Slightly off topic, but Tom's point about the size of the proposed heavy lifter made me think of it.
Just think how impressive those pre-WWII Zeppelins must have been, especially given how new air travel of any sort was. The Hindenburg was far, far larger than a 747 or a Goodyear blimp; more like an airborne USS Nimitz or SS Titanic. Now _that_ was something you'd notice as it fly over Manhattan! DC-3? Hah!
Most especially, the Graf Zeppelin went on a round-the-world tour in the late 1920s, including flying over parts of Siberia and the Russian Far East that had barely been mapped, let alone that had any modern development yet.
Just imagine you're part of village of herdsmen out between Irkusk and Yakusk, perhaps you've heard stories about the railway off to the south but basically you've just dealt with Russian traders on foot and hoof. Then one day, suddenly over the horizon appears this 1000 foot long, 150 foot wide hulking grey _thing_, flying -- FLYING! -- less than 2000 feet above the ground, rushing towards you at 80 miles an hour, droning like the devil with 4500 HP of pounding diesels....