The history of the Goodyear Blimp

The Goodyear Blimp has become an iconic symbol of sports and entertainment and surprisingly it isn’t just a company putting its logo on an airship. As well as creating some of the first rubber tyres for planes, Goodyear created and launched balloons and most famously, blimps which have evolved from wartime usages to entertainment and a pop culture mainstay.

The blimp has a unique history which may surprise you even down to the fact that the blimp itself is constructed from materials you might find in your own car tyres. Here’s the short history of the Goodyear Blimp.

The origins of the Goodyear Blimp can be traced back to 1914, when the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, based in Akron, Ohio built its first kite observation balloons, the predecessor to the blimp. In 1917, the United States entered World War I, and Goodyear was asked by the US government to produce lighter-than-air vehicles for military use. Goodyear's engineers designed and built several blimps that were used for reconnaissance missions and other purposes during the war.

After the war ended, Goodyear saw an opportunity to use its expertise in lighter-than-air technology for commercial purposes. In 1925, the company built its first blimp for advertising, which was named the "Pilgrim". The Pilgrim was used to promote Goodyear products at events like football games and air shows, and it quickly became a sensation.

Successors were often named after America's Cup yacht race winners because Goodyear's then chairman, Paul Litchfield, had likened them to "giant sailing ships of the sky". More than 300 blimps have been built at the company's global headquarters in Akron, Ohio, although today, Goodyear is no longer the manufacturer.

Over the coming decades, Goodyear continued to innovate and refine its blimp technology. In 1930, the company introduced its first helium-filled blimp, which was faster, more maneuverable, and safer than previous models. Before this, hydrogen was used. as it was lighter than helium and provided more lift, but it was flammable…so helium won out.

By the 1940s new blimps included technologies such as record players, microphones and loudspeakers as well as an improved Neon-O-Gram light system with 182 individual light bulbs allowing for the pilots to “blimpcast” messages to the people below.

The blimps were used to provide aerial footage of events, as well as to display advertising messages to crowds below. On January 1, 1955, the Enterprise V became the first aerial platform to provide live television pictures televised nationally when it supplied vision of the Tournament of Roses Parade. While the equipment was heavy and unstable, it delivered a new and unique view to television audiences around the world.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Goodyear Blimp underwent a series of significant upgrades and redesigns. In 1966 the Mayflower premiered new animated night signs which included 1540 lights per side and allowed for coloured moving text and figures to be displayed.

These new blimps became fixtures at major events like the Super Bowl, Indianapolis 500, the US Open and the Olympics which helped cement the Goodyear Blimp's status as an American icon.

As well as sporting events, the blimp has found itself co-starring in many TV and films. One of the most famous appearances occurred in 1979, in the movie "The Blues Brothers." In the scene, the Goodyear Blimp can be seen flying over Chicago, while the main characters drive a car through the city's streets. It also made an appearance in the Beatles Help!, Frank Sinatra’s Hole in the Head and the film Scarface.

In 1996 some of the blimps upgraded their signs to Super Skytacular 2, the first blimp signage to use LEDs. Each side of the blimp displayed 3780 LED boards which allow for the display of more animations and graphics than ever before. The LEDs were so bright it was able to be visible during the day.

The Goodyear Blimp has been involved in several incidents over the course of its history, although fortunately, most of these incidents have not resulted in serious injuries or fatalities.

One of the most notable incidents involving the Goodyear Blimp occurred in 1995 when the blimp "Stars and Stripes" crashed during an air show in Ohio. The blimp was attempting to land when it suddenly lost power and began to drift off course, eventually crashing into a stand of trees. The pilot and two passengers on board were injured in the crash, but they all survived.

Another incident occurred in 2005 when the Goodyear Blimp "Spirit of America" crashed into a house in Florida while attempting to land. The pilot was able to escape the blimp before it crashed, but the accident caused extensive damage to the house and the blimp.

Today, Goodyear’s Blimps named Wingfoot One, Wingfoot Two and Wingfoot Three are part of the new generation of blimps developed by Germany's ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik and customised to Goodyear’s needs. The name Wingfoot is a nod to the tyre brand’s iconic logo which features the wing foot of Mercury (or Hermes) who heralds good news and is the god of trade and commerce.

The Wingfoot series blimps are 75 metres long, 17.5 metres tall with Gondola Seating for up to 14 people. The airship has a range of over 600km.

The Goodyear Blimp wasn’t only flying the skies of the US, it did make an appearance here in Australia too. At the turn of the millennium, Goodyear supported the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games by providing aerial television and online coverage for various events throughout the country with its Spirit of the South Pacific airship.

As International Olympic Committee restrictions prohibit corporate branding at the Games, Goodyear's logo was replaced with the words "G'day" and "GOOD LUCK".

Australia also went mad for blimps in 2006 during the launch of the Holden VE Commodore with 'Big Red' making its way around the country blasting Republica - Ready to Go and a Commodore TV ad on repeat.

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