The American aviation company Boeing recently announced that it will be developing, constructing and operating a crane airship together with the Canadian company SkyHook. The aviation device, a kind of mixture between helicopter and airship, is to be able to transport up to 40 tons. The CL CargoLifter GmbH & Co. KG a.A. and the Initiative Zukunft in Brand e.V. do appreciate this development. "CargoLifter had set the topic transport by lighter-than-air technology in the minds of logisticians worldwide. This nearly is a synonym and prevails now – unfortunately once again first in foreign countries", said Mirko Hörmann, Managing Director of CL CargoLifter KG.
With the planned JHL-40 one of the biggest aviation corporations of the world is conirming that the market investigations made by CargoLifter are applicable. In remote areas in particular, there is a significant gap in current transport technology, which can be filled by airship technology. Using the know-how of the old company CargoLifter itself did develop a concept that covers the transport of 20–80 tons. In contrast to the project of the Boeing-helicopter-division respective energy consumption CargoLifter relies a mere airship solution. “The CargoLifter KG broke away from a focus on large general plant construction and is following a step by step approach of balloon crane systems over modular built AirTruck with 20 to 40 tons right up to a 80-tons-airship”, said Mirko Hörmann.
“With Boeing and the Canadians it is the partners who point a way to a new beginning, wanting to work closely with CargoLifter in 2002. It should make us wonder in Germany that once again a good idea coming from Germany is implemented in other countries”, so the founder of CargoLifter, Carl von Gablenz. Although in the end of April 2002 Boeing signed a Letter of Intent with the CargoLifter AG the ministry of economy declined any support because of asserted “doubts in feasibility”. In the middle of a general insolvency undertow in spring of 2002 nobody was interested in even the positive. There was barely paid attention to the successful testing of the load exchange procedure with the 55-ton-mine area tank in the load frame of CL75.
With a fractional part of the cost overrun at the projects A380 or A400M one would have been able to preserve at least the core of the CargoLifter-technology and the worldwide singular infrastructure and would be sitting pretty by now! “With the commitment given by Boeing the moment is come in Germany for thinking oficially once again about transportation technology”, said Dr. von Gablenz, if not the CargoLifter gets in the long line of technical developments, whose origin lays here but whose production and commercialization will be done elsewhere.
