Дирижабли Goodyear: История и современность рекламного флота

Airship fleet used for promotional purposes

The Goodyear Blimp is any one of a fleet of airships (or dirigibles) operated by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, used mainly for advertising purposes and capturing aerial views of live sporting events for television. The term blimp itself is defined as a non rigid airship—without any internal structure, the pressure of lifting gas within the airship envelope maintains the vessel's shape. From the launch of the Pilgrim in 1925 to the retiring of the Spirit of Innovation in 2017, Goodyear generally owned and operated non rigid airships in its global public relations fleet. In 2014, Goodyear began to replace its three U. S. non rigid airships (blimps) with three new semi rigid airships, each of which have a rigid internal frame. Although technically incorrect, Goodyear continues to use "blimp" in reference to these new semi rigid airships.

The Goodyear blimps are inflated with helium. The helium is maintained under low pressure, so small punctures do not pose serious consequences for the blimp. One inspection element of the blimps is to look into the envelope for pinpoints of light which are indicative of small holes. Prior to the Zeppelin NT, the Goodyear blimps were non rigid (meaning their shape is not maintained by a rigid internal structure) dirigibles (directable/steerable airships). Inside their exterior envelope, the blimps are fitted with air filled ballonets. As the blimp ascends or descends, the internal ballonets expand or contract to compensate for density changes and to maintain uniform pressure in the envelope. The latest Goodyear airship, the Zeppelin NT, is a departure from this convention, as it is a semi rigid airship that makes use of a truss inside the envelope to provide some of its strength.

"GZ" stands for Goodyear–Zeppelin, stemming from the partnership Goodyear had with the German company when both were building airships together. However, these models came many years after this partnership had dissolved during the start of World War II. The GZ 1 was the USS Akron (ZRS 4), the U. S. Navy's fourth rigid airship used for several tests including as a flying "aircraft carrier". 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. 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. 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. 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.

According to the Goodyear website, the now retired GZ 19 and 19A blimps were long respectively, and the GZ 20/20A blimps were 192 feet (59 m) long, 59.5 feet (18 m) tall, and 50 feet (15 m) wide. For comparison, the largest airships ever built, the Zeppelin company's Hindenburg, LZ 129, and the Graf Zeppelin II, LZ 130, were both 804 feet (245 m) long and 135 feet (41 m) in diameter. That is, over four times as long and over twice as wide as the current Goodyear blimps. The largest blimp ever made by Goodyear was the U. S. Navy's ZPG 3, at 403 feet (123 m) in length.