Australian firm Skylifter is developing a piloted airship that will carry up to 150 tonnes more than 1,200 miles.
They hope that the vehicles could one day carry rural hospitals and disaster-relief centres to remote
* Invention could see disaster-relief centres dropped into remote areas
Steady as she goes: The airship's design means that it is extremely easy to steer, according to the Australian firm behind it.Up and away: An artist's impression of the 500ft Skylifter balloon which would be able to carry heavy loads over hundreds of miles
The airship has been designed as a disc rather than a conventional cigar shape, which the developers say makes it easier to steer and carry heavy loads under different wind conditions.
Measuring 500ft across - the size of a football stadium - it will move using propellers which can be adjusted to change direction while the heavy weight of the load hanging underneath keeps the airship steady.
And the payload it carries will be 700 times that of a heavy cargo helicopter.
Skylifter has already produced a prototype called Betty which is just under 10ft across and can carry just over a pound in weight.
It has also produced a 60ft-wide prototype of the balloon design itself, without an engine.
The firm plans to launch a full-sized prototype, nearly 150ft wide, within the next three years.
