By Tina Ashchian
Photography by George Kamper
It’s not a true sporting event if that silver, yellow and blue helium-jammed airship isn’t hovering overhead. Yes, it’s the iconic lighter-than-air Goodyear Blimp.
Based in Pompano Beach, the Spirit of Innovation N2A has been covering sporting events and providing passenger rides around the U.S. since 2006. But soon, South Florida will no longer spot this model in the sky. Although the Spirit is the youngest of its kind and has almost five years before it reaches its shelf life, Goodyear is in the works of replacing its current fleet of GZ-20 blimps with the Goodyear NT model.
The first of its batch began assembly in March 2013 at Wingfoot Lake’s hangar near Akron, Ohio, and was named Wingfoot One this past July. Built in partnership with Germany’s Zeppelin company, the new semirigid airship is technically not a blimp, but Goodyear will continue to name it as such.
OPEN AIR: Senior captain Matt Lussier, while looking over the Atlantic Ocean, says his office in the sky is surrounded by spectacular aerial views of the city and water.
The new gondola is 54 feet longer, accommodating 12 individuals, five more than the Spirit. The retiring model maxed out at speeds of 54 mph, but Wingfoot’s top speed is 73 mph, with three engines instead of two. New amenities include seat belts and a restroom. The “NT” in the model stands for new technology, bearing the latest navigation system, where pilots are no longer steering with rudder pedals or elevating with a wooden wheel.
In the Spirit’s pilot seat is senior captain Matt Lussier, who has loved flying since he was 14 years old. “My parents asked me what I wanted to be, and I told them I wanted to be a bird,” he says, laughing. “So I picked the next best thing.”
As Lussier admits, no one starts off as a blimp pilot. Lussier worked odd jobs to pay for flying classes and attended school for more than half his life before he became a regular airplane pilot. After nine interviews with Goodyear, he became a blimp pilot just over three years ago.
HANG TIGHT: Expansion on Pompano Beach’s facility hangar will begin in January 2015, just before the arrival of the larger Wingfoot One.
TEAMWORK: A minimum of 14 crew members is needed on the ground to safely take off and land the blimp.
GOOD SPIRITS: Since 2006, the Spirit of Innovation has been providing passenger rides—a majority being auctioned charity rides—and covering sports events, such as the Daytona 500.
It’s safe to say that Lussier favors flying blimps more than any other aircraft. In a blimp, clear panoramic views of the skyline or the ocean are standard. The Atlantic Ocean seems to span endlessly once taken up in the air from the Pompano Beach station. Unlike passengers who are only trying to get from point A to point B, blimp passengers have a different objective when it comes to their flight. As Lussier puts it, “People want to be here…it’s never shy of complete smiles.”
Since 1925, Goodyear blimps have worked with television networks to provide aerial coverage of sporting events. They also provide passenger rides, around 90 percent of which support some sort of charity. The Wingfoot will call the Sunshine State its home in November 2015 after Pompano Beach’s facility expands its hangar.
Originally appeared in the Fall 2014 issue.
