There have been lots of airships and variations in the last few decades that never managed to get off the ground commercially even if they actually flew. The Canadian Solar Ship hybrid airship both aerodynamically (static and dynamic lift) and in terms of fuel (intended for solar-electric and gasoline power) designed to lower the cost of freight delivery to otherwise inaccessible areas. The concept seems seems well-thought-out, the technology not especially difficult, the company well-funded and it's not vaporware, as this videos of a prototype demonstrate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4vG4jmqPn4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4vG4jmqPn4
