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Remember Cargo Lifter?

One of the most spectacular failures during the wild technology startup stampede a decade ago in Germany. They burned several hundred millions before folding.

The only remaining legacy is a huge indoor pool in their former airship hangar...

Cargolifter are making a comeback. I have my doubts they'll do any better this time though.

Good management and policy by the FCC would allow in the near future many solutions.

However, donâ(TM)t expect â¦, do expect anti-competitive freq-hogging by telcos to keep control of local market.

In the near future, it should be possible to provide 100% wireless voice, data, TV, ⦠multiple carriers/providers over the most populated areas. Allowing the customers to swap (totally, 100%) providers/services for QoS or cost reasons. I look forward to getting rid of the wires in the house and the local-bell. The USA Government and businesses are not in the lead on these technology sectors.

PLEASE, check out these technology concepts: http://www.airship.com

REVOLUTIONARY AEROSPACE SOLUTIONS FOR TRANSPORT AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

There are other companies around the world (Europe) moving in this direction.

Take a look at http://www.cargolifter.com/2002/repository/splash_ e.html

Take a look at http://www.aiaa.org/images/about/01_TC_Highlights/ aiaa-lta.pdf

Take a look at http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/haa.h tm

OldHawk777

Reality is a self-induced hallucination.

Why? What's threatening about a large bag of non-combustible Helium moving at a top speed of 90mph? More info...

I'd bet that Airbus would kill to be able to use a CargoLifter airship. This is exactly what they are designed for. Can quietly transport 160 metric tons of any size and shape, for drop off at any location.

Oh dear. Looks like they are going bankrupt.

I'd bet that Airbus would kill to be able to use a CargoLifter airship. This is exactly what they are designed for. Can quietly transport 160 metric tons of any size and shape, for drop off at any location.

Oh dear. Looks like they are going bankrupt.

Well, this German company even got as far as constructing a working prototype before going bankrupt a few months ago :( would have been a great idea, though.

They even mention a cooperation with Lockheed on their frontpage ;)

"vaporware" in the truest sense of the word...

Check this press release.

Such an airship is nearly impossible to build.
In Germany the company Cargolifter tried to build an simmilar airship - now they are blanc.

Some Problems:
- If they stand in air with 1000000 litres of water, they will rocket upwards after they have deployed all their water. Same problem at refill.

- If they use helium, the airship had to be larger than 300metres. Cargolifter (260metres) shouldt only carry 160tons. If they use hydrogen, they would not get al lizense to fly such a beast.

Maybe it's possible if they spend $1000000000 over 5-10 years of development.

Regards, Ulli

IIRC, airships are much cheaper per kilo than other aircraft, so surely they would be more suitable for slinging great big pneumatic guns on if you're going for the ultimate cheap solution? Of course, airships are quite slow, but they can carry heavy loads - e.g. the CargoLifter, mentioned here.

Of course, a space-lift would be both much cooler, and much cheaper (ISTR figures of $210 per human for an up-trip, or $40 for a round trip, as on the way down your delta-GPE could be converted back into electricity; presumably this is ignoring R&D and build costs). NASA was mumbling about this about a year ago, but surely such a project would cost billions (and with the US governmental system, it probably won't happen unless a forthcoming, insightful (gasp!) President decides it's important for the future of the US, and can convert/convince a whole lot of people...

www.cargolifter.com

Zeppelin NT:
The Zeppelin NT is a relatively small Zeppelin with only 12 passenger seats. What sets it apart from simple blimps is that a carbon tube over the whole length makes the hull more rigid. Together with three propellers with a swivel angel of up to 120 degrees, that makes for excellent manoeuvrability (specs ). They're close to production.

CargoLifter 160:
In contrast, the CargoLifter will be gigantic (specs). It'll have a length of 260m and will be able to lift up to 160 tons of cargo. So far they've built a balloon for testing purposes and a hangar that is big enough to host fourteen 747s. Both the hangar and the ballon break a number of records. There are a couple of nice webcams.

Zeppelin NT:
The Zeppelin NT is a relatively small Zeppelin with only 12 passenger seats. What sets it apart from simple blimps is that a carbon tube over the whole length makes the hull more rigid. Together with three propellers with a swivel angel of up to 120 degrees, that makes for excellent manoeuvrability (specs ). They're close to production.

CargoLifter 160:
In contrast, the CargoLifter will be gigantic (specs). It'll have a length of 260m and will be able to lift up to 160 tons of cargo. So far they've built a balloon for testing purposes and a hangar that is big enough to host fourteen 747s. Both the hangar and the ballon break a number of records. There are a couple of nice webcams.

Zeppelin NT:
The Zeppelin NT is a relatively small Zeppelin with only 12 passenger seats. What sets it apart from simple blimps is that a carbon tube over the whole length makes the hull more rigid. Together with three propellers with a swivel angel of up to 120 degrees, that makes for excellent manoeuvrability (specs ). They're close to production.

CargoLifter 160:
In contrast, the CargoLifter will be gigantic (specs). It'll have a length of 260m and will be able to lift up to 160 tons of cargo. So far they've built a balloon for testing purposes and a hangar that is big enough to host fourteen 747s. Both the hangar and the ballon break a number of records. There are a couple of nice webcams.

Zeppelin NT:
The Zeppelin NT is a relatively small Zeppelin with only 12 passenger seats. What sets it apart from simple blimps is that a carbon tube over the whole length makes the hull more rigid. Together with three propellers with a swivel angel of up to 120 degrees, that makes for excellent manoeuvrability (specs ). They're close to production.

CargoLifter 160:
In contrast, the CargoLifter will be gigantic (specs). It'll have a length of 260m and will be able to lift up to 160 tons of cargo. So far they've built a balloon for testing purposes and a hangar that is big enough to host fourteen 747s. Both the hangar and the ballon break a number of records. There are a couple of nice webcams.

WyattEarp wrote:

A helicopter will carry more than a blimp [...]
"The helicopter is capable of lifting 16 tons (14.5 metric tons) at sea level, transporting the load 50 nautical miles (57.5 miles) and returning. [...]"

Going by what Cargolifter plans, they'll be able to transport 160 (metric) tons filling up a volume up to 8 x 8 x 50 meter over distances up to 10000 km. (cf. Datasheet for CL 160). This is about 10 times what helicopters can carry for about 100 times the distance.

As they plan to cover those distances at 90 km/h - which is about what lorries can easily reach on highways - I assume that it will be usable in moderate to bad weather too.

WyattEarp wrote:

A helicopter will carry more than a blimp [...]
"The helicopter is capable of lifting 16 tons (14.5 metric tons) at sea level, transporting the load 50 nautical miles (57.5 miles) and returning. [...]"

Going by what Cargolifter plans, they'll be able to transport 160 (metric) tons filling up a volume up to 8 x 8 x 50 meter over distances up to 10000 km. (cf. Datasheet for CL 160). This is about 10 times what helicopters can carry for about 100 times the distance.

As they plan to cover those distances at 90 km/h - which is about what lorries can easily reach on highways - I assume that it will be usable in moderate to bad weather too.

Yes. The NT is pretty small.
But have a look at the specs of the Cagolifter 160. It's HUGE.

And how do they diconnect the building? I can imagine the blimp will go up like a cork once the building is disconnected.

Having sussed out the sucky navigation aids on the site, I found this Rendering. I know bugger all about airships, but those yellow blobs are somewhat suggestive of a fish's swim bladder to me.

Here's a link to the company's info on the CL160 airship: http://www.cargolifter.com/2001/content/solution_e /index-160.htm

Additional info on the company and its other products, etc. can be found here: http://www.cargolifter.com/2001/repository/portal_ noscript_e.html. There are even links to a theme park!

Here's a link to the company's info on the CL160 airship: http://www.cargolifter.com/2001/content/solution_e /index-160.htm

Additional info on the company and its other products, etc. can be found here: http://www.cargolifter.com/2001/repository/portal_ noscript_e.html. There are even links to a theme park!

Here's a link to the company's info on the CL160 airship: http://www.cargolifter.com/2001/content/solution_e /index-160.htm

Additional info on the company and its other products, etc. can be found here: http://www.cargolifter.com/2001/repository/portal_ noscript_e.html. There are even links to a theme park!

So, I suggest a modest investment of a fraction of the proposed cost in: CargoLifter. A decently large fleet wouldn't cost tens of billions, and would provide cheep fast enough cargo service. We could scrap the alaska-siberia issue (being close is not as nescesary), and concentrate on moving stuff between the pacific coastal areas (like San Francisco up to Vancouver (is it?) over to Japan, Hong Kong and some of China). See also: a summary of the cargolifter project.

Now I am a fan of both trains and airships, so ultimately I should like to see both come to pass. But before the bearing-tunnel is a good idea, I should like to see capable, speedy, regular, and affordable rail travel instituted between North American cities at least, then central america and south america too. By regular, I mean Boston to Chicago or Washington at least four times daily (one way), and close locations like Worcester to New York (or even just Boston), or Houston to Dallas, hourly or if they're really close (like an hour appart) then half hourly.

-Daniel

Ahhh. The Swiss Rail

A German company produces Airships for cargo transport. Their website is here.

Arleo

Ah. Lighter than air. A subject I actually know something about :-)

Regardless of your pronouncements, airships are actually well suited for this purpose. In fact, there are several projects to fulfill this type of mission with unmanned airships.

At the altitudes involved, there is actually an atmospheric layer where winds are comparatively light.

The large surface area available on a lighter than air vehicle makes it a natural for collecting energy from sunlight. Gas retention is not a problem. Decades ago, comparatively small free balloons were already flown for periods of six months or more. A far cry from a few days, eh?

There is actually currently a renaissance of airships the likes of which has not been seen since World War II. Zeppelin Metallwerken in Germany has developed a unique semirigid design, which will initially be marketed for touring. CargoLifter, also in Germany, has just completed construction of a vast hangar, and is about to begin construction of a ship capable of carrying bulky indivisible items of cargo up to 160 tons for delivery from hover at minimally prepared destinations. Advanced Technologies Group in Britain is flight testing a scale model of a another cargo carrying design which uses an air cushion to make a large advance in ground handling. Lightship, in Britain, is currently conducting successful trials in Kosovo of a land-mine detecting and surveying airship.

References:
http://www.zeppelin-nt.com/
http://www.cargolifter.com/
http://www.airship.com/index_frames.htm
http://www.airships.com/
http://www.mineseeker.com/
http://spot.colo rad o.edu/~dziadeck/airship/htmls/introduction.htm

1. It's Hindenburg - the real reason was more that Germany was focusing on a soon to begin war - and airships don't make good warplanes anymore (BTW, Germany started already prior to the war scheduled Lufthansa flights Berlin NYC with Ju90 airplanes)
2. I assume you're talking about the Akron class airships, a cloned German design using even Maybach engines (well in fact even the first rigid US airship, the Shenandoah was already a clone - they took all measurements from the crashed German WW1 airship L49). Althou US engeneers tried not only to add new features (The Akron class ships where in fact flying aircraft carriers), but also to improve the 'heavy and unnecessarily reinforced' German design.
3. The two desasters, that took place in 1933 (Akron - in a realy severe stormfront) and 1935 (Macon) are eventualy a result thereof. So the USS Los Angeles (build in Germany as LZ 127) was the only non-crashing US rigid airship.
4. The Navy proved ? Well, 3 doomed US ships vs. hundreds of working German units is like the infamous 'the world needs only a total of five computers ever' quote :)
5. Zeppelins are coming back - well, not exactly, but there are two new design which are neither Blimps but also not complete frame Zeppelins.
   • First there is the Zeppelin NT (Yes, buils by air ship nerds from the very same company Graf Zeppelin founded) a small size airship (75m, 230ft, like a 747 :) with interior frame and doubble hull and swivelling propellers to allow start and landing in an independant way (read: no large ground crew needed anymore). The prototype unit LZ N07 (first flight 18.Sep.1997) can carry 14 Persons, making it one of the largest ships in existance - future Versions may have up to 40 passengers. The test programm is in the final steps for a general flight certificate of the German federal aviation agency (Bundesluftfahrtamt), to be issued during the next few month - serial production has already started.
   • Second there's the Cargolifter a huge (260m, 790ft) semi-rigid keel airship, ment as a flying special load truck, to propell things like power station equipent around the world. Able to lift 160 metric tons (size up to 50x8x8 m^3 / 150x25x25 ft^3). At the moment they have finished the 'workbench', a hall of 360x210x107m 120,000,000 ft^3, big enough for two ships (or 14 Boing 747 planes :). The first ship is to be finished in 2003, then 4 ships a year. Chargolifter is a FSE noted $250m company.
   you see, there's news to big airships - and big companies wouldn't invest their money if ist that useless.

Helium's biggest two assets are:

1. It's ability to act as a buoyant gas for lifting stuff.
2. To make your voice sqeaky at parties.