What does it take to fly the iconic Goodyear blimp?

AccuWeather

You may think that flying a blimp would be simple, but it takes an incredible amount of science and physics to handle a 20,000-pound aircraft that takes off like a helicopter, flies like a plane and floats like a boat.

Transcript

00:00I think people think that it's really simple and rudimentary, and it's not.

00:03Known by his team as Doc, Michael Dockery is chief pilot for Goodyear.

00:08He's been flying a blimp for over 18 years.

00:11Dockery says it takes a team of 20 people and a lot of science and physics to keep the

00:16blimp in the air.

00:17We do use tools like AccuWeather pretty consistently, among other things, to make sure that the

00:22airship stays safe in all of its operations.

00:26The most complex aircraft out there.

00:28The pilots check winds, pressure, humidity, as well as local and regional conditions before

00:34takeoff.

00:35The whole aircraft weighs 20,000 pounds.

00:36We have to stay plus or minus about 600 to 800 pounds maximum for a static takeoff weight,

00:42which means the helium is lifting 98 percent of that 20,000 pounds, and the engines are

00:46just lifting the last few hundred pounds.

00:48It was time for a ride on the Wingfoot 2 airship.

00:51They steered her into the wind like a 250-foot windsock, and we floated over the Daytona

00:57500.

00:58It feels just like riding in a weather balloon.

01:01The Goodyear blimp can hold two and a half million gallons of helium.

01:04That's enough to fill three Olympic-sized pools, and it lifts like a helicopter, flies

01:09like an airplane, and floats like a boat.

01:12It's not called an airship for nothing.

01:15It's like a ship in the sky.

01:16So we ride the airwaves just like a boat on the ocean would ride over the water.

01:21How does the massive airship stay in the sky?

01:24Well, think about a boat's hull.

01:27It displaces water, making it buoyant in the water.

01:30Like the hull of a boat, the helium in the airship displaces the heavier air around it,

01:35making it buoyant in the sky.

01:37Putting all those things together makes it one of the most challenging things I've ever

01:40learned to fly.

01:41Reporting for AccuWeather, I'm Kelly Searing.

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