Goodyear Blimp Blog

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.

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.

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.

Winds and Mohawk haircuts

I now feel guilty about our weather down here in Florida after speaking with Greg. This week, though, has been frustrating at best. The wind started blowing last weekend and hasn't quit, so we have been grounded.

I'm used to seeing the unexpected in airship operations, but when I walked into the morning safety meeting, I noticed something looked a little different about Jose Herrera, our senior radio and TV technician. Of course, I knew there was a story, and it seems he was involved with an event sponsored by St. Baldrick's Foundation. Volunteers shave their heads to benefit research for childhood cancer. It's a great cause, and Jose can pull off a Mohawk haircut.

We just enjoyed a few days off for the holiday, but hopefully we'll get some flying in before our two-week hangar period begins this weekend.

From our friends in Ohio

While I was on vacation last week in Tampa enjoying 80 degree weather, Greg Poppenhouse, the pilot-in-charge of the Spirit of Goodyear in Akron, Ohio, provided an update:

Flying over the hangar in Suffield, Ohio, I look down on the results of the big snowstorm of 2008 that swept through Ohio recently and compare my day to that of our Florida crew, who considers 55 degrees cold. Hey, Marty, try 30 degrees and 18 inches of snow!

If you are wondering if the blimp can fly in snowy, blizzard-like conditions, the answer is no. The Spirit of Goodyear stayed safe and warm in its hangar while the inclement weather swept over us. This week, however, we are finally out and flying about. It's still cold, but the sun is shining, and more importantly, the blimp's heater is working fine.

The blimp handles the same in temperatures of 30 degrees as it does at 70 degrees. In fact, the blimp has better lift in cold air, especially if there is sunshine on the envelope. This creates a great opportunity for "superheat," which is the term for the difference between the temperature of the air outside and the helium inside the envelope, creating better buoyancy.

Hope you catch us around the Cleveland area over the next few days. Next up, we will be covering the Cleveland Indians home opener on March 31st for WKYC.

Thanks for checking in.

Visiting California pilot

This week, we are joined by Kristen Davis, a newly hired Goodyear blimp pilot from our sister operation in California. Unfortunately, I was not able to fly with her the past few days because of high winds and thunderstorms. The down time gave us an opportunity to plan our summer tour schedule and catch up.

Kristen is from Chicago originally and was hired last year as a pilot for our Los Angeles-based operation. I asked her what she liked about flying in Florida. She mentioned the clear ocean water, which offers a great view of the sea life below.

While she is a new pilot for Goodyear, she is far from a "new" pilot. She already has accumulated more than 1,500 hours in the air and has the rare "Lighter Than Air -- Airship Rating" on her commercial pilot's certificate. Because Goodyear blimps are larger airships and feature two ballonets -- one forward and one aft -- instead of one, the company has its own extensive training program that a pilot must successfully complete.

Kristen has done a great job with her training so far, and I wish I had the opportunity to fly with her on this visit. I'm actually going on a short vacation until Friday, and I will miss the chance. I'm headed to Tampa Bay for some fishing....will post some good pictures if we catch anything.

Want to fly the blimp?

Early this week, we had a nice, normal day of passenger flights scheduled at our home base, and it's always entertaining when the group includes children. We try to make the flights extra special for kids by letting them try on the co-pilots headset during flight so they can listen in on the conversation between the pilot and the crew chief at the base. Our first flight of the day included three adults and three children, and the youngest passenger asked for the headset right away. Since there is a built-in microphone, she had a lot of fun telling me I was "cleared for landing."

We also let children help move the elevator wheel, which makes the blimp go up and down. Most young passengers love to see the reaction of the airship as we rotate the wheel backward and forward. When I asked my new "co-pilot" if she'd like to help fly the blimp, she had a unique response: "Isn't that your job?"

Well, it certainly is, and I will be back at it this weekend at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., for ESPN the Weekend at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Picture perfect

We finally made it home after a successful week in Daytona, and the crew is taking a much deserved break. I just posted some photos from the weekend, including an amazing picture of the Thunderbirds.

In the meantime, check out our sister airship, the Spirit of America, which will be flying over the Academy Awards for KABC and E! this Sunday in California.