A Brief History of the Goodyear Blimp, Which Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary This Year
A Goodyear Blimp hovering above the Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California, in 1978, when the Washington Huskies faced off against the Michigan Wolverines GoodyearIf youve watched a major sporting event on TV recentlywhether a college football game or a NASCAR racechances are, youve seen aerial footage captured by aGoodyear Blimp. The massive blue-and-yellow airship floats above stadiums and racetracks using high-definition, gyro-stabilized cameras to get overhead shots of the action below.This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Goodyear Blimp and the 70th anniversary of providing aerial event coverage. To celebrate, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is taking its iconic airship on atour of North America and Europe. Its alsogiving fans a chance to ride in the blimp, something only 0.0006 percent of Americans can say theyve done, according to a statement from the company.Takeoff feels like someone just let go of a balloon that happens to fill about 80 percent of a football field and fly a top speed of 73 miles per hour, says Jesse Kirsch of NBCs Today.The helium-filled blimps actual birthday isnt until June. But Goodyear already kicked off the festivities on New Years Day at theRose Bowl college football bowl game in California, where it first debuted its aerial coverage concept in 1955. From there, it will fly over more than 100 cities, making appearances at other big sports matchups, as well as music and cultural festivals. The company manufactured airships for the U.S. Navy to help with anti-submarine surveillance. GoodyearThe history of airshipsAirships, also known as lighter-than-air craft, date back to 1852, when French engineer Henri Giffard filled a 144-foot-long bag with hydrogen. Using a steam engine to turn a large propeller, his invention lifted off from the Paris Hippodrome and flew through the air for roughly 20 miles, per Encyclopedia Britannica.In the ensuing decades, engineers made various improvements and tweaks to this initial design. They experimented with internal-combustion engines, electric motors and rigid hulls made of aluminum.But airships really took off during World War I, when rigid models developed by GermanysFerdinand von Zeppelin were used to bomb Paris and London. They became known as zeppelins.Airships remained popular throughout the 1920s and 1930s, even ferrying explorersto the North Pole in 1926. But by the late 1930s and early 1940s, theyd all but disappeared from the worlds skies.Airplanes, helicopters and other heavier-than-air craft were getting cheaper, faster and better equipped to fly through inclement weather. The airships demise was also hastened by events like theHindenburg disaster.In May 1937, the rigid German airship was landing in New Jersey after a commercial transatlantic crossing when it burst into flames. The 804-foot-long vessel was filled with highly flammable hydrogen, and 36 passengers were killed in the explosion. In 1930, engineers equipped a blimp with a lighted neon signcalled the "Neon-o-Gram." GoodyearGoodyears aviation heritageFounded in 1898 as a tire manufacturer, Goodyear entered the aviation marketin 1910 when it started making rubber-infused fabrics and coatings for aircraft. Goodyear began making its own airships during World War I to fulfill several large ordersfrom the U.S. Navy.The company considers the Pilgrimthe airship that debuted in 1925to be the first official Goodyear Blimp. It was also the first commercial non-rigid airship to use helium.Goodyear quickly saw the value in using the Pilgrim for public relations and advertising. Every year at Christmas, for example, it was promoted as the Santa Claus Express. In 1930, engineers equipped the vessel with alighted neon sign so that the companys name could still be seen after dark. (They also briefly experimented with loudspeakers, microphones and record players but later scrapped those plans.)Goodyear's Blimp Time-Lapse Build in Blimp HangerWatch on Another early blimp, theVolunteer, gaveCharles Lindbergh a ride and appeared in the 1932 film Hidden Valley. The Volunteer also soared over the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.During World War II, Goodyear produced more than 150 blimps to help the U.S. Navy keep a lookout for enemy submarines.In 1955, the company used one of its blimps to provide a live aerial broadcast of the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl game. In 1967, a Goodyear Blimp covered the first Super Bowl.Since then, Goodyear Blimps have broadcast World Series games, Olympic events, horse races like the Kentucky Derby, the Americas Cup yacht races, World Cup soccer matches and many other events. The company has also used its technology to help first responders after natural disasters, including the 1989 San Francisco earthquake and 1992s Hurricane Andrew, according to the Tallahassee Democrats C. A. Bridges.These days, Goodyear hasfour blimps in its fleet, including one that flies full-time in Europe. They each weigh nearly 20,000 pounds when empty, but they lighten to roughly200 pounds once theyre filled with helium.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Advertisements, Air Transportation, American History, Blimps, History, Marketing, Sports, Transportation, World War I, World War II
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