Iron Maiden legend Bruce Dickinson has some gigantic humanitarian visions for the world’s largest aircraft, the Airlander, which Dickinson invested half a million dollars into.

Dickinson is a longtime fanatic for all things aviation. He famously flies Iron Maiden’s own Ed Force One jumbo jet, which is currently making the rounds across North America. Dickinson’s passion carried over to funding the Airlander. The aircraft will revolutionize the world of aviation, measuring at 302 feet in length and able to carry 50 tons of payload. It doesn’t even need a runway to take off, just a two-man crew. Even better, the Airlander is 70 percent greener than a cargo plane.

Airlander 10 will make its maiden voyage later this month and Dickinson already has some tremendous dreams for the craft’s capabilities. “You want to put a hospital into Africa?” Dickinson asks the New Yorker. “You put the whole hospital in the inside of this—whoosh. Start the generator. ‘Here’s your hospital, buddy!’ Job done. You know? You can just plunk the vehicle straight down on the farm, load it with fifty tons of green beans or whatever, and twenty-four hours later you land right next door to the processing plant. It’s a global conveyor belt. And water! With these vehicles, you could drop off a twenty-ton slab of water that is clean, drinkable, to an African village. It’s astonishing what you can do that you just can’t do with anything else. S—t, you can do that with it? Wow, you can do that with it? Seriously fantastic!”

Bruce Dickinson’s obsession with flight has taken form in some of Iron Maiden’s most epic songs such as “Aces High,” “Coming Home” and the new 18-minute opus “Empire of the Clouds.” Stay tuned for news on the maiden launch of Airlander 10 later this month.

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