Lisa Bass
Contributing writer
Providing automotive service in the southwest Virginia since 1968, the family owned Thompson Tire celebrated its 50th anniversary in a big way.
The Goodyear Wingfoot One blimp was at the New River Valley Airport Friday to celebrate local business Thompson Tire’s 50th Anniversary. The blimp could be seen all over the valley throughout the weekend.
The Goodyear tire company’s Wingfoot One airship flew the skies of the New River Valley on August 23rd and 24th. The blimp was tethered at the New River Valley Airport in Dublin.
The Goodyear blimp made a visit on Thompson’s 40th anniversary as well, but this time was different.
The blimp was surrounded by school buses as 3,000 students from Pulaski, Floyd, Radford and Montgomery County schools were invited for tours.
Each school group got to see the blimp up close with a ground tour led by a Goodyear crewmember.
Senior Pilot Jay Perdue explained to fourth graders the history and dimensions Wingfoot One.
“Yesterday was actually fourth year of the blimp’s christening in 2015 by (ABC Good Morning America) reporter Robin Roberts,” Perdue said,
According to the Goodyear website, assembly of Wingfoot One began in March 2013 at Goodyear’s Wingfoot Lake hangar.
An international team of engineers and technicians from Goodyear and Germany’s ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik worked side by side to complete the build project.
Parts such as the tail fins and gondola were built in Germany and shipped to the U.S. for assembly. The balloon-like body of the airship, the “envelope,” is made of polyester with an innovative film from DuPont™ called Tedlar®, surrounding a semi-rigid internal structure, which differentiates this airship from previous Goodyear blimps.
The overall length is 246.4 feet and maximum width is 64.79 feet. The overall height is 57.57 feet with an internal framework made of aluminum and carbon fiber trusses. The envelope is made of polyurethane, polyester and tedlar film—imagine a weather-resistant, super-strong spandex.
That envelope can expand to 297,527 cubic feet. The maximum weight without helium is 19,780 pounds plus the gondola at 2,626 pounds.
There are four propellers, each with a 9 feet diameter, to help move the blimp forward. Maximum speed is 73 miles per hour.
Perdue pointed out the recent paint refurbishing on the nose of the blimp. Perdue explained the checkerboard pattern on the port or left side of blimp is where a 12,384-pixel screen can be secured.
Students were also shown vents on the envelope, which are used to pump air in and out air of ballast tanks to maintain pressure against the helium which causes the blimp to rise and fall. The engines and propellers provide the thrust while the rudder is used to steer.
Wingfoot One was moored to a mast connected to a 6,300-pound truck.
Cones were set up in a large diameter around the blimp because winds could rotate the blimp in any direction.
The blimp was witnessed moving around this anchored truck at the slightest breeze. The blimp can withstand up to 30 miles per hour winds on the ground.
Thompson Tire’s first location was in Christiansburg and has now expanded to five other locations in Radford, Pulaski, Roanoke, Salem and Wytheville.
