Variable-buoyancy airship patented; cockpit display keeps booms away; quicker ways to deploy unmanned assets; Slovakia’s AeroMobil flying car crashes; faster airport security checks.

NASA’s Greased Lightning has it all: unmanned operations, vertical takeoff and landing, distributed propulsion, hybrid-electric power and efficient cruise. But how does it work?

A century after work began on the first of Cardington's giant hangars, a new generation lighter-than-air vehicle is being prepared for flight testing inside the cavernous structure.

Construction of Cardington’s Number 1 shed, currently housing the HAV project, began in 1916 when Construction of Cardington’s No. 1 shed, currently housing the HAV project, began in 1916 when Short Brothers was awarded an Admiralty contract for the development of dirigible airships.

With respect to the tragic end of the R-101 there seems little that can be added to what has already appeared in print. An air crash that results in complete loss by fire usually remains somewhat of a mystery as regards the cause or causes of the crash.

Since we last published the box score a year ago, the record of the rigid airship has continued to improve. It is still true that there have been no disasters to ships of that type on the North Atlantic route. Eleven wholly successful crossings have been made. The flight on which the Graf Zeppelin had to turn back still constitutes the only departure from a perfect record.

A look at some of this week's top stories in aerospace and defense.

Boeing Defense, Space & Security chief Chris Chadwick says established contractors need to show their customers “the art of the possible from an innovation perspective.”