It is Not A Balloon

After the Falls, I thought I was going to head up to Wendy Park to see if there were any ships that I could catch.  As I was approaching Cleveland, I saw that there was a blimp in the sky, so I decided to get some pictures of that.

 When Goodyear retired the Spirit of Innovation in 2017, they retired their last blimp.  In 2011, they decided they were going to replace their fleet of non-rigid airships built in the United States with semi-rigid airships built by the Zeppelin Company in Germany.

 Wingfoot One is the first of these airships and is 246 feet long.  It has a top speed of 70 miles per hour versus 50 miles per hour for the older airships.  It can carry 12 passengers instead of 7 and the gondola is equipped with a restroom.

 Goodyear has three airships in their fleet.  One is based in Pompano Beach, Florida.  Another is based in Carson, California and the third is based in Suffield, Ohio.

 As I was taking a picture of the blimp, this 737 was taking off from Hopkins International Airport.

 I believe it was heading for Atlanta.

 More of a side shot of the blimp.  Unfortunately, this was the best I could do.

 And one of those once in a lifetime pictures.  I'll call it a bifecta because it has a "ship" and a plane.  I just wish I would have had a better angle on the blimp but I'm afraid I would have liked the angle on the plane.  Oh well.

 A closeup of the 737.

 What I think is a better shot of the blimp.

One more shot.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anything coming in the harbor, so I didn't get any pictures of ships.  Oh well, this was pretty cool.

Trainspotting at Wendy Park

I was able to catch the next ship because it had to wait for two trains to cross the train bridge.  That gave me a chance to do a little bit of trainspotting.

 One of the things that I like about Wendy Park is that it also gives me a pretty decent chance to do some trainspotting.  With the airport there, it might even give me a chance to get my trifecta.

 A westbound Norfolk Southern train.

 It was closely followed by an east bound train.  I usually see one or two trains when I'm at this park.

 I had to make sure to get a shot of the Blimp.

And two shots are even better.

Catching the Goodyear Blimp

After catching the plane at the airport, I saw that there was another ship that was starting to make its way into the Cuyahoga River.  So I found myself heading back down to Wendy Park again.

 As I arrived, I saw a ship of a different sort.  Well the Goodyear Blimp anyway.  I saw it passing over the Terminal Tower and I needed a picture of it.  Construction of it was completed in 1930 and at the time, it was the second tallest building in the world.  For the longest time, it was the tallest building in North America outside of New York.  It remained the tallest building in Ohio until the completion of the Key Tower in 1991.

 I'm pretty sure that I have posted pictures of the Goodyear Blimp before because I've been a few places where I've seen it but still, the story of the Blimp is nice.  From the launch of its first blimp in 1925 until the retirement of the Spirit of Innovation this year, Goodyear has always used non-rigid airships in its fleet.  In 2014, they began to replace their non-rigid blimps with semi-rigid airships (but they still use the term blimp).

 This is pretty close to my trifecta of shots.  There is a train, a boat and a blimp.  But not quite what I meant because it's not a ship and an airplane.

 N1A was christened as Wingfoot One on August 23, 2014 near Akron, Ohio.  It was built by the Zeppelin Company in Germany.

This particular one is based in Ohio.

And a Blimp

As I was heading home after boatwatching, I looked up in the sky and saw a blimp over Detroit.  I think it is here because of the Detroit Grand Prix this weekend.  Of course, I had to find a place to stop in order to catch it.

 This particular blimp was launched in October 2007 for the World Series in Boston. 

 The blimp is a second general A-170LS lightship and is owned by Van Wagner Aerial Media.  It calls Orlando, Florida home.

 The blimp is 178 feet long, 46 feet high and 55 feet wide.  It holds 170,000 cubic feet of helium.  It can carry one pilot and 4 passengers.

 The lightsign is 70 feet long and 30 feet high and is full color.

 The blimp's cruising speed is 32 miles per hour and has a maximum of 52 miles per hour.

 I ended up catching it at the Eastern Market, so I had to get a shot of the vege-a-ta-bull.

I couldn't get a shot of it over the skyline though.  This was the closest.

A Surprise Visitor

As I got home last night, I heard an odd sound from the sky.  As I looked up, I saw something pretty cool.

 At first I thought it was one of Goodyear's Blimps.  Well, I guess it is a blimp but it is actually a Zeppelin.  It is Goodyear's newest blimp and was completed last year.

 At 246 feet long, it is 50 feet longer than their other blimps.  It is also 23 miles per hour faster with a top speed of 73 miles per hour.  It's tedlar surface surrounds a semi-rigid structure.

After spending the day over the Big House, she appeared to be off to East Lansing to spend some time over Spartan Stadium.

A Blimp in Ann Arbor

As I was heading into work this morning, I saw a blimp flying around.  Sadly, it was not in a place where I could get a picture of it.

As I was heading back to the office after picking up lunch, I saw the blimp heading back to the airport.  I ate my lunch and decided to go over to the airport.  I was able to catch it at the blimp tether.

I'm pretty sure it's here for the Ann Arbor Art Fair for some reason, but I don't know why.

Goodyear Blimp Over Ann Arbor

I decided to head over to the western end of the state to catch two lighthouses that I have not seen yet.  As I was leaving, I heard a very distinctive sound in the sky, so of course I looked up and saw the Goodyear Blimp.

 This blimp has appeared on this blog in the past and was around for the University of Michigan-Notre Dame game.  As always, I think it's pretty cool when I get to see the blimp.

This was the best angle I could get as it was staying in places where I couldn't get the straight on shot, but still...it's not bad.

A Ship of a Different Sort

Someone sort of already had the title I wanted to use for this post, so I guess I had to use a different title.  As I was at work today, someone mentioned that the Goodyear Blimp was wandering around outside.  I guess it was trying to peek in the windows or something.  Although, I suspect it may be in the area for the Michigan game but I'm not sure.  At anyrate, I know that I had to get pictures of it.

 I think the blimp is the Spirit of Goodyear as that happens to be the one in the area.  I'm pretty sure this is the one I got pictures of earlier in the summer.   But since it flies, I'll take pictures of it.

 Besides, who can argue with a blimp?  Well, I imagine that someone with a giant needle probably could.

 I guess this is one of the advantages of living near a major football program (the Wolverines...not the Lions...hehe).  Speaking of the Lions, I wonder if Goodyear has an infrared camera so they could provide aerial views of Lions games?

I think she was trying to land at the Ann Arbor Airport but the wind was causing her to buffet.  I was hoping that I could see her after work...but no luck.

It is Not A Balloon...It is a Blimp

So I decided to head out for some boatwatching.  Well actually, I ended up taking a tour on a boat but more about that later.  As I was passing by Willow Run Airport, I noticed a vessel doing lazy circles around the airfield.  The sight of a blimp is unmistakable.

 Although I couldn't tell from the picture but I looked it up on the webpage, this is the Spirit of Goodyear Blimp based out of Akron, OH.

 The Spirit of Goodyear was launched in 2000 and christened by Sally Ride (the first female Astronaut).

 It was kind of cool to watch because it was going through its paces over Willow Run.  I guess even blimp pilots need practice.

 Doing lazy circles, almost as if it were at the races.

 Sort of a view of the display.

And the blimp heading towards me.

The Direct TV Blimp

The game yesterday was one of the Fox games of the week. I'm not sure if today's game was too but the blimp from yesterday was still wandering around.

For some reason, this reminds me of the blimp in Blade Runner.

It's pretty cool to see a blimp. Not sure if I like the in your face advertising though.