I've been lucky enough to score two rides in the Goodyear blimp. Way cool.
No seat belts, slow, noisy, and interesting. When it runs into a thermal
the nose pitches up, pilot rolls the big trim wheel forward, nose comes
down.

in article , Michael Houghton at
wrote on 7/29/03 5:04 AM:

Howdy!

Freeway Airport (W00) frequently hosts blimps when they are in the
Washington, DC area. I've watched the Goodyear blimp through a landing
and takeoff cycle.

The approach is a long straight-in upwind easing it down (and sometimes
forcing it down in steps).

The day I watched, they were taking poeple up for rides. They'd touch down
and the ground crew would hold on while they chucked people out of the cabin
and stuffed more in.

The ground crew then gathered around the gondola. They all grab the rail
and heave it a couple feed into the air. Next they slammed it back down
onto the wheel and scattered like cockroaches. The rebound took it about
six feet up. That's when the pilot nailed the throttles and aimed for the
sky. About 300 feet up, he leveled off and moseyed on.

That day, the wind was out of the SW, which put the power lines right in
front.

yours,
Michael