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Giant Airships to Deploy Buildings by 2003

Posted by michael on from the sandworms-can't-get-you dept.

UniDyne writes: "CargoLifter, an airship manufacturer based in Germany, plans to build giant-sized airships to drop modular buildings in remote areas and help with disaster relief. These airships are the size of the largest building in my home city: the NationsBank Headquarters here in Charlotte! This article explains the possible uses of these airships and how CargoLifter plans to build a manufacturing hangar in North Carolina. They kind of remind me of something you'd see in an anime series." Mmmmm, CargoLifter.

4 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. Priorities by Animats · · Score: 4
    The CargoLifter web site resembles a dot-com with too much venture capital and a bad business concept. The product isn't ready, but the theme park and the visitor's center are open. They have seven locations and twelve business units. They did all the irrelevant stuff first.

    If they had one medium-sized airship ferrying around bulky medium-weight stuff like drilling rigs and transmission towers, and real customers using it, it would be a better company.

  2. They are quite serious about it, indeed. by mmkhd · · Score: 5

    I have read a lot of dismissive comments about cargolifter here. And it is true that they face a lot of technical difficulties.

    But they are very serious about building this keeled airship (not a blimp, not a zeppelin).

    They have build the production facilty in Germany, an incredibly big hangar. They do have lots of investors, many of them companies that will benefit from the finished product.

    Yes their stock is slumping, but that is no wonder in the current climate at the stock exchanges, it _is_ a very risky venture.

    But this is not some crazy venture, von Gablenz is going about it in a very level headed way. When they premiered on the stock market during the bubble, they did not go to the "Neuer Markt" where the bubble economy was rampant. They went into the MDAX. The DAX is Germany's equivalent of the Dow, the MDAX holds the next 100 smaller companies (not small caps, more like middle caps, damn my restriceted vocabulary). This means that they are very interested in a steady, level headed developement of Cargolifter, instead of making big bucks fast.

    To sum it up: Cargolifter is a risky, crazy thing, but they are very sure of accomplishing this technological feat. The already have funding up to the finished full scale operating prototype (their estimates).

    So watch out! If it can be done, their doing it. It is incredibly interesting technology and it will be fun to watch how they are going to do it. Their web site holds a lot of information and many good pictures of side projects and the big hangar. http://www.cargolifter.com

    Marcus

  3. Wired Article - Much more in-depth by NevDull · · Score: 5

    Wired ran a much more in-depth article about this last August. It also discussed worldwide helium shortages which may come about because of such increased demand.

    -Nev

  4. Link to CargoLifter's CL160 Page by martyb · · Score: 4

    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!