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New Goodyear Airship Gets Flight Schedule and a Name

22 December 1999

New Goodyear Airship Gets Flight Schedule and a Name

    AKRON, Ohio, Dec. 22 -- Goodyear announced today that
construction has reached the halfway point for its newest airship, and the
first test flight is scheduled for  Feb. 21, 2000.
    The 192-foot blimp being built at Goodyear's Suffield, Ohio, hangar is to
be named the "Spirit of Goodyear" as a tribute to the company's associates
worldwide.  The blimp also will have "City of Akron" prominently displayed on
the 23-foot-long gondola in recognition of Goodyear's home city, while blimps
based in Pompano, Fla. and Carson, Calif., will carry their home city names as
well.
    The complete flight test program, under supervision of the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA), is expected to take approximately one week and
the airship could be certified for standard passenger flights and night sign
operations by March 1.
    The new ship replaces the slightly larger "Spirit of Akron" which deflated
at the end of October.  With the exception of the rebuilt "Stars and Stripes"
airship, Goodyear's replacement airships invariably have been given a new
name.
    When built 12 years ago, the "Spirit of Akron" replaced the "Enterprise,"
then based in Pompano Beach, and received its name to honor the City for its
support of Goodyear during a hostile takeover attempt in 1986.
    "Because our new airship will be the first to be launched in the 21st
Century, we have named it 'Spirit of Goodyear' as a tribute to the spirit of
the 100,000 associates who make up the Goodyear family around the world," said
John Perduyn, senior vice president, global communications.  "With the recent
acquisition of the Dunlop brand, the company has returned to its pre-eminent
position in our industry and much of the credit is due to the spirit and hard
work of our people.
    "In deciding the name for the new airship, we appreciated the many
suggestions from our associates and people outside the company," Perduyn said.
    Goodyear has operated airships for more than seventy years.  Today's fleet
covers more than 400,000 miles a year, providing television coverage at a wide
variety of special events, as well as offering public service support and
assistance during natural disasters, including earthquakes.
    Tom Riley, Goodyear's director of airship planning and programs, said,
"The new ship is being assembled by a team of Goodyear engineers, crew members
and Lockheed Martin technicians at the company's Wingfoot Lake airship hangar.
The team has worked incredibly hard to get to this stage so quickly."
    The new airship is a type GZ20, the same as the company's other U.S.
airships in Carson and Pompano Beach.  Outside the United States, the company
operates two airships in Europe, one in Latin America and one in Australia.