Goodyear GZ-20

GZ-20
Spirit of Innovation
Role	blimp (non-rigid airship)
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Goodyear Aerospace
Introduction	1969
Status	active
Primary user	Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
Number built	6

The Goodyear GZ-20 is a blimp (non-rigid airship) class introduced in 1969 in the United States by Goodyear as its signature promotional aircraft, the Goodyear Blimp. The design is a development of the GZ-19 class, featuring a larger envelope to carry the "Super-Skytacular" night sign and more powerful engines.

Service

The GZ-20 was introduced as part of a US$4 million expansion program by Goodyear in 1968 that included the construction of a new GZ-19 Florida based airship (Mayflower N1A), replacement of the California based GZ-19 with a GZ-20 (Columbia N3A), adding a third airship to the fleet (GZ-20 America N10A) and constructing a new airship base at Spring, Texas as home to the new blimp.

In 1972, a third GZ-20 was built to be the first Goodyear Blimp stationed outside the United States. Christened Europa N2A. her structural elements were freighted from the Goodyear factory in Akron Ohio to the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Cardington, Bedfordshire, England on an Aero Spacelines Mini Guppy to be erected there but based at a new facility near Rome.

In 1978, the GZ-19 class was discontinued after the loss of Mayflower N38A. It was replaced by the GZ-20 Mayflower N3A.

As of 2008, the GZ-20 (in its GZ-20A variant) is still the current Goodyear Blimp design, with the most recent example, Spirit of Innovation, flown in 2006.

The blimp received a Guinness World Record for the longest continuous operated airship with fourteen years of service.

Goodyear Airship Operations has officially planned to start production of Zeppelin NT semi-rigid airships beginning in 2013. The cost will be US$21 million per airship, which means the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company will retire the GZ-20. Goodyear's first Zeppelin NT first took flight on March 17, 2014.^[1]

After 14 years in the skies, on February 23, 2014, Spirit of Goodyear was retired in Pompano Beach after the 2014 Daytona 500.^[2] The Spirit of Goodyear's gondola was donated to the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. ^[3]

On August 10, 2015, the California-based GZ-20, the Spirit of America, was decommissioned after 13 years of operation. Spirit of Innovation, having been based in Pompano Beach, FL since 2006, was permanently moved to California in order to replace Spirit of America.^[4] Spirit of America's gondola was donated to the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California.^[5]

As of March 2016, "Spirit of Innovation" is the only remaining GZ-20 in the world that is airworthy. "Spirit of Innovation" will retire in 2017.

Specifications (Europa)

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976–77^[6]

General characteristics

• Crew: One pilot
• Capacity: 6 passengers
• Length: 192 ft 6 in (58.67 m)
• Diameter: 45 ft 11 in (14.00 m)
• Width: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
• Height: 59 ft 6 in (18.14 m)
• Volume: 202,700 ft³ (5,380 m³)
• Empty weight: 9,375 lb (4,252 kg)
• Gross weight: 12,840 lb (5,824 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Continental IO-360-D, 210 hp (157 kW) each each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 50 mph (80 km/h)
• Endurance: 23 hours
• Service ceiling: 7,500 ft (2,285 m)
• Rate of climb: 2,400 ft/min (12.2 m/s)

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 425. 
• Taylor, John W. R (1976). Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976–77. London: Jane's Yearbooks. ISBN 0 354 00538 3. 
• Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1977-78. London: Jane's Yearbooks. 1977. p. 632.