Leave the blimping to us.
Posted on 10/05/2005 10:10:36 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
AKRON, Ohio - Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said it will build a new version of a bullet-shaped blimp by spring to replace one that crashed in June during a violent storm in Florida.
The 192-foot-long replacement blimp — still unnamed — will use parts salvaged from the crashed airship, including the gondola that holds the pilot and passengers.
It also will have a new neoprene-plastic envelope, which is the massive fabric structure that fills with helium to provide lift. Officials at Akron-based Goodyear declined to reveal the new blimp's cost.
Goodyear executives had been silent until Tuesday night about whether they would salvage the silver, blue and gold Stars & Stripes, or build a new blimp. The company has two other blimps — the Suffield, Ohio-based Spirit of Goodyear and the Carson, Calif.-based Sprit of America — in its North American Fleet. The widely recognized corporate icon is used to provide coverage of sports events and for charitable fund-raisers.
"Goodyear will once again have three airships flying over America," said Jon Rich, president of the company's North American Tire division.
The National Transportation Safety Board ruled last month that poor planning and decisions by the pilot caused the Stars & Stripes blimp to crash. Neither the pilot nor his passenger were injured.
The SS HRC?
Now the question is can they build a new blimp any better than they do a new race tire :-)
Leave the blimping to us.
I wasn't gonna go there.. but.. I knew somebody would .. lol
That'll never fly :-)
At least I didn't mention the H word. Oh glock....
No blimp drafting , please. ;-)
How did I know that was coming?... ;-)
You mean FEMA isn't paying for the new blimp?
Why not? All losses are the Federal Government's responsibility, right?
It was the sort of event which causes everyone to run outside and look. Only a year or two ago, I was driving along I-10 and one was flying pretty much parallel with the highway for awhile. After maybe 20 minutes, it turned North. I think it had been in Gainesville, covering a U of F. football game.
This guy got a blimp ride.....
http://ericnuzum.com/blimp/
65,000 feet.. Wow.
Oh the humanity!!!!
Yes, same thing happened to me, I was about 10ish when one of those longer silver styled goodyears they used to fly flew by my house in Dunn, NC on its way to some sporting event or another I suppose....
It was very slow, very low, and I agree they were longer than the little ballons that most blimps are today.
Watching that thing slowly glide over the Black Eyed Pea field next to my house from my own backyard and off onto the horizon was pretty darn "cool".
PING! regarding your payment plan from this mornings stuck civic thread.
That will go over like a f-cking lead baloon!
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