Never hurts to think "outside the box".
I still like the idea of enormous floating landing fields and refueling depots made out of a substance known as 'piecrete'. Not sure if the spellings correct but it was a form of slow melting ice.
Civil servants don't joke? No they generally are jokes in my experience the ones that aren't are usually ex military types who know what it is to actually have to get something done other than that far too many are lazy asses not worth a tenth of what they get paid and couldn't think for themselves if their lives depended on it.