The Goodyear Blimp is any one of a fleet of airships operated by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, used mainly for advertising and capturing aerial views of live sporting events on television. The term blimp itself is defined as a non-rigid airship – without any internal structure, the pressure of lifting gas contained within the airship envelope maintains the vessel's shape.
Contents
- Airship fleet
- Lifting agent
- Models
- Historical navy classes
- Dimensions
- Names
- Passenger policy
- Night signs
- Accidents
- Popular culture
- References
Since the launch of the Pilgrim in 1925, Goodyear has generally owned and operated non-rigid airships in its global public relations fleet. However, Goodyear is currently in the process of replacing its three U.S. non-rigid airships (blimps) with three new semi-rigid airships, each of which will have a rigid internal frame. Although technically incorrect, Goodyear plans to use "blimp" in reference to these new semi-rigid models. Wingfoot One, the first such model in Goodyear's U.S. fleet, was christened on August 23, 2014, near the company's world headquarters in Akron, Ohio.
Airship fleet
There are currently two airships in Goodyear's U.S. fleet – two semi-rigid airships:
- Wingfoot One (N1A), a semi-rigid airship (model LZ N07-101), based in Pompano Beach, Florida
- Wingfoot Two (N2A), a semi-rigid airship (model LZ N07-101), based in Suffield Township, Ohio
Columbia was based in Carson, California and America in Spring, north of Houston, Texas from 1969–1991. Goodyear relocated America to Akron for cost cutting measures. The Houston blimps wintered in Houston and spent the summer traveling North America.
All three craft are outfitted with LED sign technology Goodyear calls "Eaglevision." This allows the aircraft to display bright, multi-colored, animated words and images. Goodyear also has blimps operating in other parts of the world. These airships are built and operated by Van Wagner of Orlando, Florida. In May 2011, Goodyear announced it will be replacing its fleet of blimps with three semi-rigid airships built by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin.
The new airships are 246 feet long, 52 feet longer than Goodyear's old model, the GZ-20. The Zeppelin NT model is also slimmer, has a top speed of 70 miles per hour (versus 50 for the blimp), and has a passenger gondola that seats 12 (compared to seven in the blimp). The gondola even has a bathroom.
Lifting agent
The blimps are filled with helium. The helium is maintained under low pressure, so small punctures do not pose serious consequences for the blimp. One inspection element of the blimps is to look into the envelope for pinpoints of light which are indicative of small holes.
The Goodyear blimps were non-rigid (meaning their shape is not maintained by a rigid internal structure) dirigibles (directable/steerable airships). Inside their exterior envelope, the Goodyear blimps are fitted with air–filled ballonets. As the blimp ascends or descends, the internal ballonets expand or contract to compensate for density changes and to maintain uniform pressure in the envelope. The latest craft, a Zeppelin NT is a departure from this tradition, as it is a Semi-rigid airship that makes use of a structural truss inside the envelope to provide some of its structural strength.
Models
"GZ" stands for Goodyear-Zeppelin, stemming from the partnership Goodyear had with the German company when both were building airships together. However these models came many years after this partnership had dissolved during the start of World War II. The GZ-1 was the USS Akron (ZRS-4), the U.S. Navy's fourth rigid airship used for several tests including as a flying "aircraft carrier".
Historical navy classes
Dimensions
According to the Goodyear website, the two active GZ-20 blimps are 192 feet (58 meters) long, 59.5 feet (18 meters) tall, and 50 feet (15 meters) wide. For comparison, the largest airships ever built, the Zeppelin company's Hindenburg, LZ-129, and the Graf Zeppelin II, LZ-130, were 804 feet (245 meters) long and 135 feet (41 meters) in diameter. That is, over four times as long and over twice as wide as the current Goodyear blimps. The largest blimp ever made by Goodyear was the U.S. Navy's ZPG-3, at 403 feet (121 meters) in length.
Names
Since 1928, Goodyear had named its blimps after the U.S. winners of the America's Cup yacht race. This naming method is attributed to then-Goodyear CEO Paul W. Litchfield, who viewed the airships as being like yachts in the sky. Although that practice deviated with the introduction of the Spirit of Akron in 1987, the Florida-based Stars & Stripes would be the last to carry this honor, ending in 2005.
In 2006, Goodyear started having the public participate in the naming of their blimps, they dubbed this the "Name the Blimp" contest. Spirit of Innovation was the first airship to be named by the public.
The America's Cup winners' names: Puritan, Reliance, Defender, Volunteer, (ex-USN L-18) Resolute, Vigilant, Mayflower, Ranger, Rainbow, Enterprise, Columbia, America, Stars & Stripes.
Non-cup winners' names: Pilgrim, Neponset, Spirit of Akron, Spirit of Goodyear, Eagle, Spirit of America, Spirit of Innovation, Wingfoot One, Wingfoot Two.
Foreign based blimps have been operated by The Lightship Group since the 1990s: Europa, Spirit of Europe, Spirit of the South Pacific, Spirit of the Americas, Spirit of Safety, Ventura, Ling Hang Zhe (Navigator).
Passenger policy
The only passengers that Goodyear will allow on the blimps are corporate guests of the company and members of the press; it has been Goodyear's long-standing policy that no public rides are offered. However, for over 50 years, it had to offer limited public rides at its Miami, Florida, winter base on Watson Island as part of its land-lease deal with the city in order to operate from the island. That practice ended in 1979 when the base was moved to Opa-locka, Florida.
Sometimes Goodyear has a contest with the dealers of its tires. If a customer buys four new Goodyear tires, he or she is entered into a contest to take a flight in the blimp. The winner must go to the nearest blimp base to take his or her flight.
During the period in which Goodyear supplied tires for Indy cars, it was a tradition that the pole position winner at the Indianapolis 500 would get a ride in the blimp in the days leading up to the race.
Night signs
For years, Goodyear has fitted its blimps with a night sign. From neon tubes, to incandescent lamps to LEDs, these signs have helped the company advertise its products and also deliver public service messages from various organizations such as local governments.
Accidents
Popular culture
In 1976, Goodyear allowed use of its blimps for the filming of Black Sunday, based on the novel by Thomas Harris, about a distressed former prisoner of war blimp pilot who helps Middle Eastern terrorists attack the Super Bowl with a lethal device attached to the airship's car. Two blimps were used for the conclusion. The base scenes were shot in Carson, California, using the Columbia. The Super Bowl scenes were shot in Miami, Florida, using Mayflower, which was smaller than Columbia.
In 1983, the city of Redondo Beach, California, near the blimp base airport in Carson, California, adopted resolution number 6252 recognizing the Goodyear Airship Columbia as the "Official Bird of Redondo Beach."
The 1993 Ice Cube song "It Was a Good Day" makes reference to the Goodyear Blimp.