Goodyear Blimp Blog

35 Years!

This week we celebrated Steve Hogan’s 35th year working in airship operations.  Steve is my crew chief and the best one I have ever worked with.  He started with Goodyear in Miami in 1973 as a temporary employee with the operation.  He worked his way to becoming a full crew member, then a radio and TV technician, and finally a crew chief, a position he has held for the last 25 years.

The Hogan family has a deep tradition with Goodyear airship operations. Steve's father was a Navy airship pilot who came to Goodyear after the Navy stopped its airship operations. He actually test flew the airships that we fly today! He flew for years and eventually became director of operations fore the entire fleet.

I asked Steve what his most memorable experience has been over his career. He told me about a day when writer Lowell Thomas came for a flight in Miami. Mr. Thomas was his dad's favorite writer, and Steve delighted in telling his dad he was able to meet Lowell and get an autograph for him. He also told me about a Super Bowl where the crew stayed in the same hotel as the Oakland Raiders. He went down to the hotel bar and sat between George Blanda and Fred Biletnikoff and got to discuss the upcoming game.

We are very lucky to have Steve and look forward to many more "Goodyears" and fond memories.

Home for a bit

We returned home earlier than planned. We were supposed to visit Tennessee and Arkansas for customer visits, but the weather was just too severe to risk putting the airship in harm's way. We expect to travel to all of those planned stops later this summer when the weather pattern slows a bit.

The flying was great this week in Pompano even though the heat index was well into the 100s on many days. As we move into June and the start of hurricane season here in Florida, I have been getting a familiar question once again. What do you do with the airship when a hurricane threatens South Florida?

The answer is simple, we run! We have a very nice hangar here at the base but even that will not protect our blimp during a major hurricane. Instead, we have a detailed hurricane evacuation plan that helps ensure that the airship and crew are safely out of a hurricane's path. So, you may see us making a surprise visit to your town if a large storm heads our way!

Detour

Well, after two days of canceled flights in Philadelphia, we had to leave. One day consisted of pouring rain and the next brought high winds above our flight limitations. We still enjoyed giving tours of the airship to some Albert Tire customers and made the best of the situation.

Our plan was to fly to Frederick, Md., yesterday, but due to more bad weather and winds, we flew instead to Salisbury, Md., to avoid the weather. The plan worked, and we secured the airship one hour before the rain and winds moved in.

We now needed a new location for today and given the strong winds forecast, we headed to Wilson, N.C., on our way to the Charlotte area for a customer event and to set up for race coverage this weekend. The 200 mile flight took us almost nine hours and a lot of muscle today. We fought 30-35 knot winds all the way down here. I am back at our hotel now, and honestly, I still feel like I am rocking around the airship!

Tomorrow we will attempt to make it to the Rowan County Airport, just outside Charlotte, but I doubt it will happen. A 53 knot headwind and thunderstorm forecast says we should just stay here. We will see in the morning...

Nasty weather

Well, here I sit in Florence, S.C. We were supposed to fly to Frederick, Md., today but that's not going to happen. A very nasty weather system moved over the area yesterday bringing rain, wind and even tornadoes with it. Thankfully, we were spared the worst of the weather here in Florence, but the conditions are far from safe for flying an airship.

Luckily, the bad weather held off until after the NASCAR races were over. Our camera operator, James, had a fantastic weekend behind the lens. One of his aerial shots even made the highlight reel for ESPN's SportsCenter. I'm always amazed at how well our camera operators can follow the action for three or four hours straight, while constantly in motion.

Today, the rain is gone but the wind is blowing and blowing the wrong way! The plan was to fly to Petersburg, Va., today. This is a great example of a day when we could fly, but only in certain directions. If we were headed south, we'd be on our way right now. However, our next stop is Philadelphia and that's the wrong way to go today. I did a little quick math, and with this wind, our 210 nautical mile flight would take more than 20 hours at full power!

Fortunately, we are experiencing just a minor inconvenience. Our thoughts are with those who lost so much in this violent weather over the last few days.

Blimps and dolphins

We returned home with no problem after the NASCAR races, and since the trip was uneventful, I'd like to answer a common question we get as we travel the country.

Why does the blimp bob up and down like a porpoise when it's flying?

No, that's not just us having fun up there. It has to do with rising hot air and the speed that we fly. When flying on a commercial airplane, you've probably noticed that it gets a little bumpy just after take off and right before landing. At low altitudes, an airliner encounters up and down drafts due to unequal heating of the earth. (Imagine how much heat a blacktop parking lot emits versus a nice cool lake.) Since the airliner is moving at high speeds, passengers only feel slight turbulence when encountering updrafts.

Now take that same principle and apply it to slow-moving, low-altitude cruising blimps. When we fly into an updraft, the blimp's nose is pushed upward. As soon as the blimp pilot reacts by pitching the nose lower, the same updraft is now pushing on the tail, giving the opposite effect.

As a blimp pilot, I am used to the bobbing, but I know it probably looks a little strange from the ground.

Sweet home Alabama

Our three-day trip to Talladega went off without a hitch. We were greeted by a great crowd in Dothan, Ala., including a camera crew from WTVY, who made us feel right at home. On Friday, our flight path took us directly over my alma mater Auburn University. It's always a thrill for me to see the campus from above.

Unfortunately the great weather from our trip did not carry over for the races. The forecast called for a strong chance of rain and thunderstorms all weekend so we expected a tough assignment. We launched on Saturday for coverage of the Nationwide race. The telecast was going well, but a line of thunderstorms was threatening to cut off our path between the track and the airport in Gadsden. We left the race early and landed without a problem. Sunday promised more of the same, and it delivered. After a strong start with our aerial coverage, we were forced to leave the race early to ensure a safe landing back at Gadsden. We hated to leave such an exciting race, and we had a perfect aerial picture for the audience. We can't take a chance, though, when thunderstorms are that close. As the saying goes, "I'd rather be on the ground wishing I was in the air than the other way around."

We're on our way back home to Pompano for a short stay before heading back out on the road.

Back in the saddle

We resumed normal operations at our home base this week, providing passengers with beautiful views of South Florida's beaches. Thanks to the sunny skies, warm temperatures and steady winds, all flights were on schedule.

Our passengers included a reporter and photographer from Gold Coast Magazine, who took to the skies with us for a story on the Goodyear blimp's presence in South Florida. We had a smooth flight that hopefully lent itself to some fantastic photography. The article should appear in a fall issue of the magazine.

We also had a group visiting from Anniston, Ala. This was a nice surprise for me, since both my mother and father were born and raised there. It's such a small world sometimes.

Speaking of Alabama, we are on our way today to cover the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races at Talladega Superspeedway. If you live between Pompano Beach, Fla., and Talladega, Ala., look for us in the sky. Our flight path should take us up to Lake City, Fla., through Dothan, Ala., and then to Gadsden, Ala., where we will be based to cover the races this weekend on ESPN and Fox.

A new pilot

This week we emerged from our annual maintenance in the hangar, and not only did we have a successful test flight, but we also added a new member to our elite club. Rob Delagrange passed his FAA check ride flight. He did a great job and now holds a rare rating for a pilot: Lighter than Air - Airship Rating.

I'm often asked where a pilot can learn how to fly our blimps, and the answer is always the same. First, you must be a fixed-wing pilot with commercial instrument and multi-engine ratings. We also prefer our pilots to have completed a substantial number of flight hours in another airship. Then, we complete the training in-house. There is no independent "blimp school." All Goodyear pilots are certified instructors, and we have developed a rigorous course that can take up to a year for a new Goodyear pilot to complete.

Rob will be based in Akron, but he will fly with our Florida operation to the Talladega race next weekend before rejoining his crew.

It's a tradition for new pilots to be doused with water to celebrate. Since Rob couldn't celebrate with his crew in Akron, we wanted him to feel at home after his check ride here in sunny Florida!

Pilot in Charge

As I mentioned last time, I and several other pilots were invited to our headquarters in Akron, Ohio, for our annual leadership meeting. This is always an interesting week as we plan for the future and discuss a variety of topics. It's a little premature to discuss the details, but look for some exciting things coming from all three of our operations in the future.

On a personal note, during the meeting, they announced my promotion to Pilot in Charge for the Florida-based Goodyear blimp operation. There was lots of good news to go around as Larry Chambers, our former Pilot in Charge, was also promoted to Senior Pilot in Charge and manager of airship operations. He will assist all three U.S.-based airships with developing procedures, scheduling and training.

Pilot in Charge is a big job, overseeing all crew activities and flight decisions for the Spirit of Innovation. I'm honored to have it for sure. Fortunately, we have an outstanding crew that goes out of its way to make every event a success. We are looking forward to a great year.

Marine invasion

While the Spirit of Innovation was in its annual maintenance period last week, the other pilots and I were up in Akron for an airship operations meeting. Just because we aren't flying doesn't mean all the action stops. We were honored at the base with a visit from the Marine Corps Band. I'm sorry that I missed meeting all the men and women from the band, but I heard they had a great time touring the base and airship.

We had some shirts and pins to give the band members, but after they arrived it was clear we were going to run short. It was decided that the shirts and pins would be given out starting with the highest ranking band member and working down. The surprise came when our Crew Chief Steve Hogan called up the lowest ranking Marine and presented him with the American flag that was flown on our airship prior to maintenance.

As the son of an Air Force pilot, my hat always goes off to our soldiers. I just hope I'm in town the next time they visit.