Titanic of the Future: The Next Big Thing in Air Travel

It's a blimp! It's a plane! No, it's the Aeroscraft!

The size of three football fields, it's not set to go into full-scale production until 2010. But doesn't the thought of it get you excited? Imagine stepping onto a spacious, hovering cruise ship on your next long-distance trip. You swim in a pool, read in the library, or relax in your room until arriving at your destination hours or days later.

As someone who gets incredibly motion sick on planes, that doesn't sound too bad to me.

The Aeroscraft is kind of like a giant hovercraft. Or an airplane that takes off like a helicopter. But it seems to make most sense to think of it as a big, floating cruise ship. With all the same luxuries, it will serve a similar purpose as cruise ships but without being limited to ports or water.

But it won't just transport people; it can also transport an incredibly large amount of cargo. Should the Aeroscraft prove cost-effective, goods and supplies (both military and civilian) will be moved en masse in a way we've never before seen.

• The Aeroscraft needs no airport and no runway. This allows it to land on snow, ice, rocks, and -- yes -- water.
• Since it flies at only 8,000 feet above the ground (traditional airplanes climb to about 30,000 feet), it will afford incredible views of the world below.
• It can transport an incredible amount of cargo, and faster than most cargo boats can do so.
• The Aeroscraft would be pretty much the most luxurious form of travel.

The only question about its existence is: Does it make sense? Is it too expensive to allow anyone other than the ten richest people on the world to use it? Can companies or the military really use it to transport massive amounts of merchandise or supplies in a cost-effective manner?

Only time will tell if this idea can fully play out. Of course, they've figured out the mechanics (I won't pretend like I understand them, so check out the links for further explanation of the technicalities), but they're still not positive about the costs of creation and operation.

According to Wikipedia, this year will bring us a small-scale prototype, and we'll have to wait until 2010 to see it full-sized. Who knows how long it will take before you and I can actually ride in one of these things?

But it's pretty exciting, and it reminds us of the rest of the great advances being made in travel technology every year.