You can see the Airlander 10's home long before you actually get there. I first glimpsed the immense Hangar One in the English village of Cardington from about 5 miles away while I was still on the train from London. Later, as we were approaching in a taxi from the station, I could see it towering above a new housing development next to the former Royal Air Force base.

The hangar looks like a relic from another era, and for good reason. First built a century ago to house the giant rigid zeppelins that used to dominate the skies above Europe and the United States, it's now home to a strikingly modern and unusual aircraft. Though the Airlander 10 looks like a blimp, or rather two blimps stuck together and smashed flat, it flies like an airship, an airplane and a helicopter. And, yes, it well deserves its nickname of the "The Flying Bum."