CargoLifter – the dream of a giant airship? Not really. The reason why the CargoLifter was to be developed was a different one: mechanical and plant engineers, not only in Germany, have for years faced the problem of transporting large plant from the manufacturer’s factory to the site where the plant is ultimately to be commissioned. Planning and carrying out such a transport often costs millions, and the average speed of the transports is around 8 km/h. How wonderful it would be to be able to ‘lift’ the plant components from the air at the factory and set them down at the installation site. No aeroplane is capable of this; helicopters lack the necessary lifting capacity (the largest standard helicopter can lift approx. 20 tonnes) and existing aircraft lack the necessary endurance, as lift must be generated dynamically at considerable cost. This is where the initial idea of using an airship arose. An airship has static lift, which is generated and maintained by its lifting gas (lighter than air) – without any additional energy input.
The White Whale of the Skies (2002)
This film was released in 2002, shortly after CargoLifter AG went into insolvency. It provides a good overview of the company’s successes and challenges. Experts have their say, and a realistic picture emerges.
A film by Dirk Pohlmann.
Camera: Ulrich Leufen et al., Narrator: Dirk Pohlmann
Apart from a few original soundbites, the film is in German. Please switch on the subtitles if necessary!
Please excuse the running times and the reduced quality. Unfortunately, we do not have the original; only this version for film editing.
You can find more films on our YouTube channel.
For original materials and broadcasting rights, please contact the Initiative Leichter als Luft! The CargoLifter AG media archive is available there.
The CargoLifter CL160
The CL-160 was intended to be CargoLifter AG’s flagship product and the first large airship in around 60 years, as well as the world’s largest airship. The CL-160 was designed as a semi-rigid keel airship, with a powerful heavy-duty crane integrated into its keel. Helium was to be used as the lifting gas. Thanks to its unique design, the CargoLifter would have been able to carry out loading and unloading processes without landing. Whilst the airship hovered at an altitude of approximately 100 metres, the cargo was to be lowered or hoisted using cable winches and anchor points fixed to the ground. To ensure that the airship’s total weight and flight characteristics remained unchanged, the cargo was to be exchanged for ballast water. This load-exchange procedure had already been successfully tested on the CL75 cargo balloon, including with a 55-tonne mine-clearing tank. Below is a selection of images and videos.
The complete media archive of CargoLifter AG can be found at the Initiative Leichter als Luft e.V. There you can also purchase print, web and broadcast rights.
- Auszug aus der CargoLifter-StoryChapter 5 of the CargoLifter Story (pre-release) – ‘Subtract rather than add’: an overview and critical review of the development of the CL-160 (Only available in German at the moment, unfortunately)9 MB
Insolvency
CargoLifter is widely regarded as one of those major failed projects in the state of Brandenburg, alongside the Lausitzring and the chip factory. However, it is completely wrong to pretend that CargoLifter failed solely because of management errors. A project of this magnitude, which had never been implemented in this form before, inherently carries the risk that, even with careful planning, not everything will go as intended and that the engineers may have initially underestimated one or two problems. However, the alternative is to do nothing out of fear of making a mistake. And if the management really did supposedly get everything so wrong, why are the entire workforce and the shareholders being held collectively responsible? CargoLifter was and is not just a good idea or vision, but something that needs to be implemented. However, CargoLifter has now also become a cautionary tale of how a promising technology project is sacrificed to personal interests. What is particularly telling in the CargoLifter case is that this was done by the very person who, as a minister, was actually responsible for the success of such a far-reaching innovation on the part of the government – for the good of his country, not for his own interests.
An unbiased discussion of the CargoLifter issue is facilitated by the fact that, following a thorough investigation lasting one and a half years, the Potsdam Public Prosecutor’s Office has dropped the preliminary investigations against the former board members of CargoLifter AG and the management of the group companies for delaying insolvency, investment fraud and breach of trust – in their entirety. This should remove the basis for the many rumours currently in circulation, some of which were deliberately spread.
It is also necessary for the true facts to come to light in the public eye, so that CargoLifter is no longer seen as a ‘disaster’ but as a sadly missed opportunity. It is important to set the course in a positive direction and make a fresh start. Facts must be accepted, but not distortions of history! Of course, the management of CargoLifter also made mistakes, but these people, together with 500 employees and hundreds of external partners, backed by the financial support of 70,000 shareholders, at least did something. Only those who do nothing (allegedly) make no mistakes – but one can learn from mistakes, and after analysis, one surely knows in many respects what one would do differently today.
You can read about the eventful history of the insolvency proceedings here
on the website of the Initiative Leichter als Luft e.V.
