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History of the Goodyear Blimp in Photos

OperationsPhotos 19April 4, 2025

The Goodyear Blimp marks 100 years of service this year and one blimp will be wrapped with a black and silver color scheme and include a vintage Goodyear logo.

Starting the the company's first airship, Pilgrim, take a look at historic photos from 1925 through modern times. 

Pilgrim returns to the Wingfoot Lake hangar following its official christening on July 17, 1925.

Photo: Goodyear

The Goodyear Blimp flies with its earliest lighted sign, dubbed Neon-O-Gram, in 1940.

Photo: Goodyear

From 1941-1944, Goodyear delivered 154 blimps to the US Navy. By the war's end, blimps escorted 89,000 vessels without a single loss to enemy submarines.

Photo: Goodyear

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On Jan. 1, 1955, Goodyear provided the world with the first live aerial coverage of a nationally televised event. This photo, from 1975, demonstrates the continued development of the aerial TV equipment.

Goodyear Blimp Mayflower in shown in 1977. This year the Goodyear Blimp celebrates its 100th anniversary.

Goodyear's first internationally-based blimp Europa first took the skies in 1972. Here it flies over Rome and the Colosseum in 1974.

Following the christening of Spirit of America (far right), four Goodyear Blimps fly over the Wingfoot Lake Airship Base in Suffield, Ohio on September 5, 2002.

Wingfoot Three, the newest of Goodyear's current fleet of airships, is christened at the Wingfoot Lake Airship Base in Suffield, Ohio on Aug.30, 2018.

The Goodyear Blimp Volunteer lands at a California railroad station in 1929.

Photo: Goodyear

Goodyear Blimps Columbia and Mayflower fly over the Statue of Liberty in 1964. Both blimps spent the summer at the New York World's Fair, providing rides to over 4,500 passengers in all.

Spirit of Innovation, the final GZ-20 model Goodyear Blimp, takes one of its final flights in Carson, California. The GZ-20 model served as the basis for nearly half of the Goodyear Blimp's 100-year history.

Pilgrim, Goodyear's first branded public relations airship, took its first flight June 3, 1925.

Photo: Goodyear

For over 50 years, the Goodyear Blimp's Florida home was Watson Island in Miami. Here, the Goodyear Blimp Mayflower takes part in a unique promotional shoot in 1959.

In addition to its branded airships, Goodyear has built over 200 blimps for the US Navy. Here, 11 Goodyear-built Naval blimps fly in formation above Moffett Field in California in 1946.

The Goodyear Blimp Mayflower flies over a NASCAR stock car event in 1963.

In addition to introducing a new model of blimp in 1969, Goodyear also opened a new base in Spring, Texas. Here two Goodyear Blimps fly over nearby Houston in celebration of the new home.

The Goodyear Blimp Columbia flies over the 1978 Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California.

The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles marked the first time two Goodyear Blimps covered the same event at the same time.

Following the destruction of Hurricane Andrew, the Goodyear Blimp Stars & Stripes assists recovery efforts by broadcasting emergency messages over specific neighborhoods, directing those without power to their closest relief stations.