CargoLifter: CL 75 AC Open Air Premiere
Transportation balloon
leaves the CargoLifter hangar in Briesen-Brand for the first time
Berlin/Brand, Germany (ots)
CargoLifter AG has entered a new chapter in the history of its "Lighter-than-Air" technology: the CL 75 AC has been taken out of the hangar for the first time. On the morning of October 12, 2001, at about 7:30, the 61-meter-diameter balloon - floating at a height of about 15 meters - was pulled by mobile cranes for one kilometer to the neighboring airfield where it was anchored.
"Today's success is the first practical proof that we can move systems such as the CL 75 AC and the planned CL 160 airship outside of the hangar as expected," says Dr. Carl von Gablenz, CEO of CargoLifter AG. "This has never happened before in these dimensions. The largest aircraft in existence has been moved outside of the hangar for the first time - a genuine milestone in the practical development of the CargoLifter technology." Beginning in the 2002/2003 financial year, the CL 75 AC will be ready to commercially transport loads weighing up to 75 tons. The logistics company will take in its first revenues - even before completion of its main product, the CargoLifter CL 160 transportation airship.
After tests of the ballast exchange procedure were successfully carried out last week, the CL 75 AC - fitted with all technical systems - left the hangar exactly as predicted in computer simulations. After this first outdoor trial, the transportation balloon was pulled back inside the hangar. In the coming weeks the CL 75 AC will be subjected to further testing outdoors - on its behavior in the open air as well as on the functionality of the ballast exchange procedure. This will provide valuable data which will be used in production of the CargoLifter CL 160. Glenn Beach, CL 75 AC project manager and Vice President of the US subsidiary CargoLifter, Inc., in Raleigh, North Carolina spoke about the results obtained and those that can be expected: "The exceptionally stable behavior of the CL 75 AC outside of the hangar is a confirmation for further development of our "Lighter-than-Air" transportation aircraft and for its practical operation. Many elements of the technical equipment that we're currently testing with the CL 75 AC already correspond to the systems that will be used on the CL 160. Successfully taking the balloon out of the hangar is a great step towards the realization of our "Lighter-than-Air" technology."
CargoLifter AG, based in Berlin, is developing a 260-meter-long and 65-meter-wide airship for the transport of oversized and heavy goods weighing up to 160 metric tons - the CargoLifter CL 160. This "flying crane" will be able to carry out expensive heavy transports faster, more simply and more cost efficiently - without ever touching the ground and almost entirely independent from the local infrastructure. To develop to the airship in a market-oriented way, CargoLifter is already today cooperating with various industrial companies within the framework of its Lead-User concept. Since May 2000, the company's shares have been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange(WKN 540 261, symbol: CLA). Since December 2000 it has been in the MDAX index.
Currently, the CargoLifter company employs 469 people, about 255 of which are working on airship development at the dock in Briesen-Brand, near Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. At the moment, Brand is the company's pivotal location. At the end of 2000 the production hangar for the CL 160 was completed. 107 meters high, 210 meters wide and 360 meters long, it is the world's largest free-standing hangar. CargoLifter has built the CargoLifter World theme park, allowing the interested public to follow the company's development. It has been immensely popular since its opening in June 2000.
Contact:
Silke Rösser
CargoLifter AG
Potsdamer Platz 10
10785 Berlin
Tel.: +49 (0) 30 7261039-2124
Fax: +49 (0) 35477- 6500-2124
email: silke.roesser@cargolifter.com
Marion Jüstel
Publicis Public Relations
Chausseestraße 8
10115 Berlin
Tel.: +49 (0) 30 820 82-509
Fax: +49 (0) 30 820 82-111
email: marion.juestel@publicis-berlin.de