Saw a blimp the other day.

T

t-cart

Active Member
I was doing my back and forths the other day and saw a blimp puttering along. How close can I fly to the blimp to get a air to air photo?

Got my camera ready and if he comes back this way, I want to be ready.
 
Sorry I try to keep the mother-in-law in the house...but sometimes she gets away. I won't let it happen again.
 
Damn that woman.

OK seriously. Blimps are pretty cool. See them down around alliance in Ft Worth every so often.
 
One passed through our airspace... took 25 minutes to clear a Class D.... They're not so fast with a headwind!
 
t-cart said:
I was doing my back and forths the other day and saw a blimp puttering along. How close can I fly to the blimp to get a air to air photo?

Got my camera ready and if he comes back this way, I want to be ready.
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I have a few pictures of a couple Goodyear blimps in the pictures from the road forum. You can get close enough for a good picture considering how big they are.
 
They are pretty impresive things...the scale of them is HUGE. Always wondered how one would "blimp" rating. Figured it's probably something the blimp owner does for you after you get hired.
 
Inbound to land at a Class D, TWR advised me of the blimp. In sight, sez I. The AE Saab I was racing to the threshold almost hit the blimp. A series of radio transmissions revealed they never saw the thing even though it was off their nose for at least 10 nm.

My buddy who holds a PPL worked ground for the Goodyear blimp for a number of years. He said the crews are very selective about who they type in the blimp 'cause that automatically allows them to instruct in the blimp. He got about 10 hours as flight crew and then they stopped all his training for no apparent reason.
 
poser765 said:
They are pretty impresive things...the scale of them is HUGE. Always wondered how one would "blimp" rating. Figured it's probably something the blimp owner does for you after you get hired.
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ligher than air license if im not mistaken
 
A buddy of mine once was in his 172 in Class C when the controller requested he give way to the Goodyear blimp out to him as crossing in front of him. The Goodyear captain jumped on the radio and said don't worry, he'll just back up. Apparently he stopped, reversed and turned 90 degrees like you'd pull into a parking space as my friend flew by, then continued on his way. That definitely made my strange stories list!
 
We had one cut through our traffic pattern about a year ago while one of my students was on a first solo.
Radio exchange:
Me: "Blimp passing through 5T6 traffic pattern, you up 122.8?"
Blimp: "Yeah, we've been making radio calls."
Me:"Well, the correct frequency is 122.725."
Blimp:"Sorry, our GPS is showing 122.8."
Me:"It changed over 2 years ago, so I'd say your GPS data base is out of date."
No biggy- it wasn't like the solo pilot could not work his way around it. I'm sure he'll never forget his first solo now as well.
 
"Arlington Tower Snoopy 2 is 10 to the west with the info, inbound landing. Big headwind"
"Snoopy 2 Arlington Tower, altimeter 29.92, report 2 miles west of the field"
"call ya back in an hour, Snoopy 2"
 
Was watching one land at an airport nearby while I was working with a student. Bascially, they dive with some power on "final." It appeared he actually flared too, but then he bounced it pretty high off that one wheel! Just struck me funny to see such a large ship bounce like that!
 
I love watching a blimp land and the ground crew jump onto the ropes with all their weight - they look like ants in comparison lol.
 
Anybody have any idea how they keep those engines cool? They use IO-360s. It just seems like it'd be hard to keep them cool running them at high power for a while with barely any airspeed.
 
I'd be nervous flying one of those along the coastline because if a strong enough land breeze picked up you wouldn't be able to get back.
 
JordanD said:
Anybody have any idea how they keep those engines cool? They use IO-360s. It just seems like it'd be hard to keep them cool running them at high power for a while with barely any airspeed.
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Some do not use pistons. IIRC most use fans.
 
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