development work was undertaken. The technical complexity (something akin to designing an airliner with less vetted technology) along with limited funding (a fraction of the funding typically available for the development of new airliners), and short development timeline meant that program challenges were underestimated, making the project relatively risky.
The hangar for production and operation of the CL160 and engineering team facilities were built on an unused military airfield, acquired to enable development and operations. The hangar (360 m long, 220 m wide and 106 m high), a technological marvel in itself, was a freestanding steel-dome "barrel-bowl" construction large enough to fit the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
on its side. The hangar was also equipped with a 180 m cutting table to manufacture the airship's envelope.
A small manned prototype named 'Joey' was built in order to test project concepts on a reduced scale. Another aircraft, the "CL 75 Aircrane" transportation balloon prototype, of similar size (61 m in diameter) and height (87 m) to the CL 160, was built but destroyed in a storm in July 2002. Despite the setback, an agreement was reached with Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
in 2002 for the joint study of a lighter-than-air stratospheric platform.
The "CL 75 AirCrane" prototype, filled with 110,000 m3 of helium
Helium
Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
, was taken out of the hangar for the first time in October 2001. It represented a new stage in full-scale experimental purposes. The loadframe of this unit was engineered by American company AdvanTek International LLC, on behalf of Cargolifter AG. The sale of one CL 75 Aircrane along with 25 options (at a unit price of USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
$10 million), was later planned to the Canadian company Heavy Elevator Canada Inc., a deal with which CargoLifter AG was at least 20% involved. The contract never became effective.
Brazilians were interested in the concept of CargoLifter, as it could be applied to long-distance transportation of valuable goods. It was considered to be especially interesting for the Amazon region, where logistics is complicated. A test flight above Manaus was supposed to take place in 2002, as this article mentions. The German company probably met insolvency before it could be done.
Insolvency
On 7 June 2002 the company announced insolvencyInsolvency
Insolvency means the inability to pay one's debts as they fall due. Usually used to refer to a business, insolvency refers to the inability of a company to pay off its debts.Business insolvency is defined in two different ways:...
, and liquidation proceedings began the following month. The fate of parts of the 300 million euros in shareholder funds from over 70,000 investors is still unclear.
In June 2003, the company's facilities were sold off for less than 20% of the construction costs. The airship hangar was used in a 'tropical paradise'-themed holiday resort called Tropical Islands
Tropical Islands
Tropical Islands Resort is an artificial tropical resort in Krausnick, Germany. It is said to have the world's largest tropical indoor pool which can accommodate up to 8,000 visitors a day...
, which opened in 2004.
The Skyship airship, which had been purchased by Cargolifter for training and research purposes, was sold to Swiss Skycruise and used in Athens for flights connected with the Olympic games
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
held there.