The first movements of the LCA60T cargo door

With its dimensions (100 m long and 8 m wide), the LCA60T cargo door is truly impressive. Equipped with a mobile structure capable of withstanding aerodynamic loads and adapting to the airship’s structural deformations, it ensures the door’s closure and enhances the airship’s aerodynamic performance.

The 10-meter-long scaled-down door demonstrator, currently being tested at our partner GROUPE ADF, allows us to:

✔ Verify that the door behaves as expected and fulfills all its functions with the required performance.
✔ Observe the behavior of the moving parts by simulating different configurations of temperature variations (from -30°C to +60°C) and geometry.
✔ Measure friction levels to refine the performance model.
✔ Identify sensitivity to failure scenarios.

▶️ The test campaign will run until the end of 2025.

🤝 Many thanks to our technical partner GROUPE ADF for their commitment, as well as to High Point for their contribution to assembling the fabric on the demonstrator.

These tests are part of the PSPC LCA60T project funded by the French State and operated by Bpifrance under the “Programme d’investissements d’avenir.”