Goodyear’s Spirit of America blimp floats near Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. It was deflated and disassembled earlier this month after a farewell flight across California.Jae C. Hong/The Associated Press
The fabled Goodyear Blimp, which has been seen floating over American sports events for generations, is retiring.
But that big, cigar-shaped dirigible will remain instantly recognizable with its blue-and-gold Goodyear logo emblazoned across the side. It just won't be, technically, a blimp.
From the ground it won't look much different from Goodyear's Spirit of America, which was deflated and disassembled earlier this month after a farewell flight across California.
"It's a brand new design. It is a much larger airship. It's a semi-rigid dirigible," Goodyear's Priscilla Tasker said of the new fleet of non-blimps replacing the company's three aging U.S. airships.
In air-speak that means the new model has a fixed structure holding its big, gassy balloon in place. That's unlike a blimp, which goes flat when the helium is removed.
"But the most impressive features are the glass cockpit that is all fly-by-wire, the most state-of-the-art avionics in airships today," Tasker said.
The new ships, with three engines instead of two, will be able to hit freeway speeds of 73 mph (118 kph) and make less racket getting from place to place. They'll also be more manoeuvrable. And they'll still be carried aloft by helium.