The famed Goodyear Blimp is soaring through the Las Vegas Valley this week, providing passenger rides and stunning aerial shots for the multiple WWE events taking place in the city, which is headlined by WrestleMania.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has been operating its famous blimps for 100 years and has previously flown in Las Vegas for CES. However, this week marks the first time the airship will be utilized in coverage of events held at Allegiant Stadium and T-Mobile Arena, according to blimp pilot Joe Erbs.
“They’ll use us a lot for what we call beauty shots,” Erbs said during a flight with the Las Vegas Review-Journal near the iconic Strip. “Nice, gorgeous shots of the Strip, the mountains and everything else. Cutting in-and-out of commercials, it will be a nice vantage point for the viewers.”
Goodyear operates a fleet that includes three blimps, with operational bases in Carson, California, Pompano Beach, Florida, and Akron, Ohio. Each blimp measures 246 feet in length, features around 300,000 cubic feet of volume, and is powered by three 200-horsepower engines. Additionally, Goodyear maintains a blimp based in Germany for events overseas.
Each blimp is flown from one of the U.S. bases to its event destination, as the construction of these airships takes approximately a year and a half. They cannot be broken down for transport. The maximum speed of the blimps is around 75 mph, and they typically fly in increments of about 300 miles per day while traveling to various locations, Erbs noted.
Wingfoot Three, which was christened in 2018, is the youngest blimp in Goodyear’s fleet. It has already visited over 20 states and covered significant events, including the College Football Playoff and the PGA Championship.
When not in use, the blimps are anchored to the ground using trucks. However, during operational flights, the goal is to keep the blimp on the ground as briefly as possible while loading and unloading passengers.
“We can’t just do it with us; there’s a big ground crew involved with this thing,” Erbs explained.
The unique aircraft behaves in ways reminiscent of airplanes, helicopters, and boats on water.
“Sometimes it does all of those things in a 10-second period,” Erbs remarked. “So, a very unique aircraft to fly in. You can feel here, we’re just rocking around like a boat on the water. You don’t get that from anything other than a boat on the water and you don’t feel that on an airplane.”
Celebrating its 100th anniversary, Goodyear’s fleet of airships is set to cover a wide array of events across North America this year, which includes WrestleMania, the Kentucky Derby, the Formula One Miami Grand Prix, Coachella, multiple PGA Tour events, and the Indianapolis 500.
“We’re covering all of the Southwest and Southeast, the East Coast, and even going to Canada and the Midwest,” Erbs added. “There’s a lot of stuff this year.”
Beyond providing aerial shots for broadcast sporting events, Goodyear enjoys offering passenger rides in most regions they operate. This includes customers associated with tire dealerships, media, events, and sponsors, with pilots relishing the opportunity to invite people to join the elite flight club.
“Passenger rides are our favorite thing,” Erbs shared. “There’s not a single person who has got on a blimp and said, ‘Ah god, I got to get on a blimp.’ They’re all excited, and we feed off of that.”
image source from：https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/look-its-the-goodyear-blimp-famed-airship-cruising-over-las-vegas-this-week-3352464/
