Yesterday, I was finishing round one in the garden before going in for lunch and I looked up and saw something I hadn't seen in some time.
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I used to see the Goodyear blimps quite often but it seems as though it's been at least a year since I saw it shuttling over the Port of Los Angeles. Maybe it too has been sidelined by the pandemic. The sighting seemed yet another sign that changes are afoot.
Curious, I looked up some basic facts about the blimp:
- Rides are provided at the invitation of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and generally limited to Goodyear customers, winners of charity auctions, dignitaries, and members of the news media.
- A ride for two obtained through a charity auction costs an average of $14,000.
- There are no bathrooms on the blimp and no beverage service.
- Headsets are required if you want to hear anything as the engines are very loud.
- Blimps cost $2-3 million and their operating cost is estimated at $500,000 per year.
- Only about 25 blimps are still in service, half of which are used for advertising purposes.
- They can travel 150-200 miles per day and their maximum cruising speed is 73mph.
- Since the Hindenberg, 4 blimps have crashed due to bad weather or malfunctions.
- They've operated using helium rather than hydrogen since the 1930s.
After reading about them, I've lost whatever glimmer of interest I might have had in taking a ride in one.
For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.
All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party