2010-10-06

SkyLifter Heavy Lifting Airships

SkyLifter airship may one day carry buildings (w/ Video)



(PhysOrg.com) -- An Australian aeronautical company is developing a giant balloon that will one day be capable of carrying payloads more than seven times the maximum load carried by a heavy cargo helicopter. The inventors hope the balloons will be able to carry disaster relief centers and even modular hospitals into remote areas.



SkyLifter

skylifter.com.au - What is SkyLifter?


sl2palace.jpg SkyLifters are heavy-lifting aircraft in development.
The aircraft are designed to take off where helicopters leave off, with vertical pick-up and delivery capability of over-size, fragile or bulky items up to 150 tonnes and, on a case by case basis, potentially more. The business focuses on using an aerial crane to transport large self-contained accommodation modules but these aircraft may also be used to transport payloads of equipment, freight and other loads that are currently impossible to pick up and fly.

Further into the future a SkyPalace variant is under consideration, for luxury air-cruising. Beyond this there are many potential applications.

The SkyLifter solution - a piloted aircraft for crane and transportation logistics

  • 150-tonne-load vertical pickup and precise delivery
  • any Shape, any Location, any Distance
  • more than helicopter operating capability but without the windy downdraft or noise
  • minimal environmental footprint

The Skylifter – Flying hotel, transporter of 150 ton buildings, and aerial mega-yacht - I Look Forward To


An Australian aeronautics company is developing a 150 meter wide discus-shaped helium balloon with a payload capacity of 150 tons. Among other things, the Skylifter will have the ability to move multistory buildings to remote locations and serve as a new generation of airborne luxury cruise ships. 
 

You’ve seen hot air balloons, maybe been in one. Now imagine one that has a hotel strapped to it. This is exactly what Australian company Skylifter is developing. Using a round, flat, helium filled balloon, it will cruise at a speed of 83 kph, at distances up to 2000 km. This innovative technology opens up a confounding array of possibilities, and the Australians are already planning for a whole host of applications: