"Goodyear Blimp - ..." a Los Angeles Travel Page by american_tourister

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One percent of One percent

I was given an invitation by Goodyear take 5 of my buddies for a ride in the Goodyear Blimp. You cannot purchase a ride, you have to be invited and getting an invitation is a rare deal. I invited 5 friends and wouldn't you know it, one of them did not show up! The pilot informed us that less than 1% of the American population has seen the blimp in person and less than 1% of those will ever get an opportunity to ride in it. Our trip was on the blimp "Eagle" which is based out of Los Angeles. It was a blast and my buddies had a great time. Can't wait to do it again!

There is another travelogue of the blimp while it was in hiding after 9-11. It is located in my Tustin travelogues.

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Palos Verdes

This is a shot of a cove that California Gray Whales frequent. There were none there on this day but we have all seen them from the air before.

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On the tarmac

Here is the posse with the Pilot

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On the ground

After landing you get hustled away rapidly so they can get the next group on. It is quite a way before you get to stop. Here is the Eagle engorging another passenger group.

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Away she goes!

She is off with another group.

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JT the Copilot

As the honored guest (since I place the orders) I got to sit in the copilot seat. I was not allowed to touch anything but the view was outrageous!

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Landing to pick us up.

When the blimp is not doing anything for the TV networks it carries passengers for flights. These flights are rigorously scheduled and take off every 45 minutes. If you are late, you don't go. Here it is landing before we jumped aboard.

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The ground crew has a helluva job.

There is a sizeable ground crew that rushes the blimp and grabs the ropes as it descends. They grab a rail that is at the base of the cupola and hold the blimp to the ground as passengers switch. It is a well choreographed dance and the guys really know their jobs.

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My Buddies

Here are Casey (left front), Scott (left rear), John (right front), and Kirk (right rear). What a crew. A Marine, a TV director, a lawyer, and an actor. Oh yeah, there is me also.

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Raise Camera Before landing

I noticed this red plate on the controls that says "RAISE CAMERA BEFORE LANDING". The pilot chuckled and told us how a former pilot (emphasis on former) landed the blimp with the TV camera in the down position. It was a $300,000.00 mistake.

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View from the seat

The view is fantastic! The blimp only flies at about 40 MPH and is really stable. We flew from the base in Carson toward Redondo Beach. We flew at 1500 feet altitude over Torrance and the Pacific Ocean, turned toward Palos Verdes and then headed back in. We are all connected somehow with aviation and were all into the flight parameters and physics behind lighter than air flight. The pilot was great and answered all of our questions. He took his time with us and we had a long flight compared to others.

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Redondo Beach Marina

Great View of the Marina and the pier.

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The Golden Coast

Here it is. The Baywatch Beach. This is the view from Redondo Beach past Manhattan Beach, Marina del Rey, Venice Beach, Santa Monica, and up towards Malibu. Folks, this is some high dollar real estate.