Cool thing to see take off

NC Pilot

NC Pilot

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NC Pilot
I went to W03 (Wilson, NC) today to practice some landings and was surprised to see the Goodyear blimp there getting ready to depart.

Took a photo on the way in, but it was departing (into the wind BTW) as I got to my tie down. Closest I've ever been to the thing and was surpised at the ground roll it used (a couple hundred feet) before launching, then climbed at a steep angle away from the airport.
 

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It is cool. I saw one a couple of week ago at KDPA on the ground as I flew over the airport. I snapped a couple fo pics but they are on the other computer. It was in the air when I returned and I again snapped a couple of pics.

A while ago I did get near the Met-Life blimp, I did not see Snoopy flying it but I got a some better pics of it.
 
very cool. A few years ago during the Indy 500 or Brickyard 400 weekend, the Met-Life blimp was at MQJ. That was pretty cool to taxi right past it while it was tied down.

Also got the opportunity to see Rusty Wallace's helo... at least that's what my instructor told me, and the tail number did end in RW...
 
Neat picture, Mark! Thanks! :)

For some reason I'd been thinking that W03 was sort of raggedy, but it didn't look that way in your photo - what's it like there? And why go there, particularly, for your practice?
 
etsisk said:
For some reason I'd been thinking that W03 was sort of raggedy, but it didn't look that way in your photo - what's it like there? And why go there, particularly, for your practice?
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1. It's not very busy.
2. It has three runways - 3 and 21 is well kept the others are a little raggy.
3. The FBO is older, but neat and nice.
4. A good place to pracice short field and cross wind take offs and landings.

My only caution is that they used to round up any fuel purchase to the next gallon. IOW's if you buy 12.1 gallons they will round it up to 13.0. Don't know if they still do this since I haven't asked for fuel lately, but it stuck in my craw enough I have not bought fuel there in years. The same applies to New Bern BTW. If I glide into New Bern on empty tanks I will not be purchasing fuel there...
 
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smigaldi said:
It is cool. I saw one a couple of week ago at KDPA on the ground as I flew over the airport. I snapped a couple fo pics but they are on the other computer. It was in the air when I returned and I again snapped a couple of pics.

A while ago I did get near the Met-Life blimp, I did not see Snoopy flying it but I got a some better pics of it.
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Closest I've ever been to a blimp was...

blimpcockpit.jpg


Pretty damn close I'd say. ;) Hear all about it on Pilotcast #11!

FWIW, this was the same company and model that does Snoopy/Met-Life.
 
The "Outback Steak House" blimp was at the Des Moines Triathlon when Rachel was running. It was so hot and bumpy that day, I only saw it make one loop around downtown. The engines were revving pretty hard and I could very noticeably see the whole thing rocking from side to side. It had to be an absolutely miserable flight up there. Those poor guys are probably still trying to get their stomachs back. ha!
 
i saw a blimp fly by ames one day when i was CFIing a few years back. it was bobbing up and down as the nose would go in a thermal and the tail would be in sink, then reverse. they were trodding slowly towards KC i think at about 40 mph. I think it was the Sanyo Blimp.

Goodyear was at Jefferson last year for the Goodyear dealers 50th anniversary I think. they flew over the HS football game. was quite a sight, lots of people flew over to see it.
 
We've had one flying around Atlanta the past week or so. Something with "Ginn" with some of it looking like some advertising for a resort, all on a blue hull. I'd never heard of them.

If anyone has ever gone to an AOPA safety seminar with Mark Grady speaking, you'll hear him speak of days flying blimps. He's joked that if ATC gives him too hard a time, he'll do a pop-up and request an ILS approach. He said the IAP for a blimp takes some forty-five minutes.

He also boast about having 6,000 hours in a Cessna 152. One guy asked if that was before or after the checkride. He was a traffic reporter for several years over Raleigh or some place in the region.
 
KennyFlys said:
We've had one flying around Atlanta the past week or so. Something with "Ginn" with some of it looking like some advertising for a resort, all on a blue hull. I'd never heard of them.

If anyone has ever gone to an AOPA safety seminar with Mark Grady speaking, you'll hear him speak of days flying blimps. He's joked that if ATC gives him too hard a time, he'll do a pop-up and request an ILS approach. He said the IAP for a blimp takes some forty-five minutes.

He also boast about having 6,000 hours in a Cessna 152. One guy asked if that was before or after the checkride. He was a traffic reporter for several years over Raleigh or some place in the region.
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Mark Grady used to work as the traffic reporter for WRAL in Raleigh. I got to hear him first hand while he was flying the blimp. Took considerable control movements to keep the thing flying steady according to him.

Really a funny guy. Also very short. He used to fly from 5W5 (triple W airport). One day he had just fueled his mighty 152 for traffic patrol and went to the bathroom to prepare for the flight. Some folks decided he needed a cushion or two so he could see out of the windshield and took every cushion in the FBO and stuffed them in the plane. For some reason he was not amused. :dunno:
 
NC Pilot said:
Mark Grady used to work as the traffic reporter for WRAL in Raleigh. I got to hear him first hand while he was flying the blimp. Took considerable control movements to keep the thing flying steady according to him.

Really a funny guy. Also very short. He used to fly from 5W5 (triple W airport). One day he had just fueled his mighty 152 for traffic patrol and went to the bathroom to prepare for the flight. Some folks decided he needed a cushion or two so he could see out of the windshield and took every cushion in the FBO and stuffed them in the plane. For some reason he was not amused. :dunno:
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:rofl: I wasn't going to mention that part. He had made a joke on himself in one of the two seminars I went to although I can't recall what it was. I'm betting he got well past that. He's a wealth of information and excellent speaker.
 
KennyFlys said:
:rofl: He's a wealth of information and excellent speaker.
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I can agree on that.

One of the funniest stories I heard him tell was when an instructor and student were doing touch and goes at 5W5 in the evening and the ground fog was just starting to form. They both agreed to stop after the next landing and as the student was decending he lost the runway. The instructor took over and started a go around when the plane gently slowed to a stop in some bushes. Once they got over the shock of being stopped the instructor told the student to stay put and he would go for help. Opening the door, the instructor stepped out and fell 30 feet to the ground breaking branches and his leg on the way down from the top of the trees.

The student kept his cool and picking up his cell phone the start of the conversation started something like.. "Please don't hang up on me, but you will not believe what just happened..."

The best part of the story was there was no damage to the plane. It was lowered to the ground by a crane the next day and was flying soon thereafter...
 
Yeah, I've seen him a couple of times. He's very informative, and entertaining, too. A great speaker that you should see if you get a chance, even though he does have a bit of an accent! :)
When I heard that he flew blimps, I wondered how someone of such short stature could do it, since it's a very physically demanding task.
 
gprellwitz said:
When I heard that he flew blimps, I wondered how someone of such short stature could do it, since it's a very physically demanding task.
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He did not fly blimps for a career, only for one day when the GY blimp was in town.
 
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