#Cargolifter hinge how to

The idea of a modern zeppelin was easy and appealing to describe. Its gleaming hangar is a photographer's dream. The company benefited from constant media attention. But fascination with technology and entrepreneurship took hold here as well, and Cargolifter raised nearly $60 million more in a May 2000 public stock offering. It was a huge achievement in persuasion, especially in a country as habitually risk averse as Germany. He got land and more than $30 million in cash assistance from the German state of Brandenburg to build the hangar. Von Gablenz started Cargolifter in 1996 and raised more than $150 million privately. A former logistics executive and professor, who worked out his basic ideas on a sabbatical in North Carolina, Mr. Von Gablenz, meanwhile, has run through money faster than he hoped. Still, in its annual report last year, it noted that ''combining an airship with a crane constitutes an enormous technical challenge'' and that it would not be known until 2004 or later if the airships would be viable. The company has built a working scale model of the 160-ton-capacity airship and a full-size prototype of the 75-ton balloon, which is almost 70 yards across.

''This is something that would take hours.''Ĭargolifter executives say extensive studies have confirmed their concept. ''This isn't something that would happen in a few minutes,'' Mr. Then there is the problem of keeping a 100-ton piece of delicate engineering equipment from swinging and drifting as it dangles from the airship during unloading. But that assumes 160 tons of water are available, which may not be the case in the Siberian tundra or the Sahara.

#Cargolifter hinge how to

But when it comes time to lower and then release the oil rig or power turbine, engineers had to figure out how to keep the airship from shooting skyward the moment it released the enormous weight.Ĭargolifter designed ballast tanks that can be pumped with up to 160 tons of water as the unloading progresses. An immense helium balloon can indeed hoist up gigantic payloads.