Goodyear
GZ-20A America (N10A)
Photo: Robert Deering 1975
Dallas, Texas

A Goodyear Blimp is any one of a fleet of blimps operated by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company for advertising purposes and for use as a television camera platform for aerial views of sporting events. Goodyear began producing airship envelopes in 1911 and introduced its own blimp, The Pilgrim, in 1925.

Today there are three blimps in the fleet in the USA:

  • N1A Wingfoot One
  • N2A Wingfoot Two
  • N3A Wingfoot Three

The new airships are 246 feet long, 52 feet longer than Goodyear's old model, the GZ-20. The Zeppelin NT model is also slimmer, has a top speed of 70 miles per hour (versus 50 for the blimp), and has a passenger gondola that seats 12 (compared to seven in the blimp). The gondola also contains a restroom. They are outfitted with LED sign technology Goodyear calls "Eaglevision." This allows the aircraft to display bright, multi-colored, animated words and images.

Goodyear also has had blimps operating in other parts of the world. These airships were built and operated by The Lightship Group of Orlando, Florida. In 2012, The Lightship Group was acquired (along with the American Blimp Corporation) by Van Wagner Communications LLC, and operated as the Van Wagner Airship Group until November 17, 2017, when it was purchased by Airsign Inc. They currently operate an airship for Goodyear in China.

The three modern types of Goodyear blimps, since the 1960s, are: GZ-19, GZ-20 and GZ-22. The GZ stands for Goodyear-Zeppelin, stemming from the partnership Goodyear had with the German company when both were building airships together. However these three classes 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: Introduced in 1963 and discontinued in 1978 after the loss of Mayflower (N38A) in a tornado. The design for this class resembles the U.S. Navy's L class blimp.
  • GZ-20: 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 operated outside of the United States. These blimps are slightly longer than the GZ-19. 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 largest and most technically advanced ship Goodyear ever had in its public relations fleet, featuring fly-by-wire technology. However, Spirit was lost in 1999 and the company has not built one since, most likely because of the large expense to build and operate one due to its size and advanced technology.
  • Zeppelin NT (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. 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.

Historical Classes

  • C-5 (blimp) 1918–1919 – hydrogen variant of C class
  • 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 (airship) 1938–1940, pre-war experimental
  • L class blimp 1930s–1945, WWII
  • M class blimp 1944–1956
  • N class blimp 1950s–1962
  • Goodyear Duck GA-1/GA-22 seaplane 1944–?
  • Goodyear ZWG 1950s
  • Goodyear Type FD 1919
  • Goodyear Type TZ 1928–?
  • Goodyear Type GZ-19 1963–1978

Source: Wikipedia


Goodyear Blimp Over
Oklahoma - Texas Game
In Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas
Photo: Robert Deering c1972
David & Duane Deering Watch a Blimp Land
Photo: Robert Deering 1980
Goodyear Base Station
Houston, Texas