On the face of it, the idea of using airships tends to seem fanciful. But in the context of the transportation demands of marine settlement it becomes one of the most practical of options because of the way it so readily fills the gaps in range and operating cost left by contemporary aircraft. And it offers ready potential for the use of renewable energy owing to its unique characteristics. Long before the internal combustion engine achieved a power-to-mass ratio sufficient to allow fixed wing flight, it was routinely powering airships and remained the only practical means of intercontinental flight right up to WWII. And while it is common for aerospace engineers to belittle the airship as an antiquated technology, it continues to offer a spectrum of capability untouched by the most sophis