They are hiring! https://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/57705627?trk=job_view_company_other_jobs&trk=job_view_company_other_jobs No affiliation, I happened across this listing and thought, how cool!
I wonder if my previous left seat experience counts for anything...though this was 16 years ago..... Image Unavailable, Please Login
I 'm on the road with Spirit of America now, flew it briefly from Santa Maria to Livermore. Just arrived in Sacramento.
When I lived in Miami Beach in the late '60s and early '70s, the blimp was based on Watson Island, near the Port of Miami. In the winter, when there wasn't much work for the blimp, the "Mayflower" would cruise up and down the beach, and its drone became quite a familiar background noise. I understand that in those days it was fairly easy to get a ride, but I was a little too young at the time.
Photo after arrival yesterday. It's a blast to fly in, like driving a yacht across the ocean, swells included. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Saw it last Fri morning parked at Sanderson Field (KSHN, Shelton WA), waiting for day 2 coverage of the US Open. How do you pick location to 'park'? Sanderson wasn't the closest airport to the Open, but not that far and has lots of room. Also how does the support staff and equipment travel?
they used to park their blimp at the end of a seldom used runway, airport would close runway during their stay... our FBO property was immediately next to runway, allowing for easy convenient access to blimp and ground resources...( crew and support vehicles, ) essentially the same service and access as any aircraft operator would expect... their main requirement is to have full 360 swing around the mooring mast and good ground conditions to allow max anchor holding power for the mooring mast a side benefit was that rides were available to employees when their schedule permitted, Goodyear was very generous about allowing access to blimp during their stay with us over the years
I was there in Shelton too... One of the things isn't just an airfield, but one with a lot of open space because the winds can be unpredictable. It's also availability of airfields, hotel availability, services, a whole host of factors play into field selection. When in Seattle, usually Paine Field is where they would operate out of. But Paine Field was too far, and this was the closest that had availability across the board. Heading north/south, we ended up in Eugene because all the hotels were booked up in Portland because of an event. The fields all vary, but Eugene by far was the worst. Tall grass that was difficult to run/walk over (try holding onto a rope with a 12k pound blimp on the other end and running it to the mast). When getting on/off the mast, if the winds are kicking up (or even unpredictable) it's crucial to get it on/off quickly otherwise the ship could be slammed into the mast with a fast wind change. And plenty of space to get the ship off and launch, preferably in a low use airfield. Shelton winds were unpredictable and shifted quite a bit and quickly. The ship could be on mast and pointed into the wind and suddenly swing the other way with a wind shift. Way back in the day they used SeaTac which presented a variety of challenges.
Then you probably saw, maybe heard, some of the action at the Ridge Motorsports Complex 2mi NW of the field (not to be confused with the Highway Patrol Academy directly west of the field). That was where I was at on Fri.
Once while I was at school, the blimp was headed north from Miami on assignment when they had to put down in Gainesville because of weather issues. I drove by the municipal airport, and there was the "Mayflower" moored to its portable mast along one side of the airport property, with its support vehicles.
Definitely heard you guys, but wasn't sure what kind of cars were running (didn't see anyone). I did see an auto cross occurring on the airfield on Saturday. Bummer, could have given you a tour of the airship.
