By Ian Christe
The dirigible was once seen as the future of transportation. Post-Hindenburg, the aircraft were reborn as mobile billboards. Now the blimp has been reborn again, courtesy of a German cargo company. CargoLifter's helium airships can haul up to 160 tons - around the weight of a Boeing 747 - for a fraction of the cost of air freight and 10 times faster than the land and sea alternatives. When its prototype launches this summer, CargoLifter aims to fly off with a share of the US$9 billion-a-year market in oversize cargo.
The scheme may sound a bit lightheaded, but consider the following: blimps require little infrastructure costs and helium is cheap, inert, and reusable. Looks like the transportation of the future has a future again.
ELECTRIC WORD
Luftblimp
