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Airship fleet

• Wingfoot One (N1A), based in Pompano Beach Airpark {{Airport codes|PPM|KPMP|PMP}} in Pompano Beach, FloridaWEB, FAA, 2014, N-Number Inquiry Results: N1A,weblink FAA Registry – registry.faa.gov, Federal Aviation Administration, September 9, 2014, N-Number: N1A... Status: Valid... Certificate Issue Date: 08/27/2014..., June 24, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180624093136weblink">weblink dead,
• Wingfoot Two (N2A), based in Goodyear Blimp Base Airport {{Airport codes|||64CL}} in Carson, California
• Wingfoot Three (N3A), based in Wingfoot Lake Airship Operations Balloonport {{Airport codes|||4OH6}} in Suffield Township, Portage County, Ohio|Suffield, Ohio]weblink {{Bare URL inline|date=September 2022}}

Lifting agent

Models

• GZ-19/19A: Introduced in 1959 with the Mayflower (N4A) and discontinued in 1978 after the Mayflower (N38A) was destroyed by a tornado. The design for this class is similar to the L class blimp built by Goodyear for the U.S. Navy.
• GZ-20/20A: This class was introduced in 1969, with America (N10A) and Columbia (N3A) being the first two. The Europa (N2A) followed in 1972 and was based in Italy, the first Goodyear blimp based outside of the United States. These airships were larger than the GZ 19 blimps. Beginning in 2014, Goodyear began retiring the GZ-20 and replacing them with the Zeppelin NT. On February 23, 2014, Spirit of Goodyear was retired in Pompano Beach after the 2014 Daytona 500.PRESS RELEASE, Iconic Goodyear Blimp Retires after Daytona 500,weblink Goodyear, 2014-02-24, 2014-02-26, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140315160114weblink">weblink March 15, 2014, dmy-all, On August 10, 2015, the California-based GZ-20, the Spirit of America, was decommissioned. The Spirit of Innovation, took over California operations in September 2015 until its retirement in March 2017 as the last remaining GZ-20. In fall of 2017, Wingfoot Two will be relocated to California.PRESS RELEASE, Goodyear Blimp "Spirit of America" Retires; Transition To High Tech Fleet Continues,weblink Goodyear, 2015-07-26, 2015-07-31, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150807005019weblink">weblink August 7, 2015, mdy-all,
• GZ-22: The only airship in this class was the Spirit of Akron (N4A). Originally built in 1987 to show the U.S. Department of Defense that airships were still militarily viable, it was the most technically advanced airship Goodyear ever had in its public relations fleet, featuring fly-by-wire technology. However, Spirit of Akron was destroyed in a crash in 1999 and the company has not built one since, most likely because of the increase in manufacturing and operating expenses due to its advanced technology.
• LZ N07-101: In May 2011, Goodyear announced that it would be replacing its aging fleet of GZ-20 blimps (non-rigid airships) with Zeppelin NT airships. Construction began in 2012 on the first of three new semi-rigid airships; completed in March 2014, Wingfoot One was christened on August 23, 2014, by Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts. Wingfoot Two, the name of Goodyear's second semi-rigid airship, was unveiled in April 2016.WEB, Haidet, Ryan, April 8, 2016, Goodyear unveils Wingfoot Two airship in Akron,weblink WKYC.com, WKYC, April 9, 2016, {{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The third finished the fleet in 2018. Shaesta Waiz, the youngest woman to fly solo around the world, christened Wingfoot Three during an August 30 ceremony in Akron, with the traditional smashing of a bottle of champagne across the bow. "Wingfoot Three will serve as a beacon for me to continue my work inspiring and celebrating aviation with others," said Waiz. She joined a list of other famous Goodyear airship christeners, including Amelia Earhart and astronaut Sally Ride.WEB, Patterson, Thom, Wingfoot Three Completes Goodyear's Fleet of New Zeppelins,weblink CNN, 25 June 2020, August 2018,

Historical navy classes

• C class blimp 1918–1919
• D class blimp 1920–1924
• F class blimp/Type FB 1918–1923
• Goodyear Type AD 1925–1931
• G class blimp 1935–19?
• H class blimp 1921–1923
• J class blimp 1922–1940
• K class blimp 1938–1959, WWII anti-submarine, post-war tests
  • K-1 1938–1940, pre-war experimental
• L class blimp 1930s–1945, WWII
• M class blimp 1944–1956
• N class blimp 1950s–1962
• Goodyear ZWG 1950s

Dimensions

Names

Passenger policy

Night signs

• Neon-O-Gram: Originally called NeonGoodyear, was first fitted on Defender in the 1930s. Neon tubes on the sides of the blimp which usually spelled out 'Goodyear'.
• Trans-Lux: Installed in 1947 on both sides of the Puritan. Ten panels, each holding 182 incandescent lamps, with 18-foot letters.
• Skytacular: In the mid-1960s, the GZ-19 Mayflower (N4A) was fitted with over 3,000 incandescent lamps of red, yellow, blue and green on both sides that for the first time featured animation. Usually moving stick figures, ticker messages or colorful patterns. A small gas turbine had to be attached to the blimp's car in order to power the Skytacular night sign.
• Super Skytacular: Same technology as Skytacular, but with more than 7,000 lamps on both sides. Super Skytacular was fitted on the new longer GZ-20 blimps in 1969.
• EagleVision: Use a computer-driven system to create video displays with more than 80,000 LED lights.WEB, Price, Mark J., 2014-03-10, Local Akron history: Blimp innovation was a flash of brilliance,weblink 2024-04-14, The Lighter-Than-Air Society, en-US,

Accidents

• Wingfoot Air Express, while transporting passengers from Chicago's Grant Park to the White City Amusement Park, caught fire then crashed through the skylight of the Illinois Trust & Savings Bank on July 21, 1919, killing one crewman, two passengers, and ten bank employees.WEB,weblink Chicago History, chipublib.org, May 22, 2015, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20071213041636weblink">weblink December 13, 2007, dmy-all,
• Columbia, tail number N10A, was buzzed repeatedly by a radio-controlled model airplane when the blimp flew over a field used for R/C model flying on September 3, 1990; the R/C pilot then intentionally rammed his model airplane into the blimp, tearing a three-foot hole through the envelope.WEB,weblink Man Arrested as Model Plane Buzzes, Punctures Goodyear Blimp, Los Angeles Times, October 1990, May 22, 2015, The blimp made a "hard landing" at a nearby airport. The R/C pilot, John William Moyer, was identified by other flyers at the field and was arrested.WEB,weblink Man Will Stand Trial In Goodyear Blimp Attack,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180621144019weblink">weblink June 21, 2018, Orlando Sentinel, May 22, 2015,
• Spirit of Akron, tail number N4A, crashed on 28 October 1999, in Suffield, Ohio, when it suddenly entered an uncontrolled left turn and began descending. The pilot and technician on board received only minor injuries when the blimp struck trees. The National Transportation Safety Board report identified that improperly hardened metal splines on the control actuators sheared, causing loss of control. Spirit of Akron was a unique airship, the only Goodyear blimp of the GZ-22 class to be built.WEB,weblink IAD00LA002, www.ntsb.gov,weblink October 10, 2006,
• Stars and Stripes, tail number N1A, crashed on June 16, 2005, in Coral Springs, Florida, when it was caught in a strong thunderstorm that eventually pushed the aircraft into trees and powerlines. There were no injuries in the crash, although the pilot and passenger were trapped for a number of hours until the powerlines could be de-energized.(Wikinews:Goodyear blimp crashes in Florida) The National Transportation Safety Board accident report claims the cause of the accident to be the pilot's "inadequate in-flight planning/decision which resulted in an in-flight encounter with weather (thunderstorm outflow), and downdrafts..."WEB,weblink ATL05CA100, www.ntsb.gov,weblink October 11, 2006,
• Spirit of Safety I (built by American Blimp Corporation), registered as G-TLEL and owned and operated by Lightship Europe Limited, (but operating in Goodyear livery), caught fire while on landing approach to the Reichelsheim Airport and crashed on June 12, 2011, near Reichelsheim, Hesse, Germany. The pilot, Michael Nerandzic, flew the airship low enough that passengers could jump to the ground, and all three did indeed leap to safety. Nerandzic then, while still able to maintain some control on the burning blimp, climbed away so that fire or wreckage would not hit the escapees; soon after, Nerandzic died in the blimp's fiery wreck.WEB,weblink Heroic Aussie pilot in airship tragedy, Klein, Nathan, June 14, 2011, The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), June 13, 2011, WEB, de,weblink Pilot stirbt bei Luftschiff-Absturz, Pilot dies in airship crash, Der Spiegel, 12 June 2011, June 13, 2011,

Popular culture

References

General and cited references

• BOOK, Cornfeld, Betty, Owen, Edwards, The Goodyear Blimp,weblink Quintessence: The Quality of Having "It",weblink registration, Photographs: Dan Kozan, New York, Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, 1983, 9781579121501, 46541599, 44–45,

External links

• Official Website
• The Goodyear Blimp, Today and Yesterday: A complete guide to Goodyear's advertising blimps
• Goodyear upgrades from blimps to Zeppelins
• Poll: Should Goodyear Still Call Their New Zeppelin NT Airships 'Blimps'?
• A blimp is a blimp. These aren't.
• Goodyear-Zeppelin airship dock collection, 1920–1959. Finding guide on the OAC.