The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s Wingfoot One blimp is scheduled to be in Danville this weekend and will dock at the closed runway at Danville Regional Airport. The public can come to the airport for a close-up view of the blimp while it is on the ground. Rides are by invitation only.
Citizens can view the blimp from inside the Danville Regional Airport terminal building and from the terminal building’s parking lot that is adjacent to the fence line. The blimp is expected to arrive between 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday. The terminal building will be open until 7 p.m. on Saturday and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.
Wingfoot One, one of three blimps Goodyear operates, will be making a scheduled visit to the Goodyear Danville plant, according to the company website. After its stay in Danville, the blimp will visit the Goodyear plant in Fayetteville, N.C., from Monday to Thursday.
The balloon-like body of the airship – the “envelope” – is made of polyester with an innovative film from DuPont™ called Tedlar®, surrounding a semi-rigid internal structure, which differentiates this airship from previous Goodyear blimps.
Christened in 2014, it measures 246 feet in length, with a maximum width of 64.790 feet and a maximum envelope width of 46.45 feet. It is 57.57 feet in height and travels at a maximum speed of 73 miles per hour.
Since 1917, Goodyear has built more than 300 lighter-than-air vehicles for public relations and defense applications. Wingfoot One is based at Pompano Beach, Fla.
