Goodyear Blimp Crashes

[n2nh]

This didn't make the evening news here. Probably not where you're at either:

Goodyear Blimp Crashes (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/newsletter/mu-html/sfl-0617blimpgallery,0,3138134.photogallery?coll=orl-middayupdate-utility)
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/media/photo/2005-06/18060718.jpg

[w4rot]

Holey Moley!
Glad nobody was hurt. Scary looking photo.
I guess any landing you can walk away from is a good one, but it doesn't quite look as charismatic laying flat in the parking lot.
Those things look cool floating in the sky.
w4rot

[kf6rdn]

Holey crap! scarey indeed! Funny, I have pictures of it flying over Carson here in Socal, I guess there's more then one..

(I was bored between my son's soccer games.. heh)

[w5klb]

Scary indeed. Hopefully no one was hurt.

I have a couple of questions:

Are these blimps suppost to file a "flight plan"?

If the pilot did file a flight plan, wasn't he/she suppost to get a "weather briefing"?

Something here doesn't add up. This could lose a "blimp pilot" a job if he's not in the hospital.

I remember reading about the "Hindenburg" at NAS Lakehurst, NJ. I am Glad they use something other than Hydrogen to fill a blimp.

[ac3p]

There used to be 3 or 4 of them. I'm not sure how many there are now.

Used to see them fly over Baltimore back in the 80's and early 90's. Haven't seen them for a few year now.

[W2LYS]

It must have been the Aggie Terrorist... before the crash, he bumped into five buildings...

[K9STH]

According to the article this happened on July 17. Someone on the newspaper staff must be a psyhic.

Glen, K9STH

[w3sy]

OH, THE HUMANITY!!!

[n2nh]

Here's a bit more on it, including a video link:

Goodyear Blimp Crash in Fla. (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-locmblimp17061705jun17,0,4629099.story?coll=orl-home-headlines)
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/media/thumbnails/realvideo/2005-06/18059778.jpg

[K8ERV]

Quote[/b] (w5klb @ June 17 2005,11:27)]I am Glad they use something other than Hydrogen to fill a blimp.
That one musta been filled with water. They should have used di-hydrogen monoxide.

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

[n2nh]

We've just had a second helicopter crash here. Both happened in the East River, on the East side of Manhattan. News is breaking right now.

2nd Helicopter Crashes in East River (NYC) (http://www.wnbc.com/news/4623000/detail.html)

http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0617/4623077_120X90.jpg

[K0RGR]

Apparently, there were 3 GoodYear blimps prior to this.

Thunderstorms and lighter-than-air craft don't mix. When the last Navy dirigible went down, it was pushed down by a big storm and swamped by high waves off the coast, as I recall. At least when they crash, it's not usually a high-speed nose dive.

I still think we need to bring back dirigibles. They'd make a great alternative to Amtrack and certain airlines.

[WR2E]

Interesting... just got back from visiting relatives in Florida, west of Jacksonville. One evening we were out in the yard and here comes the GY Blimp, flying VERY low, directly over my sister-in-laws house. I thought it strange that he was flying so low over a populated area (my estimate was 700 - 1000 feet ) and it makes me wonder now if there have been on-going problems with the thing ?

Those engines on that thing are L O U D !!!

73 de Jeff

[K7JBQ]

One other thing about Stars and Stripes: That puppy is no picnic to fly. I flew it once, about 10 years ago, on assignment to write a feature story for a Goodyear publication. Moving left and right is no problem, but keeping the thing level -- even in calm weather -- gets interesting. Basically, in my unskilled hands, it did a lot of porpoising up and down, which my buddies on the ground found hilarious.

The pilot that day was Larry Chambers. I don't know if he's still working in that capacity, or if he was on board when it crashed, but he's a good guy and a helluva pilot.

As far as flight plans, I don't remember any. Basically, it was just a cruise over the ocean and Broward County, including, yes, Coral Springs.

Very glad no one was hurt. S&S was one of the older blimps in the fleet. Don't know from the report is it was a "total" or fixable.

73,
Bill

[N0KLT]

One of the GY blimps was in town a few years ago. I guess the material for the blimps is or was made in the GY plant here in Lincoln. The thing was here for about a week or so giving rides to dignataries and lucky employees. I don't remember the details of who got rides or how they were chosen. It was pretty cool to see the thing floating around over town. In the space of just a little time, it got almost old hat to see the thing or hear it humming around town. It could be noisy at certain times and at times almost scarey silent. I know I was out in the yard one evening and a big old shadow crossed the yard and about that time I heard this hum and looked up as the thing came right overhead, just about then he decided to change altitude and then it got noisy as it changed heights. Most of the time it looked like it wasn't much more then treetop height when I saw it, but of course it was much higher then that; much being a relative term though. It was low enough most of the time you could make out figures at the windows but not well enough to see features or even tell if they were male or female. I really envied the folks I knew that did get rides. That has to be a fun way to travel.

[ve2nsm]

Quote[/b] (K7JBQ @ June 17 2005,16:47)]Very glad no one was hurt. S&S was one of the older blimps in the fleet. Don't know from the report is it was a "total" or fixable.
From what I saw, they're gonna need a darn good sewing machine!!! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[KC2ESD]

Goodyear should use Hydrogen, it has better lifting properties. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[N8CPA]

I have always liked blimps. The two coolest blimps sights I've ever seen:

1) At the Daytona 500. 7 blimps of various companies flying over the track, low and slow.

2) At my home. I live fairly close to the OSU stadium. 2 or 3 years ago, when Goodyear launched a new ship, they commemorated the occasion with a fleet (3 or 4) flyover of an OSU football game, and of course, right over my house. But I DIDN'T HAVE ANY FILM IN THE !@#%%^^ CAMERA!

10 years ago, while out on a night time storm spotting session, a ham friend and I drove by the municipal airport and were suprised to find a Goodyear blimp moored in an adjacent field. I don't remember the name, but it was the only one that had the X formation tail foils
(fins). We were able to walk right up to it, peer into the cockpit, talk to the security crew, etc. Besdies th X fin, another departure from the usual blimp tech was the pilot station. It did not have the usual pitch control wheel, with pedals for the rudder. Instead, it had fixed wing style yoke controls.

It was quite windy that night, and the blimp kept weather vaning with changes in the wind, its "nose" wheel leaving scribbles on the wet grass. And when the blimp rotated, we would move out of its way. What a cool night that was! I just wish I could remember the name of the ship. It doesn't seem to be on the company's roster anymore, none of the current ones have that X fin.

[WR2E]

Lots of interesting info about the fleet of Goodyear Blimps at this URL !

Goodyear Blimp Homepage (http://www.goodyearblimp.com)

73 de Jeff

[K9STH]

I still want to know how the reporter knows that the blimp will crash on July 17.

Glen, K9STH

[kf7qq]

I HATE IT when that happens!

[w8znx]

hello

some may say it crashed due to a storm

but I see the muddy paw print of
the interrnational dachshund conspiracy

ask Dave AL2I
he knows the facts about dachshunds

mac
the poodle bites the poodle chews it

[n2nh]

Quote[/b] (K9STH @ June 18 2005,11:46)]I still want to know how the reporter knows that the blimp will crash on July 17.

Glen, K9STH
All I know is I'm staying indoors that day.
http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

[n2nh]

Quote[/b] (w8znx @ June 18 2005,12:54)]hello

some may say it crashed due to a storm

but I see the muddy paw print of
the interrnational dachshund conspiracy

ask Dave AL2I
he knows the facts about dachshunds

mac
the poodle bites the poodle chews it
Darned, if I ever get a band, I just gotta name it

"International Daschund Conspiracy"

That'd be a great name for a band. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[kb2vxa]

Hi John and readers,

Living in Brooklyn and you say it wasn't on the evening news? I was watching a NY station that carried it with a video clip. BTW, where did you get that fantastic image? Yeah, 2 'copter crashes in 3 days, something odd about that.

Right, "porpoising" happens even in moderate wind, I watched a pilot getting air sick somewhere between Point Pleasant and Lakehurst yesterday. Worse than that he looked disoriented flying in a spiraling NW direction blown by the wind. By odd coincidence all hell broke loose an hour later when thunderstorms swept through NJ, I suppose they got it on the ground all right.

Now stop with the poodle vs. daschund and tell me about Zappa's OTHER dog. Now WHAT was that about Alice the (something) dog? (arf)

"International Daschund Conspiracy. That'd be a great name for a band."

New Wave or Punk? With such a sense of humor you should check out 7 Seconds Of Love at www.rathergood.com, a rather good lot of Zappa clones with British accents.

[n0jaa]

Quote[/b] (w5klb @ June 17 2005,14:27)]Are these blimps suppost to file a "flight plan"?

If the pilot did file a flight plan, wasn't he/she suppost to get a "weather briefing"?
Airships always fly using Visual Flight Rules (VFR), due to the nature of the aircraft. All pilots are required to obtain a weather briefing from Flight Service prior to departure.

A pilot who flies using VFR rules and does not utilize any controlled (towered) airports and/or flies outside of a Radar Service Area (RSA), is not required to be in contact with an Air Traffic Controller (ATC) and is not required to file a flight plan. Usually this would involve only a General Aviation (GA) aircraft (private, not for hire) that may fly from one non-towered (no ATC) airport to another non-towered airport below IFR altitudes outside of controlled airspace. In such instances, the pilot must monitor the inflight Unicom frequencies and those Unicom frequencies assigned to the various non-towered airports the pilot is flying from/to.

Commercial aircraft must fly using Instrument Flight Rules (IFR), are required to file a flight plan, and must be in contact with ATC or an Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) at all times, regardless of the aircraft's route or destination. The only exception to this rule is crop dusters that fly outside of an RSA and are not equipped for IFR.

Since a non-towered airport has no ATC, the pilot must state his intentions to other aircraft on the Unicom frequency assigned to that airport. If the aircraft in question is commercial, the pilot must contact ARTCC (or ATC if the non-towered airport is within a towered airport's RSA) immediately after departing the non-towered airport's flight pattern.

Any VFR aircraft, private or commercial, that departs from or is in route to a non-towered airport that lies within an RSA, and any aircraft transiting through an RSA, must contact ATC upon entering controlled airspace.

I hope this answers your questions, at least somewhat. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

My information is several years old, having learned it in A&P school, but I think it is still essentially correct. I hope I wasn't too long-winded for you! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Disclaimer: I am not a pilot, but I was required to learn a minimal amount of information about aircraft operations while in A&P school.


Paul, N0JAA.

[n2nh]

Quote[/b] (kb2vxa @ June 18 2005,20:03)]Hi John and readers,

Living in Brooklyn and you say it wasn't on the evening news? I was watching a NY station that carried it with a video clip. BTW, where did you get that fantastic image? Yeah, 2 'copter crashes in 3 days, something odd about that.

Right, "porpoising" happens even in moderate wind, I watched a pilot getting air sick somewhere between Point Pleasant and Lakehurst yesterday. Worse than that he looked disoriented flying in a spiraling NW direction blown by the wind. By odd coincidence all hell broke loose an hour later when thunderstorms swept through NJ, I suppose they got it on the ground all right.

Now stop with the poodle vs. daschund and tell me about Zappa's OTHER dog. Now WHAT was that about Alice the (something) dog? (arf)

"International Daschund Conspiracy. That'd be a great name for a band."

New Wave or Punk? With such a sense of humor you should check out 7 Seconds Of Love at www.rathergood.com, a rather good lot of Zappa clones with British accents.
I got the information about noon on Friday that the crash happened the day before. It didn't make the Thurs newscasts but I did see a little on it on Friday night. The pic came from the website that I linked the story to; I thought it was pretty impressive too. There's also some pics of it coming down and a short newscast on it. Whoever took the stills did a great job - hope they got good money for them.

I suppose the delay is because Florida doesn't want anything affecting their Tourist trade (although Summer should be 'downtime') like the bad press happening in Aruba.

Lessee, "The poodle bites, the poodle chews it." - Dynamo Hum right? I think it was Alice the Wonder dog.

As far as the band, it'll probably be modern/hard rock... my friend already has a drummer and a lead. He just wants me to brush up on my bass...

Thanks for the link to the Zappa tribute bands. Still miss his great music and sense of humor.

[n7rjd]

Quote[/b] (n2nh @ June 17 2005,03:27)]This didn't make the evening news here. #Probably not where you're at either:
Probably didn't hit the news because according to the story it hasn't happened yet. It says "The blimp lays across the roof of a storage building early "July 17" as technicians "skin" it."

Maybe the news is waiting for July 17 to air the story.
http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif