- Cargolifter AG
The now-defunct Cargolifter AG was a company created to offer logistical services through point-to point transport of heavy and outsized loads. This service was based on the development of a
heavy lift airship , the CL160, a 550,000 m3 vessel designed to carry a 160-tonne payload. [cite web | title=CL160 | url=http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/cargolifter/ | accessdaymonth=15 September | accessyear=2006] Today the shareholder-founded "CL CargoLifter GmbH & Co. KG" company seeks to continue selling the lighter-than-air technology.Cargolifter AG was created on
01 September ,1996 inWiesbaden ,Germany . A public stock offering took place inMay 2000 , and the resulting shareholder structure was characterized by a high proportion of smallinvestor s, attracted by substantial press coverage of the new breakthrough technologies 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 limitedfunding (a fraction of the funding available for the development of new airliners), and short developmenttimeline 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 a 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 theEiffel Tower on its side. The hanger 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" transportationballoon prototype, of similar size (61 m in diameter) and height (87 m) to the CL 160, was built but destroyed in astorm inJuly 2002 . Despite the setback, an agreement was reached withBoeing in 2002 for the joint study of a lighter-than-air stratospheric platform. [cite web | title=Cargolifter-Boeing agreement | url=http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2002/q3/nr_020730m.html | accessdaymonth=11 July | accessyear=2006]The "CL 75 AirCrane" prototype, filled with 110,000 m3 of
helium , was taken out of the hangar for the first time inOctober 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 $10 million), was later planned to theCanadian company Heavy Elevator Canada Inc., a deal with which CargoLifter AG was at least 20 percent involved. Thecontract never became effective.Insolvency
On
07 June 2002 the company announcedinsolvency , and liquidation proceedings began the following month. The fate of parts of the 300 millioneuro s 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 vacationresort calledTropical Islands , which opened in2004 .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 held there.Continuation
Today, the "CL CargoLifter GmbH & Co. KG" company, founded by former Cargolifter AG shareholders, seeks to sell the lighter-than-air technology [cite web | title=CL CargoLifter GmbH & Co. KG company's business objectives | url=http://www.cargolifter.com/index.php?id=8 | accessdaymonth=12 July | accessyear=2008] and is exploring the construction of smaller airships.
References
External links
* [http://www.strangeharvest.com/mt/archive/read_mes/anything_to_fee_1.php The Cargo Lifter and the Tropical Island Resort ]
* [http://www.cargolifter.com Website of CargoLifter KGaA]
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