"[narrator] A new breed of super machines is evolving." "Bigger, faster, smarter, built to tackle near-impossible feats." "Among them: a next-generation airship." "We'rereadyto startengines in the cockpit." "I love it!" "It's like driving a racecar!" "[narrator] Will this experimental floating giant forever change air transportation..." "It'sthefirsttimewe've built a ship like this ever." "[narrator]...or will it crash and burn?" "(Tim):" "Fire!" "Fire!" "Pull up!" "Pull up!" "We're about to hit the fence!" "[narrator] We'll blow this" "$35 million beast apart to discover technological secrets that overcome the impossible." "A revolutionary helium buoyancy system that can lift 9 SUVs, engines with the combined power of a racecar, landing feet to touch down anywhere in the world." "We'll reveal how this extraordinary airship evolved to rise above all other machines." "Tustin Airbase, 40 miles southeast of downtown" "Los Angeles." "(man):" "It's OK, let it go." "[narrator] Inside this former military hangar, engineers make adjustments to a prototype flying machine." "(man):" "OK, I'm ready." "Sounds good, guys." "[narrator] A revolutionary airship." "Her design could usher in a new generation of cargo vehicles, carrying everything from food and military hardware to humanitarian aid and cars for less money than any airplane in existence." "John,we'regoingtogo for another test." "Looks good." "[narrator] In 24 hours time, she will make her first ever test flight." "3,2 ,1 ... [narrator] This is the daredevil pilot who will fly her." "I'mkindof aheliumhead , so to speak." "[narrator] Corky Belanger, one of around only 50 blimp pilots worldwide." "He's clocked up more than 15,000 hours flight time in airships." "Afterflyingfor40plus  years just in airships alone, this is the pinnacle of my career." "This is..." "I'm really looking forward to this and making it work." "The future of lighter-than-air is resting on what we're doing here." "In the next 20 years, I think that you're gonna be able to look up and see an airship just as readily as you look up now and you see an airplane." "I guess, in a sense, when you get into something like this, you're laying your butt on the line, you don't know." "[narrator] In less than 24 hours, Corky will test fly the prototype of what could become a viable cargo-carrying airship called the Aeroscraft." "This next-generation vehicle is christened "Dragon Dream"." "She'sabsolutelybeautiful." "I'm really looking forward to taking her out and seeing what she'll do." "[narrator] Corky's flown nothing like her before." "Built from 10,000 components, her revolutionary buoyancy system is filled with" "$250,000 of helium." "Three 300-horsepower engines thrust her through the sky and 4 ingenious feet work like hovercrafts to glide across rough terrain." "She's a brand-new concept to ship any type of cargo cheaply across the globe." "Tome,it 'slikeBackto theFuture." "It 'sreallymoder, spaceshipy-looking." "And yet, you can go back over a 100 years, and a lot of that technology is right here." "[narrator] The prototype" "Dragon Dream weighs 18 tons and is 270 feet long." "But if she passes tomorrow's test flight, a production line could start making airships over 3 times her size: 920 feet long with lifting capabilities of 500 tons." "They would be the largest aircraft ever made." "Thisvalveis disconnected." "[narrator] The responsibility for getting this unique airship ready for takeoff falls to one man: 32-year-old Lead Engineer" "Tim Kenny." "There'salwaysaproblem!" "Nothing is ever perfect, right?" "[narrator] He has never built anything like Dragon Dream before." "BeforeI cameto Aeros,Iwas building large robotic machines that shrink-wrap cases of soda." "Now, today, we're building a 270-foot-long airship." "You know, that pressure can become extremely overwhelming, especially being, you know, kind of your first role." "[narrator] The man who is applying the maximum pressure is Dragon Dream's inventor." "Company CEO, Igor Pasternak." "Born in the Soviet Union, he founded airship company Aeros" "20 years ago." "He's secured $35 million from NASA and the Department of Defense to turn his vision into reality." "His reputation is riding on tomorrow's test flight." "(Russian accent):" "It's hard to say... "What is your personal investment?" It's everything." "It's my life." "It's literally my life." "And how are you going to do tomorrow?" "Oh,we'llbe fine for tomorrow." "[narrator] Airships were once seen as the transport solution of the future." "Until things went terribly wrong... (explosion)" "...when the hydrogen-filled" "Hindenburg exploded in 1937." "Rather than using hydrogen," "Dragon Dream is filled with helium, a gas that doesn't burn." "And Igor's big idea is to reinvent airships to carry cargo." "Perhapssomeof thepeople will think we're crazy." "And a lot of them still think we're crazy." "And tomorrow will probably be the day when the amount of people who think we are crazy will be significantly reduced." "[narrator] Igor hopes his design could use the same amount of fuel to travel from Los Angeles to Chicago as a regular jetliner would use just to get airborne." "And it needs no runways;" "it could takeoff and land anywhere." "If Dragon Dream works, its low operating costs could mean larger versions win him a slice of the 5-trillion-dollar air cargo industry." "If the test flight fails, his" "$35 million dream will be over." "Alright!" "Let'srock!" "[narrator] It's the day of the big test." "I'mnervous,youknow." "I'm very nervous, but trying to control it, because I don't want to be nervous and then everybody else gets nervous..." "So trying to be the guy that's not the nervous one, but my nerves are rattled." "[narrator] Dragon's Dream's biggest challenge is withstanding the stresses of her first ever test flight." "Building her was a trade off between weight and strength." "Weightisyournumberone enemy." "You can build anything as strong as you want it to be, but it won't float or it won't take off." "On this aircraft, you could build everything as light as possible, but then, it won't take your loads when you look at it from a cargo standpoint." "It would collapse." "[narrator] Structural failure during the test flight could lead to a disastrous crash and endanger the lives of the pilots." "But Dragon Dream has a secret weapon her designers hope will stop her breaking up mid-flight." "Theskeletonstructureof this aircraft is a combination of unique materials that we've developed mostly in-house, and then combined them in this aircraft in a very unique way to make it fly." "[narrator] Beneath the airship's skin, 10,000 honeycomb aluminum struts make up her frame." "30,000 precision-drilled holes make them extra light." "Underneath her metal skeleton is Dragon Dream's backbone:" "520 lightweight carbon fibre poles arranged in a structure inspired by a world-famous monument... the Eiffel Tower." "It's an enormous building that's very light for its size." "In fact, it weighs less than the air trapped in a cylinder of the same width and height." "That's because the designers bolted the tower's thin iron struts together in trusses made from triangles, the strongest structure in engineering." "Dragon Dream's 200 trusses are even stronger." "96 special nodes join them together." "They move just a few fractions of an inch under stress." "Her rigid carbon fiber backbone can flex without breaking, and the ship shouldn't snap in half in mid-air." "Thesenodesof thestructure, it's kind of like the spine of your back." "It's the cartilage in between each vertebrae that allows those vertebraes to flex together without fracturing each other." "She's strong and she's flexible." "[narrator] Dragon Dream's designers have done all they can to prevent a catastrophic mid-air structural failure." "AmI nervous?" "No ." "I slept good, last night." "[narrator] Now they're just one hour away from finding out if their design holds together to make history." "You'rereadyto start?" "I'mgonnabe ." "Let'sdoit !" "[narrator] At Tustin Airbase," "California, the revolutionary" "Dragon Dream airship is just 30 minutes away from her first ever test flight." "ThemainPC 'son , the envelope monitoring system is on." "[narrator] Pilots Corky and Igor perform final flight checks." "PDFIcalibrationtab..." "OK, that's over here." "You'rereadyto start?" "I'mgonnabe ." "Let'sdoit !" "[narrator] Lead Engineer Tim briefs his team." "Today'sthebigday ofall our hard work." "We're going to go out there and see this aircraft really go forward and do some flights." "Watch your feet, watch for holes." "It's dirty, it's dusty out there." "Anybody have any questions?" "[narrator] This is the plan:" "taxi Dragon Dream out the hangar, attempt takeoff for the very first time then fly across the airfield, testing the airship's systems under real flight conditions." "Wedon'twanttohit anything, so we need to be very careful of what's going on on the ropes." "And keeping up with your crew chief and stuff like that." "[narrator] The flight's main objective is to trial her experimental buoyancy system." "It's called COSH, standing for" ""Control of Static Heaviness"." "TheCOSHsysteminthis  aircraft is revolutionary." "There is not an aircraft in the world that has this system on board." "[narrator] Traditional airships need ballast to stay on the ground when unloading heavy cargo." "Dragon Dream is different." "She controls her own heaviness by adjusting the amount of air and helium inside the airship." "Whatwe'redoinghereis making a simulation for this aircraft, proving that the COSH system works on an open-air flight." "What we're doing is using a large box here." "We're going to stick that in the cockpit of this aircraft with a simulated payload." "We're using leaded bags here." "And then we'll take it for a flight, then we'll remove it and the vehicle will stay stationary on the ground after the flight." "Don't put them all in one end, guys." "[narrator] To prove Dragon Dream works as a cargo airship, the COSH system must make her lighter for takeoff and then heavier when unloading the box on the ground." "Don'tmakeme do all the work, guys." "Come on!" "[narrator] If the airship rises during the unload, Dragon Dream fails the test, and $35 million of investment goes down the drain." "Idon'twantittoflyaway, but we've done all the tests inside the hangar and simulated that so we should go outside and everything should be OK." "(Corky):" "OK, guys, I'd like to do a flight control check." "[narrator] 10 minutes to takeoff." "Bottomrightis 1.8now ." "It's adjusting up." "[narrator] Corky and Igor perform final preflight checks." "OK,we'vegot12gallons, 12 gallons, 12 gallons." "So we've got fuel in all the tanks." "On." "OK,we'regoodtogo,dude." "OK." "(engine starting)" "[narrator] There's no turning back now." "(Tim):" "Alright." "We're moving." "We'removing." "We 'removing!" "[narrator] The future of aviation history could be transformed if Dragon Dream and her pilots perform flawlessly." "Just one hitch, and the test flight could end in catastrophe." "(Tim):" "Nice work, Corky!" "Rogerthat." "[narrator] 5 minutes to takeoff." "It's time to test if the COSH system gets the airship airborne." "(Igor):" "Start slowly, OK?" "Remember your stage." "You need to do it slowly." "[narrator] Inside are 9 massive bags made from a top-secret fabric." "They hold thousands of cubic feet of pressurized helium, which they can shift in and out of her shell." "At the rear sit vital air ballast bags that can change the airship's buoyancy." "Their design evolved from marine life." "Fish control their buoyancy through a unique organ:" "the swim bladder." "As they move up and down in the water, they shift gas from the bloodstream in and out of the bladder to keep their buoyancy perfectly balanced." "Dragon Dream supersizes this idea." "Each of her 4 ballast bags holds 900 pounds of air to weigh the ship down and keep her on the ground." "When Corky jettisons air from the bags and feeds more helium into the shell, the airship should become lighter than air and take off." "[narrator] Getting the COSH system to this make or break stage was a big challenge." "Two months ago, the team installed it inside the hangar." "Sonowyoucan see we're pumping in the helium here and it's starting to inflate." "It probably takes about 30 minutes total." "[narrator] They threaded each of the 9 pressurized helium tanks, made from a top-secret fabric, through a small gap in the airship's frame." "We'veremovedoneofthe structural components and we'll be installing in this location." "We'regoingto lift." "You guys are going to push." "Are you ready?" "Hey, watch the harness." "ADRIAN RAMOS, production supervisor:" "We don't want this thing rubbing on any of the sharp edges on the structure." "[narrator] A rip in one tank could cause the airship to fail mid-air, possibly resulting in a deadly crash." "Thereareso manycablesin this structure." "It makes it so difficult for us to get in there and attach these harnesses to those nodes." "It might not be my life depending on it, but somebody else's is going to be in this aircraft flying, and it's very important that everything gets covered and addressed the way it should." "(machine beeping) [narrator] Today, the COSH system is ready to switch on." "Therewego ..." "Yeah!" "[narrator] But Tustin Airbase is a challenging location to trial this unproven technology." "There'sonlyso muchhecan do in this short little area." "If we were out in the desert to build this aircraft, he'd have lots of room." "[narrator] The final approach of" "California's John Wayne Airport passes close to the test flight area." "Release helium too fast, and the airship could shoot up into busy airspace." "CanI releaseallCOSH?" "Goahead,releaseit." "[narrator] An uncontrolled takeoff could be disastrous." "Everything now depends on 9 pairs of critical valves attached to the helium tanks inside the airship." "Small pneumatic switches open and close the valves' flaps to control the flow of gas into her shell." "But release too much helium, and Dragon Dream could ascend too quickly and fly into the path of a landing airplane." "(Igor):" "Back to hover." "[narrator] One miscalculation now could lead to a catastrophic collision with local air traffic." "OK,herewe go ,guys." "[narrator] The lives of the pilots and Dragon Dream's future now hang in the balance." "Hover,hover,hover." "Come on, baby." "Come on, baby." "[narrator] Pilots Corky and Igor are taking off in the pioneering" "Dragon Dream airship." "If she successfully completes her first ever test flight, she could revolutionize the 5-trillion- dollar air cargo industry." "OK,we'regoingtoregulate just to stabilize here." "[narrator] To leave the ground, her unique helium tanks must release the right amount of gas, or the $35 million machine could fly into the path of landing airplanes." "OK,herewe go ,guys." "Easy." "Iamveryeasy." "That'sit!" "It 'sworking." "It'sworking?" "Youcanhearit." "It'sverygood." "Comeon,baby!" "Comeon,baby!" "That's OK." "Let's leave it right there." "(Tim):" "You're off the ground." "How'sthat,Igor?" "Beautiful." "[narrator] It's a perfect takeoff." "Ohyeah!" "Igor,we're on vacation now, buddy." "Let'sgofly." "[narrator] Now Corky and Igor must prove Dragon Dream can fly the full quarter mile length of the test area." "Vector'scomingup ." "[narrator] The airship measures 260 feet long and weighs" "18 tons." "She needs powerful engines to thrust her forward." "But conventional engines can create vibrations that could wreck the airship's frame." "Rogerthat." "If everybody's ready, here we go." "[narrator] So the team fitted this airship with 3 ingenious engines that should smooth out the ride." "Their 6 cylinders are laid out to eliminate destructive vibrations... an idea that began in car racing." "Early race cars had a big problem." "In long races, their engines shook themselves apart." "Engineers discovered horizontal pistons moving in opposite directions evened out the forces inside the engine." "This reduced the engine's vibrations and powered the race car to victory." "Dragon Dream takes this technology to the next level." "Her 6 cylinders, arranged in opposing pairs, produce 300 horsepower." "(clanking metal)" "Their smooth running should reduce the stress on the airship's structure and keep" "Dragon Dream powering forwards through the air." "Comingforward,Igor." "Enjoy the moment, Igor." "Enjoy this moment." "[narrator] But any engine can go wrong... as the team discovered 4 weeks before the test flight." "Adam,easy!" "Yougot slow speed?" "Everybody is ready?" "[narrator] When they performed a routine trial in the hangar..." "Servo,rightengine." "Bryan,beveryready!" "You're clear to start." "[narrator]...disaster struck." "Oh!" "Fire!" "Fire!" "(fire alarm whooping)" "It'sgood." "Youguyswanttoshut down  for a minute the left engine and hover." "And let's get up there and really check it out." "[narrator] Fuel flooded the engine, and a backfire ignited." "Ifyou'reairborne and you get an engine fire, that's a critical, critical, critical thing." "I don't want anything to catch on fire other than my barbeque, ever!" "When somebody says "fire,"" "it's usually something happening that you don't want to happen." "[narrator] A repeat of the hangar fire during today's test flight will be catastrophic." "Dragon Dream's been airborne for 20 minutes." "As Corky ramps up the RPM, there's no sign of trouble." "He can now concentrate on the flight's next critical test... steering Dragon Dream using the airship's rudder-like flaps called control surfaces." "Corky's commands must reach the control surfaces as fast as possible." "They race from his joystick through the ship's nervous system:" "830 feet of fiber optic cable." "Travelling at over a 120,000 miles per second, they reach 10 pneumatic pistons that move the control surfaces." "It's a system that should give" "Corky super fast handling." "Thisaircraftis responding to his inputs and staying on position." "I mean, it looks great." "I'm really happy with what's going on so far." "[narrator] Dragon Dream's control surfaces keep her straight and leveled." "But up ahead lies the next big test:" "maneuvering over a 100-foot gap in a tall fence." "(crew member):" "This wind is allovertheplacerightnow." "Thewind'sshiftingonus now, Igor." "It's really squirrely." "[narrator] Mother Nature is pushing the airship off course." "We'redealingwithwind vectors coming around that hangar, all of these buildings, so the wind changes quite a bit on us." "[narrator] The danger level is rising." "There's a real risk" "Dragon Dream could collide with the fence..." "Thedamnwind'sgoingin the wrong direction now, buddy." "[narrator]...and her test flight, end in disaster." "[narrator] At Tustin Airbase," "California, $35 million airship" "Dragon Dream is half an hour into her first ever test flight." "If successful, this prototype could spawn a new generation of airships that promises to reshape the 5-trillion-dollar air cargo industry." "(ground control):" "Are you going to go up and over?" "We'regoingto go ,yeah, something like that." "[narrator] Pilots Corky and Igor must now prove Dragon Dream's untested steering system can maneuver her over a 100-foot gap in a fence up ahead." "[narrator] Dragon Dream's designers have equipped the rear of the airship with a propeller framed by 2 retractable shrouds." "The design should steer the airship from the back." "It's an ingenious idea that evolved from rockets." "Pioneering rocket engineers faced a major problem: too many of their designs lost control during the slow takeoff." "In the late 1940s, they tried something new: installing a moveable nozzle to direct thrust and a gyroscope in the rocket's nose." "If the gyro sensed the rocket leaning one way, it positioned the nozzle the other way to shift the engine's thrust and push the rocket back on course." "Dragon Dream uses this rocket steering concept in a new way." "Corky can move the airship's shrouds to redirect the thrust from side to side and rotate them to nudge the tail up or down." "He should be able to turn the airship on a dime." "(ground operator):" "Alright, everybody, we're good to go." "[narrator] Lead Engineer Tim" "Kenny is worried about how the steering system will work under flight conditions." "Thisisallnew ." "Imean , every time we do something with it, it's new." "And we're learning things as it goes." "It's the first time we've built a ship like this ever." "[narrator] The only chance the team's had to trial the experimental steering system was inside the hangar, just a month before the test flight." "OK!" "1 ,2 ,3 ,4 ,5 ." "(Tim):" "Crotchety old man, do you copy?" "Igotyou,you young springer!" "OK." "We're going to pitch down and then we're going to pitch up." "Is that correct?" "You'regoingto pitchup,  then you're going to pitch down." "Ha,ha!" "OK ,I'mready," "I'm ready to go." "OK, starting aft engine." "[narrator] The system took 6 months and $30,000 to build." "OK." "Theoiltemperatureis good enough to begin this little thing we've got going here." "Copythat." "Correct." "I'mshowingfullrotation and full extension." "It'slookinggoodbackhere ." "OK." "Alright,Corky!" "Let'sgoback  and pitch down." "Executingpitchdown." "I'm showing full extension." "I'm showing full retraction." "[narrator] Hangar tests were a success." "But no one knows how the system will work during today's test flight, as Dragon Dream approaches the fence." "IfI gofromhere,Idon 't have to drag the ropes over the fence." "Let me know when everybody's in position." "(ground operator):" "Ground crew is in position." "We'vegotsomesafetyguys on the lines just in case it does something we don't want it to." "So what we're going to do is kind of let the lines completely slack." "We'll still have guys close by, needed if we want to." "[narrator] This is the most dangerous stage of the test flight so far." "Innovative steering systems can fail with disastrous results." "Virginia, 1922." "US Army airship Roma suffered a malfunction with its steering mechanism." "The airship drifted towards the ground." "It hit high-voltage power lines... and exploded. 34 passengers and crew died instantly." "Comingforward,Igor." "[narrator] On their approach to the fence, Corky and Igor attempt a gentle turn." "We'restartingto drift a little bit." "The wind's shifting on us now," "Igor." "Yeah,I canfeel." "[narrator] Tim watches nervously as the airship changes position." "Thewindjustshifted 90 degrees on us." "We're not going to be able to go over that fence, Igor, with this wind!" "[narrator] Strong gusts suddenly push the airship off line... (Tim):" "Careful, guys." "We're drifting hard." "[narrator]...overpowering the experimental steering system... (ground operator):" "Aft cushions are coming down." "Aft cushions are not clear yet." "Youmeanthey'regoing to hit the fence?" "[narrator]...and putting Dragon" "Dream on a collision course with the fence." "(Tim):" "Tail up, tail up!" "rator] ," "California, the revolutionary" "Dragon Dream airship is in trouble." "(Tim):" "Careful, guys." "We're drifting hard." "[narrator] Strong winds are pushing her straight towards a tall fence." "(ground operator):" "Aft cushions are coming down." "Aftcushionsarenot clearye." "Youmeanthey'regoing to hit the fence?" "(ground operator):" "Stay clear of the fence!" "(Tim):" "Corky, up a little bit." "Tail up, tail up!" "We're about to hit the fence!" "[narrator] Pilots Corky and Igor face a make or break decision:" "crash land the $35 million airship or power over the 7-foot tall fence and set down on the other side." "Idon'thaveachoice,guys." "I've got no choice." "(ground operator):" "OK, we're about 6 feet off the fence." "Yeah, you come forward." "[narrator] The airship scrapes over the fence with just feet to spare." "OK,we'reclearofall obstacles." "Is that correct?" "(ground operator):" "Correct." "[narrator] Touchdown." "It'sverygood." "[narrator] It's a relief for" "Lead Engineer Tim Kenny." "Oh,let'sjustgo6 feet off the fence." "Couple of times right there, it was pretty "woah!"" "[narrator] It's time for the next critical test." "The airship must taxi back to the hangar to prove it can operate in areas with rough landing zones." "Iwantto taxiforward." "[narrator] Corky and Igor are relying on the airship's unique feet for a smooth ride." "Each one is 26 feet long, almost the length of 2 SUVs." "They're designed to reduce friction between the airship and the ground by floating on a cushion of air." "They owe their origins to a groundbreaking invention from the 1950s." "A propeller, an engine and a boat with rubber wrapped around it." "The propeller pushed air down into the rubber skirting." "It was the world's first commercial hovercraft and inspired the Dragon Dream's feet." "The fans in each foot spin at 3,400 RPM." "They push air into a soft plastic skirt, forming a thin cushion of air directly under the airship." "These mini-hovercrafts should allow Dragon Dream to glide across the roughest terrain." "We'llseehowwell these cushions work." "(Corky):" "Alright, Igor, you wanna have some fun?" "Here we go!" "We're going to go forward now, we got some room." "Go." "(Tim):" "How close do you want to get to the hangar, guys?" "Ah,50feet." "Ilove it!" "It's like driving a race car." "[narrator] The airship skims across the uneven terrain and comes to a halt outside the hangar." "We'llstopandtake the box out." "[narrator] Only the final and most important challenge remains: unloading the" "500-pound cargo crate." "To prove she's a viable cargo transporter, her buoyancy system must keep her grounded during the unload." "If she floats up into the air, she'll fail the test... and put the ground crew in danger... like US Navy airship USS Akron did in 1932." "Sailors secured her as she came in to land." "Warmed by the sun, the airship's helium became more buoyant." "Akron began to ascend out of control." "Three sailors failed to let go of the landing rope and were pulled into the air as the airship rose." "Two plunged to their deaths." "The other was saved in a daring mid-air rescue." "If Dragon Dream's revolutionary buoyancy system fails today, some of the ground crew could be in danger of a similar fate." "OK,goahead." "Wegoto right... [narrator] This is how it should work." "Compressors inside the airship should suck helium from its shell into 9 high-pressure tanks." "At the same time, fans help channel hundreds of pounds of air into ballast bags." "This should make the airship heavy enough to stay grounded when the crew unload the cargo crate." "(ground operator):" "Make sure all HPEs are enabled." "[narrator] Pass this test, and" "Dragon Dream has a future as a heavy cargo transporter..." "OK,herewe go ,guys." "Any malfunctions, and the airship will lift off the ground, possibly hauling the ground crew into the air." "The box is out." "COSH keeps the airship rock solid on the ground." "Absolutelyperfect!" "Givemefive." "[narrator] The mission is a success!" "OK,let'sputitinthebarn." "Allservooff." "Off,off,off,off ,off ." "OK." "Done!" "Absolutelyfantastic!" "(crowd cheering)" "That was great." "It was absolutely great." "In the cockpit, we had no glitches at all." "No red lights, everything was green." "It was perfect." "Good!" "Done!" "[narrator] The test flight over," "Lead Engineer Tim Kenny, sets his sights on the next challenge." "Canwego higher?" "Absolutely." "Can we go farther?" "Absolutely." "I want to keep flying, and keep going and keep going." "I want to see it fly over peoples' homes and that actually, you know, people see it for real." "[narrator] The test flight is a milestone in aviation history." "Production could now start on larger versions of Dragon Dream that will carry everything from humanitarian aid to military equipment all over the world." "Everythingtodaywasa success." "It really, really was." "I can't begin to tell you how happy I am." "I'm thrilled!" "(laughing)" "I'm going to go home for a couple of weeks, play a little golf, get on the boat and just gonna think about..." "You know, relax a little bit." "And then, after a couple of weeks, come back and get into it again." "You can't put a fork in me just yet!" "[narrator] Dragon Dream could be the revolutionary cargo airship of the 21st century." "It's thanks to steering inspired by rockets... feet that work like hovercraft, super reliable 300-horsepower engines... a revolutionary buoyancy system and a light, tough carbon fiber skeleton that this airship has evolved to rise above all other machines."