Comments on: Blimp!

By: Brandon Swenson

Brandon Swenson — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 03:53:24 +0000

Ha, I was in TN a few weeks ago on a lake and the Goodyear Blimp flew right over us. It was really awesome seeing one.

By: Mark Goldman

Mark Goldman — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:31:55 +0000

I worked for Goodyear in the mid 80′s to the mid 90′s in the retail division. One year they had a promotion for decorating our location with the top winning stores getting rides on the Blimp. My manager and I spent some serious time getting our store spiffed up with the result being a ride on one of the Blimps at Dulles airport….boy what a memory!

By: Josh Fenton

Josh Fenton — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:12:43 +0000

When I was a young child I used to spend a lot of time at my grandparents’ house, which was located a couple of miles from the Pompano Beach Airpark, which has long been a Goodyear blimp base. One day, after much begging, my dad took my to the airport to watch the Goodyear land. As my dad and I stood at the perimeter fence, we were approached by an official looking gentlemen; suspecting that we were in trouble because I was climbing on the fence, we were shocked and relieved to be offered a ride! Even though it wasn’t possible to purchase a ride on the blimp, we just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Although I was only about 10 years old at the time, I’ll never forget the pilot’s name: R.G. Daniels. I decided that day that I wanted to be a pilot when I grew up. I never really grew up, but I DID become a pilot. About 12 years later, while sitting in basic indoctrination class without about 25 other pilots, I was asked to tell the group why I became a pilot, at which point I told the story about my childhood blimp ride. After the class, one of my classmates asked me if I’d ever considered flying the blimp again, to which I laughed, because it seemed like an impossibility. Then, to my surprise, he explained that he was the former chief pilot for Fuji Airship operations and that he may be able to “pull some strings” (no pun intended) to get me behind the controls. I took him up on his generous offer, and true to his word, I was given the opportunity to fly the Fuji Skyship 600. Needless to say, blimps have played a unique roll in my life, and I am happy to see that this piece of history will be preserved and displayed for generations to come.

By: The National Air and Space Museum

The National Air and Space Museum — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:01:29 +0000

Indeed, the C-49 control car is in need of restoration. Our friends at Goodyear Airship Operations at Wingfoot Lake, near Akron, are pulling together additional materials that will eventually be used to return the car to its appearance in the 1970s. That will be some years in the future. In the meantime, the craft is parked in the south end of the Boeing Aviation hangar at the Udvar-Hazy Center, along with other flying machines waiting their turn in our new restoration hangar, where at least it can be seen by visitors. I agree that it would be great to display an entire airship, but the limitations of space, even in a facility as large as the Udvar-hazy Center, preclude that. One day, however, I hope that we will be able to display other elements of the airship, including the nose cone and fins, to give visitors some notion of scale.

By: Richard Stalter

Richard Stalter — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:19:06 +0000

This control car looks as though it will need some restorative work done to it before it can be displayed. When does the museum plan to display it? Doesn’t the museum own some older blimp control cars as well? Finally, I know the Udvar-Hazy Center will be expanding in the future to include the storage and restorating complex. Does the NASM have any plans to expand the display area of Udvar-Hazy? It would be interesting to have an entire blimp on display and not just the gondola. Lighter than air aircraft have played an important part in aviation history. Udvar-Hazy is huge; but it would nice to also include an entire 747 (it’s such an important aircraft), C-130, B-17 etc.