Goodyear Blimps Celebrate Part of Their Centennial Year in Oshkosh
Wingfoot One and Wingfoot Two are pictured maneuvering in the sky over Oshkosh this year.
Story by Ken Kula, photos by Ken Kula and Goodyear’s public relations team
Aviation technology has a history of rapid advancement. Flight began with fabric covered, unpowered balloons and gliders in the 1800s and advanced into powered dirigibles, blimps and heavier than air aircraft in the early 1900s. Fifty years later, metal aircraft, powered by turbine engines, flew at supersonic speeds. History is filled with examples of the “out with the old, in with the new” principle, but blimps and semi-rigid airships have carved a niche for themselves over decades… in fact, some designs have been around for at least a century. The “Goodyear Blimp” is celebrating its centennial year of operations in 2025, with appearances at many high profile events. At the EAA’s AirVenture Oshkosh 2025, a pair of the airships were the center of attention when they arrived, during several afternoon air shows, and during the two night air shows’ spectacular finales.
A definition of a blimp refers to a non-rigid airship, without any internal or external structure. The envelope and the gases within the “bag” form the shape of a blimp. Semi-rigid or rigid airships have a structure that keeps the envelope full of gases in place. Both types of aircraft rely on a propulsion system, normally piston engines to assist with directional control… up, down, left or right.
The Goodyear Blimp Pilgrim in 1925 – Goodyear photo
For 100 years, The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company has operated blimps, or recently, semi-rigid airships. On June 3, 1925, Goodyear’s first blimp, named the Pilgrim, was launched to serve “as a public relations vehicle to drive brand awareness for the company and delight fans in communities across the country.” The Pilgrim was the first Goodyear airship to be filled with helium, a less volatile gas when compared to the hydrogen which was used prior to that, especially during World War I. The Pilgrim and its public relations message carried the company’s winged foot logo emblazoned across its envelope. It is from this date forward that Goodyear marks their 100th anniversary. Here are some highlights and historical firsts of the Goodyear Blimp fleet.
The second Goodyear helium-filled blimp, the Puritan, atop of a building in 1928 – Goodyear photo
Goodyear had operated balloons beginning in 1912 in national and international competitions. In 1917, the company began building blimps for the U. S. Navy, completing around 25 examples in eight years. In 1925, Goodyear completed the aforementioned helium-filled Pilgrim, and in 1928, the second Goodyear blimp, named the Puritan, became the first airship to carry a permanent license number assigned by the Commerce Department’s Aeronautics Branch. Puritan was the first TZ model blimp made by Goodyear. By 1934, two more blimps had been launched, the Defender and the Enterprise. An important innovation came into use in 1930, as the blimp Defender carried a “Neon-O-Gram” neon sign package aloft for the first time.
Goodyear Navy blimps in 1946 – Goodyear photo
Just prior to the start of World War II, Goodyear began blimp pilot and crew training for the U. S. Navy at Wingfoot Lake, Ohio. This training facility would continue to operate during the first three years of the war; Goodyear built 154 blimps for the Navy, most were constructed at the company’s Wingfoot Lake plant. During the war, Goodyear blimps reportedly escorted 89,000 vessels while on anti-submarine patrol, and the U. S. Navy noted that no ships were lost while blimps were patrolling with them.
The Mayflower, a GZ-19 blimp, seen in 1977 – Goodyear photo
In 1946, Goodyear purchased seven blimps back from the Navy; and from these five went back into company service: the Mayflower, Puritan, Enterprise, Volunteer and Ranger. In 1959, the new GZ-19 model blimp was produced with a larger envelope capable of holding 132,500 cubic feet of volume (helium) and was powered by a pair of 175 horsepower gasoline engines. In 1963, the Mayflower and Columbia were enlarged to 147,300 cubic feet, and were renamed as GZ-19A versions.
Goodyear Blimp over the 1978 Rose Bowl in California – Goodyear photo
During 1955, a Goodyear blimp first sent televised pictures of the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl college football game in California to a nationwide audience. Blimps have since helped to cover football games for 70 years.
In 1966, the blimp-borne Skytacular lighting system was introduced, made up of 1540 light bulbs with different colored lenses. The package was more than 100 feet long, mounted on the envelope’s side. A year later, the Columbia covered that year’s Super Bowl for CBS television, a first event which would become common over subsequent years.
By 1969, a new version of the Goodyear blimp series was introduced, the GZ-20. With an envelope that could hold more than 200,000 cubic feet of gas and powered by a pair of Continental IO-360 airplane engines of 210 horsepower each, the type would be the flagship and operate for the next half a century. Each airship was equipped with the new Super Spectacular message lighted sign system too. A one-off more advanced blimp, called the GZ-22, flew in 1987, it had turboprop engines and operated for a dozen years, while the older GZ-20 ships were still being produced.
The Spirit of Goodyear, a GZ-20 blimp, with new High Definition camera gear shown in 2004 – Goodyear photo.
In 1996, a new lighted sign system first utilized LED lighting was fielded, and four years later, the Spirit of Goodyear began carrying Eaglevision, capable of projecting full video presentations on their airship’s screens for the first time. In 2004, the first high-definition TV broadcast was made during the NFL’s Hall of Fame Game.
Two of Goodyear’s four Zeppelin LZ N07-101 semi-rigid airships over Oshkosh in 2025
In 2011, the Goodyear airship fleet would be transformed from blimps to semi-rigid airships, when it was announced that Goodyear and ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik had collaborated to produce three of the next generation ZLT Zeppelin LZ NO7-101 airships, powered by three IO-360 engines and built with an aluminum and carbon fiber frame. Ultimately, a fourth ship was built, and the elderly GZ-20 blimps were slowly retired, the last one left the Goodyear fleet in 2017. There are three Goodyear Blimps (yes, even though they’re technically semi-rigid airships the company still identifies them as blimps) based in the U. S. in California, Ohio and Florida, named Wingfoot One through Three. The fourth airship, Wingfoot 4 is based in Germany.
The new Zeppelins are 46 feet wide at their maximum girth
The new Zeppelins are faster than the GZ-20 blimps they replaced, capable of 70 miles per hour. Their flight controls are via a joy stick with fly-by-wire connections. Each ship is 246 feet long, 57 feet tall and 46 feet across at its widest point. The envelope holds 297,527 cubic feet of helium. A crew of two can host up to a dozen passengers; endurance is at least 24 hours depending on load and flight conditions and yes, it is equipped with a lavatory.
Wingfoot One
One of the two Zeppelins present in Oshkosh was “Wingfoot One”, carrying FAA registration N1A. The airship is wearing a throwback color scheme from a century ago.
The second airship, named “Wingfoot Two” wears today’s more modern color scheme, and the registration of N2A.
A flight of two Goodyear Blimps is inbound to EAA AirVenture 2025
Having more than one of the Goodyear Blimp at the same event is a rare treat, and several formation passes were arranged during the Oshkosh air shows. Earlier, around the June 3rd anniversary date, all three U. S. – based airships joined in a trailing formation and overflew the cities of Cleveland and Akron Ohio, a rare gathering of airships in numbers not seen since 2012 and 2014 when Parade of Blimps floated over New York City and later, over Boston.
Wingfoot Two is on a downwind leg for the EAA’s Pioneer Airport, where the airship would operate from during AirVenture Oshkosh 2025
The Goodyear Blimps have been a constant for one hundred years, and their company role of public relations and brand awareness have set them apart from most other airborne advertising methods. Happy birthday to the Goodyear Blimp, we’re happy that your operations haven’t “gone with the past” like so many other great aeronautical ideas and advancements.
Michael Dougherty, Goodyear Airship Operations’ chief pilot, briefs media representatives during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2025. Goodyear Blimps have made many appearances in Oshkosh, beginning in 1971 – Ken Kula photo.
Wingfoot One, before receiving the throwback color scheme for 2025, over the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company’s Headquarters building in Akron Ohio – Goodyear photo.
