BLIMPS AWAY
The pilot of the Goodyear blimp shares the ins and outs of flying the iconic construct,
Boarding the Goodyear blimp takes some coordination. Mostly because it’s a moving target.
While parked at the Oshawa Executive Airport, the front of the 75metre long balloon is held in place by a truck and crane and the back rests on a wheel, which rolls back and forth with the wind. This leaves the rest of the airship, including the gondola attached to its bottom and the metal stairs to enter the cabin, suspended in the air as it moves slowly.
Today, I was scheduled to take a ride in Wingfoot Two, the newest addition to Goodyear’s fleet of three blimps.
It’s in town to film aerial coverage for the World Cup of Hockey and the Toronto Blue Jays.
Unfortunately, rainy weather and mechanical issues cancelled two potential flights, so I won’t be crossing that item off my bucket list.
While many see the blimp each year from down on the ground (some 60 million, according to Paul Fitzhenry, senior vice-president of global communications for Goodyear), not many get to experience the airship up close.
The blimp, which can seat up to 12 and two crew members in the cabin, resembles a small airplane from the inside. There are two rows of familiar fixed blue seats, pull-down arm rests and tray tables. But the windows are unlike those on commercial airplanes. They’re large, and there’s no wall separating the passenger seats from the two pilot chairs up front and their array of controls.
Toward the back of the small gondola is a bathroom, complete with a window.
“The loo with a view,” quips James Kosmos, senior pilot for Goodyear.
With an airship that can carry enough fuel to fly for 24 to 40 hours, this is a must. Perhaps surprisingly, it is a new addition to this model of blimp and its predecessor, Wingfoot One.
Kosmos has been flying blimps for almost six years. Previously, he flew private jets for celebrities such as Prince and Jessica Simpson, but gave it up when the opportunity to join an even more exclusive group arose.
He said his Goodyear interview was “the most difficult interview of (his) life.”
Goodyear now has 12 pilots on staff. It requires candidates to come in with a pilot licence, bank at least 200 to 250 hours at the blimp controls and spend six months with the crew before becoming a full-fledged pilot, according to Jerry Hissem, chief pilot for Goodyear.
And that’s just a minimum. Hissem, who has been a blimp pilot for 19 years, said it can take 400 hours and really “depends on when we feel comfortable as the instructor.”
Because flying a blimp is notoriously difficult.
It’s more challenging than flying an airplane, according to Kosmos.
“With an airplane, you kind of do everything the same way every time,” Kosmos said.
“In a blimp, you can’t do that because of the way the air currents affect it. Literally, the angle that the sun hits the blimp changes our weight, so if it’s cloudy or it’s sunny, our weight changes . . . constantly. So, you have to take all that into account.”
Hissem compared flying a blimp to “floating in a bubble,” while Kosmos said it’s “like flying a sailboat.”
And like a boat on the water, speed affects the smoothness of the ride.
Boats moving slowly rock over waves, whereas when speeding, they are jerked around. The same is true with blimps and airplanes. When planes travelling around 500 m.p.h. (800 km/h) hit air currents, they experience turbulence, but blimps are moving too slowly, usually at around 35 m.p.h. (56 km/h).
“So when we go through it we just kind of rock up and down over it,” Kosmos said.
“Like a boat.”