An artist's rendidtion of the new Skyhook aircraft is illustrated in this Boeing handout photo, Tuesday, July 8, 2008.

Boeing Co. has teamed with Canada's closely held SkyHook International Inc. to combine a blimp and four helicopter rotors into a behemoth airship capable of hauling heavy drilling, mining and timber equipment into remote wilderness areas.

The two companies say they hope to have the 302-foot long airship ready for commercial service by 2012, although the marriage of helicopter and lighter-than-air technologies will require them to overcome some significant hurdles that doomed an attempt at a similar contraption in the mid-1980s.

[WSJ]