Beneath the vast California sky, an unusual aviation landmark awaits: the Goodyear Blimp Base Airport. Let’s explore the story of this unique airfield, forever linked to the iconic Goodyear Blimp. This base has been a fixture in the skies over Los Angeles for a half century.
Goodyear’s presence here dates back to 1968. Since then, the Carson base has become synonymous with lighter-than-air travel and aerial advertising. But why a blimp base in Southern California? The region’s mild climate and clear skies offered ideal conditions for year-round blimp operations. Plus Los Angeles’ sprawling urban landscape provided a massive canvas for Goodyear’s aerial messages.
Since 1925, Goodyear has been using blimps for advertising. The first Goodyear Blimp was named Pilgrim. Over the years, dozens of blimps have become part of our national consciousness.
Speaking of the blimps themselves, they’ve come a long way since the early days. In 2011, Goodyear announced that they would replace its fleet of blimps with semi-rigid Zeppelin NT airships. The new Goodyear airship has a maximum operating speed of 73 mph, compared with the 50 mph for the blimps. Introduced in 2014, the Zeppelin NT is larger, faster, and more maneuverable than the venerable GZ-20A it replaced.
Unlike a blimp, which has no internal structure, the Zeppelin NT is built around a framework of high-strength, lightweight carbon-fiber and aluminum. All the ship’s major components are mounted on the rigid structure.
Here at the Goodyear Blimp Base Airport, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company inflated a 337-foot-long hangar at its Carson blimp base along the I-405 freeway. Stretching about as long as a football field, the nine-story hangar is the largest inflatable structure of its kind in North America.
It should be noted that Goodyear and Zeppelin companies have a long history of working together. In September 1923, the two companies formed the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation as a joint venture. The firms worked closely throughout the 1920s and 1930s, building the airships Akron and Macon for the United States Navy in the early 1930s.
As we conclude our visit to the Goodyear Blimp Base Airport, remember the legacy of these gentle giants of the sky. From their early beginnings as advertising novelties to their current role as high-tech aerial platforms, the Goodyear Blimps have captured our imagination and become an enduring symbol of American innovation.