AKRON, Ohio (AP) — The next generation of the well-known
Goodyear blimp is getting ready to take flight as the company moves
toward replacing its old fleet of airships with a new trio.
The
helium-filled airship, assembled at an Akron-area hangar and unveiled
there Friday, is bigger, quicker and more maneuverable than earlier
models, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said.
The 246-foot airship
fits 12 passengers and has a semi-rigid internal skeleton, a feature
that wasn’t present in earlier models and raises questions about whether
it is truly a blimp, though the company still refers to it as such. The
structure is covered by a silver, balloon-like body emblazoned with
Goodyear’s yellow logo on a blue background.
It can travel at up
to 73 mph and has custom computer-controlled avionics, an upgrade from
the manual flight system used by the blimp pilots since the 1920s, the
company said. It plans to build two more.
A spokesman wouldn’t
specify the cost of the new airship, which is expected to provide a
longer flight range and better aerial broadcast capabilities for event
coverage.
"The completion of the new blimp marks the beginning of a
new era for our airship program and reflects Goodyear’s commitment to
remaining at the forefront of aerial broadcast coverage and support,"
Paul Fitzhenry, Goodyear’s senior vice president for global
communications, said in a statement.
The airship is scheduled to start test flights this month and go into service this summer.
It
still needs one component: a name. Ohio-based Goodyear is collecting
suggestions through a contest on its website until April 4. Whoever
submits the chosen name will get to use the blimp for a day, the company
said.
Thousands of suggestions were submitted in 2006 when the
company named its Spirit of Innovation blimp, which now operates from
Pompano Beach, Fla.
That is where the old Ohio blimp, Spirit of Goodyear, retired. It is being decommissioned this year.
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