When a blimp is too slow and a plane can't lift heavy-enough payloads, what's a pilot to do? How about an Aeroscraft, a partially buoyant airship with a rigid hull structure? Made lighter than air with helium, it has all the benefits of a blimp: taking off vertically, lifting hundreds of tons, and generally letting you float around safely in a gigantic aircraft that's longer than a football field and big enough to be a flying warehouse.

The Aeroscraft is a fourth type of flying machine, combining technology from helicopters, airplanes and blimps, and it doesn't require any of that pesky and expensive infrastructure such as airports. Using a combination of buoyancy from its helium, lift from its stubby wings and thrust from its trio of rear-facing engines, this baby is going places. Company officials expect the craft to be in regular service within five years. — Charlie White

Aeroscraft, via Red Ferret Journal