There will be a new blue and gold airship hovering above Ohio in the coming weeks, as Akron-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber unveiled its newest blimp today in Suffield.
The new Goodyear Blimp has an internal framwork, unlike previous blimps, and was designed by Goodyear and German firm ZLT Zepplin Luftschifftechnik.
“The new airship is bigger, faster, than previous iterations. It is about 246 feet long. The flying concept is much different than our previous model, in the sense that is a fly-by-wire system with a joystick that controls the thrust,” Doug Grassian, a Goodyear spokesman, said. “It flies similar to what a helicopter does and uses vectored engines. And it has three engines, where the old model had two.”
Grassian wouldn't say how much the new airship cost, but Popular Mechanics estimated it at $21 million. There are plans for two other blimps based on this latest incarnation.
And if you feel like naming a blimp...there is a chance to do that.
