The originally-needle-less top of the Empire State Building was designed to be a dock for blimps, back when dirigibles looked like the wave of the future; after Hindenburg, the only visitor that dock received was a radio antenna.

Will blimps come back? A company named Worldwide Aeros seems to think so; their Aeroscraft ML866 is billed as having loads of applications in the Private, Executive and Commercial arenas. Outfitted as an airborne yacht, a floating business center or a cruise liner and cargo ship, the ML866 requires no runway and can travel up to 3,100 miles.

Sounds like a pipe dream, but Worldwide Aeros already cranks out FAA-certified blimps and aerostats for government and commercial apps; click here to see what they make.

via gizmag