On March 17, about two dozen Goodyear employees were on hand to watch as the helium was let out of the last of the company's famous blimps, the ‘Spirit of Innovation’.
The blimp was deflated at the Carson, California, airship base, but that is not the end of the company's airship program. Instead, it will continue, but with different equipment, according to an article on the Seattlepi.com website.
In place of the helium-filled blimps, which have no internal structure but instead are shaped by keeping the gas inside pressurized, Goodyear will now be flying Wingfoot Two, which looks almost the same as the blimps it is replacing. The difference is that it is a semi-rigid dirigible, which has an internal frame. This means that when the helium is released, Wingfoot retains its shape, whereas blimps go completely flat. Wingfoot Two is currently flying in Ohio, but will move to Carson, and another airship will take its place in the east.
The new aircraft are larger, quieter, faster, more maneuverable and easier to fly than the blimps, which were introduced over 90 years ago. However, Goodyear says it is going to keep calling the airships ‘blimps’ because, according to Goodyear's airship historian Eddie Ogden, the phrase ‘Goodyear Semi-rigid Dirigible’ does not “roll off the tongue” the way ‘Goodyear Blimp’ does.
Companies like this can benefit by working with flyer printing companies, which can create mailers for residents keeping them updated on developments.
