BY MARK CINA
Beacon Journal staff writer

It's a bird!

It's a plane!

It's a . . . Dynalifter?

Robert Rist and Brian Martin hope their invention, a giant, winged blimp designed to carry cargo overseas, will take flight.

But they don't call it a blimp.

They don't call it an airship, either.

In artists' renderings, the so-called Dynalifter looks like a giant zeppelin with large, cargo-jet wings protruding from the sides. A vast cargo bay is attached to the bottom and a cockpit and crew cabin are on the front.

In a press conference yesterday during the Lighter-Than-Air Technical Committee's convention at Akron Fulton International Airport, Rist and Martin, president and founder of Ohio Airships in Mantua, outlined their dream of developing an unconventional aircraft they say could revolutionize overseas shipping.

They didn't know the answers to some questions on cost, completion dates, corporate funding and speed of the vehicles, but are otherwise confident in their aircraft.

``When we're ready to build this thing, it is going to be big,'' said Rist. ``This is going to be the biggest bargain in the country.''

The hope is to tap into what Martin calls the ``middle-market gap'' between cargo ships and planes. Ships travel slowly and cheaply, while cargo planes travel fast and expensively. He said the Dynalifter will be faster than a ship and less expensive than a plane.

With the lift from its helium envelope, the Dynalifter could carry higher volumes of cargo than a cargo plane, Rist said, which means lower costs. They also claim the aircraft, which would fly like an airplane, will be able to carry up to 40,000 gallons of water, enough to put out a forest fire.

Rist and Martin want to start by building three Dynalifters in Alliance within four to five years. Rist estimates a cost somewhere in the millions.

And where will they get the money? They plan to sell ad space on the future jet-propelled blimps on eBay, the Internet auction site.

And they want a government subsidy. ``We need Ohio and the United States to kick in to create components for this aircraft,'' Rist said.

They said the next step will be calling the Federal Aviation Administration.