LOS ANGELES — The fabled Goodyear Blimp is retiring.
But don’t fret, blimp fans. That big, cigar-shaped thing that floats over sports events will still be there. It will also 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 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,” said Goodyear’s Priscilla Tasker 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 first of the new models, Ohio-based Wingfoot One, took to the sky last year, replacing the 14-year-old Spirit of Goodyear. The last of the old ones, Florida-based Spirit of Innovation, will fly to California next month to replace Spirit of America while its replacement is being built. After that, Spirit of Innovation will be retired.
