Armour: A surprising ride on the famed Goodyear Blimp

LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Admit it: You’ve been at a sporting event or watching on TV when you caught sight of the Goodyear Blimp and thought, “I’d love to take a ride in that one day.”

Yeah, you and so many others back in the day that there was a seven-year waiting list, which is why Goodyear no longer offers blimp rides to the general public. I can’t do anything about that, but I can give you a peek at what it’s like inside the Blimp after taking a two-hour flight around the Bay Area on Saturday morning.

First, you probably think the Blimp is high-tech after seeing the signs that scroll along its side and the high-resolution shots it provides from sporting and entertainment events like the college football championship, Oscars and golf tournaments (Goodyear’s three U.S. blimps do about 250 events each year, and its less-famous siblings do dozens more.). Like the cockpit of the latest Airbus, perhaps. Or a NASA control room.

Not. Even. Close.

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The Blimp is old-school, and I’m not talking that fake-retro look the kids favor. Pilots steer the Blimp by pumping rudders at their feet – they look like large pedals -- and cranking a vertical wheel next to their seat. They change the ship’s altitude by pulling on cords to adjust the helium tanks -- which contain the equivalent of about 1.5 million birthday balloons.

“It hasn’t changed much in the last 45, 50 years,” Senior Pilot William Bayliss acknowledged. “This is about as seat-of-the-pants (flying) as you can get.”

The cabin is small, with seats for the pilot and six others. There’s no bathroom (or drink service), and the drone of the engines is so loud you have to wear a headset if you want to hear anyone say anything. Goodyear is in the process of replacing its three-blimp fleet with the Zeppelin NT, a semi-rigid ship that is 55 feet longer and much, much quieter.

Though Bayliss was the only one on board for this flight, each Blimp – this one was the Spirit of Innovation -- has a crew of about 20 including pilots, mechanics and electronic technicians.

When the Blimp is ready to launch, crew members perform what looks like a choreographed routine. While several members stand on each side, tugging at ropes to maneuver the Blimp, others remain close to the cabin, ducking and weaving as they add or remove weight from the bobbing balloon.

Finally, the ropes are dropped and the pilot noses the Blimp into the air. It climbs steeply – its maximum pitch is 30 degrees with the nose up – before leveling off around 1,500 feet. The Blimp can go as high as 10,000 feet, but Bayliss said no one would be able to see it and would defeat its purpose, which is, after all to be a walking, err, flying billboard for Goodyear.

“It’s one of the most recognizable icons in the world,” Bayliss said.

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When the Blimp is covering an event, a window in the cabin is removed and replaced by a rack with a camera that can be lowered 3 feet below the ship. Yep, all those shots from just one camera.

Once in position, Bayliss said the pilot has to constantly maneuver not only to get the shot, but make sure the ropes used to tether the Blimp to its mast aren’t in the way or, worse, the Blimp’s own shadow.

“We call that the `Blimp Shark,’” Bayliss joked.

“You’re not just a pilot here, you’re a cameraman as well,” he said. “But there’s no better coverage platform because (the Blimp) is slow-moving.”

Which makes sense for outdoor events, like golf tournaments, baseball games or Hollywood events. The Blimp will be in the air for the pre-game shows Sunday, but will be back on the ground well before the Super Bowl starts. No Blimp has done the Super Bowl since Sept. 11 because of anti-terrorism flight restrictions.

But the Blimp does indoor events, too.

“They use us for the `beauty shots,’” Bayliss said, referring to those dazzling scenes of a city’s skyline or an illuminated arena, “which help ease in and out of commercials.”

The constant maneuvering of the Blimp is both physically and mentally exhausting, and Bayliss said flying it isn’t for everyone. There are only 30 to 40 active blimp pilots in the world, with three more currently in Goodyear’s training program.

But Bayliss, who started flying blimps three years ago, wouldn’t trade it for any other aircraft.

“I’ll do it as long as they let me,” he said.

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