Of course, any talk of reviving the genre that never quite rose to meet its proponents' lofty expectations comes with the inevitable wisecracks about the Hindenburg.

Now, Lockheed Martin thinks it can make people stop laughing with its Hybrid Airship, a new sort of aircraft that combines the upsides of the airship with the abilities of a hovercraft.

OK, maybe they'll laugh a little—it looks like it pissed off a swarm of bees—but the Hybrid Airship is nevertheless coasting into reality after decades of development within Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division in Palmdale, California.

The program is one of just two large airship efforts in the world close to fruition; the other is Hybrid Air Vehicles' Airlander 10, aka The Flying Bum. A one-third scale version of Lockheed's ship took off nearly eight years ago, and the venerable defense contractor is now three years from rolling out a production version.