The Goodyear Blimp Flies with Garmin

Take a trip to Akron, Ohio and you will find the home and hangar of one of three Goodyear blimps in the United States. Take a peek into the cockpit of that particular blimp and you’ll see Garmin! Dual G500’s provide situational information regarding the blimp’s position, speed, vertical rate, altitude and course on the primary flight display (PFD). On the multi-function display (MFD), Goodyear pilots can track the blimp’s current position on a moving map, display chart data and view obstacle and terrain information.

Once I found out the Goodyear Blimp flew behind the same avionics I fly with in fixed-wing aircraft, I was curious how different it must be flying the Goodyear blimp? I recently had the opportunity to catch up with one of the Senior Pilots at Goodyear and get an up-close look at what it’s like flying this massive airship!

How did you learn to fly a blimp/airship?

There are no blimp training schools in the world that aren’t run by the blimp programs themselves. One must be hired to fly a blimp and then trained to do so. The only way to attain a Lighter-Than-Air Airship license is to get hired by an airship company. The training with Goodyear is a 6-12 month process. Within this training the pilot has to learn many techniques unique to lighter-than-air (LTA) and discard some aspects of being a fixed-wing or helicopter pilot. While the FAA requires 50 hours to attain an LTA license, Goodyear has a strictly enforced 250-hour minimum. I liked that about Goodyear, they were willing to invest in my training to ensure I am well equipped to handle any situation with the blimp.

What is the maximum speed and range of the Goodyear blimp?

Based on a zero wind condition the new airship can travel upwards of 73 MPH. On its maiden flight we reached 94 MPH, due to a strong tailwind. This is a massive improvement over our GZ20-A blimps’ top speed of 50 MPH.

The range of the airship, the N07-101 our newest airship, is somewhat of a two-fold answer. Since we are so susceptible to winds it may be best to describe the airship with respect to endurance. With all tanks topped off, the ship can remain in the air for 24-40 hours. This allows the ship to fly a distance up to 700 Nautical miles.

What airspeed (if any) do you use to take-off and land?

We do have different airspeeds in the airship. There is still a maneuvering speed, a never exceed speed, and an aft engine swivel speed (a speed which is similar to a gear down speed).

There is no rotation speed for the airship. However, we have a very intricate program, which calculates the static condition (actual heaviness if we were to put the entire ship onto a scale) and compares it to our maximum usable lift. Once we determine that the ship is able to takeoff vertically with this program, we load the airship accordingly and take-off like a helicopter. Once the ship is in the air and free of all obstacles, we will swivel the engines down slowly to gain speed and aerodynamic effectiveness.

Can you fly the airship single pilot or does it require two pilots? Similarly, how large is your entire crew? 

Our blimps, the GZ-20A models, are rated single pilot VFR and IFR, day and night and require a minimum of 13 qualified crew people plus pilots to operate. For travel assignments we staff 21. These 21 people are A&P airship mechanics, technicians (avionics and camera operators), riggers, heavy-duty diesel mechanics, crew managers, and pilots.

What do you like best about the G500?

The thing I like best about the G500 is ease of use. The ability to have all kinds and sorts of information at your fingertips within a few screens makes the pilot’s job much easier.

What feature on the G500 do you use most while flying the Goodyear blimp?

Since we cannot out-fly or over-fly severe weather, we use the XM weather and ADS-B weather the most. In the past we had pilots on the ground with hand-held radios that would advise us of any inclement weather. The G500 makes this process more accurate, in my opinion.

We’re thrilled the Goodyear team enjoys flying with the G500 and has found it to be a great addition to their flight deck. The versatiliy of the G500 is wide-ranging and is included on anything from small single-engine piston aircraft, small business jets, helicopters and of course, the Goodyear Blimp!

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