Along the 405 freeway, just south of where we live, is the base of one of three Goodyear blimps currently operating in the United States. Whenever we drive down to Irvine, we can see the blimp at the side of the freeway. The landing area is right near the Ikea in Carson, and if you drive by at night, you’ll usually see it hovering there. When I was little, we had a Goodyear blimp balloon that deflated through a valve. I always thought that the real blimp was deflated in the same way and rolled up for the night. I guess not.
The June 9th, 2003 issue of the New Yorker had an article titled "The Light Stuff — Learning to fly the Goodyear blimp", by David Samuels. We really liked the article, so we asked David Samuels if he would give us permission to reprint the article here. We’re very excited that he agreed to let us post a PDF of the article here. The article is 12 pages long.
Click here for The Light Stuff — Learning to fly the Goodyear blimp.
© 2003 by David Samuels, reprinted with the permission of The Wylie Agency.No other changes shall be made to the text of the above work without the written consent of the author or his agent. No further use of this material in extended distribution, other media, or future editions shall be made without the express written consent of The Wylie Agency.
Originally published in The New Yorker.
Philana says that she got to ride the blimp. Normally they don’t give rides, but it was something about "Stephen (her boyfriend) who knows someone who knows someone…"