Thunderbird 2 flies again: The astonishing airship set to revolutionise haulage, tourism... and warfare.

• The Aeroscraft can carry three times more than the biggest military cargo planes over thousands of miles
• Heavily backed by the U.S. military, it is now at the prototype stage and is set for its first test flight
• It is capable of vertical take off and landing and doesn't even need a landing strip.                                    By Damien Gayle

International rescue: The silver-skinned Aeroscraft prototype sits in its hangar, where green light reflecting from it makes it look uncannily like Thunderbird Two. Read here.