1 {scene: An airship, flying over a landscape}
1 Long Tom: Arrrr!
2 Long Tom: A ship o' the air!
3 Long Tom: We'll be undefeatable!
4 Long Tom: Not even a great ball o' fire be enough to defeat this ship!

Imagine if the expeditions of the Age of Exploration had been carried out with airships. Rather than stop and turn around at reaching the West Indies, the explorers could have continued across the Americas all the way to the Pacific. Furthermore, voyages of discovery wouldn't have to set out across the ocean. Airships would have made exploration east from Europe, across Russia and Siberia to China and Japan, much easier than the laborious overland routes of the Silk Road.

And of course you'd end up with air pirates. Travelling to Japan and getting ninja training...