The Goodyear Airplane

NoHeat

NoHeat

Final Approach
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Jul 27, 2009
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Iowa City, IA
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KIOW
Tonight's college football game on ABC was played here with in Iowa City, and as the Hawkeyes were in the process of an upset victory (Go Hawks!), the TV broadcaster often showed nice aerial video of the stadium with a caption that often mentioned "Goodyear Blimp" and at the end of the broadcast "Aerial Coverage Provided by Goodyear." Although ABC didn't actually combine those two messages to say that the aerial coverage was from a blimp, that was the clear impression.

The stadium was only a mile away, so I went outside to look at what I expected to be a blimp in the nighttime sky, and in the darkness I saw the aircraft, circling the stadium, and it flew right over me when I could see that it wasn't really a blimp. It was a single-engine airplane!

I wasn't sure whether to feel cheated or excited, in making this discovery.

It was about 1500' AGL, flying in a big circle, slowly but still faster than a blimp. I looked on Flightaware, and it did not appear there.

Anybody know what sort of plane is the Goodyear Airplane?
 
It said "Aerial coverage" is provided by Goodyear. It did not say the aircraft performing the aerial coverage is owned by Goodyear.
 
NoHeat said:
Tonight's college football game on ABC was played here with in Iowa City, and as the Hawkeyes were in the process of an upset victory (Go Hawks!), the TV broadcaster often showed nice aerial video of the stadium with a caption that often mentioned "Goodyear Blimp" and at the end of the broadcast "Aerial Coverage Provided by Goodyear." Although ABC didn't actually combine those two messages to say that the aerial coverage was from a blimp, that was the clear impression.

The stadium was only a mile away, so I went outside to look at what I expected to be a blimp in the nighttime sky, and in the darkness I saw the aircraft, circling the stadium, and it flew right over me when I could see that it wasn't really a blimp. It was a single-engine airplane!

I wasn't sure whether to feel cheated or excited, in making this discovery.

It was about 1500' AGL, flying in a big circle, slowly but still faster than a blimp. I looked on Flightaware, and it did not appear there.

Anybody know what sort of plane is the Goodyear Airplane?
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Helio Courior.
http://wingedvision.com/services.php
 
They need floats on that Helio so it can land at golf course lakes for some ground level video.

:D
 
Unit74 said:
Can't say I'd want that job. Literally flying a tight circle for hours and hours and hours and....... Naw man....ill pass. When they land, does the crew have an uncontrollable urge lean to the right?
Click to expand...

At least the pilot would be ready for an extending holding pattern. Cool airplane, lands very very short. MCA is something like 30 kts. 7 twin versions were built for the CIA but no info or pics available. CIA flew them in SEA as Air America. Here's one in Laos on the left.

upload_2016-11-13_8-32-4.png upload_2016-11-13_8-35-18.png
 
I always find it amusing that they have the blimp lingering over a NASCAR event but they still fly a helicopter to relay the in-car camera feeds back town to the TV truck.
 
kkoran said:
Helio Courior.
http://wingedvision.com/services.php
Click to expand...

"Our specially equipped Helio Courier, with its "stealth sound suppressor," often is the only aerial platform allowed for live coverage of noise-sensitive events at some of the world's best-known competitions and venues. In addition, an airplane provides greater sponsorship flexibility to networks."

Yes! That's what it was. The wing looked long and straight, just like that. And the plane was surprisingly quiet.

It's interesting that the iconic symbol of Goodyear, its blimp, is now reduced to just a cartoon that pops on a TV screen along with video bought from a third party flying a fixed wing plane. They might as well just use a drone. They can call it Bob's Drone Service, Sponsored by Goodyear. Maybe that's coming soon.
 
Next post: a photo of that plane, with the camera but not the special exhaust pipes.
 
I have seen a Partenavia Observer at several games before. But I think it had an ABC/ESPN logo on it.
 
NoHeat said:
It's interesting that the iconic symbol of Goodyear, its blimp, is now reduced to just a cartoon that pops on a TV screen along with video bought from a third party flying a fixed wing plane. They might as well just use a drone. They can call it Bob's Drone Service, Sponsored by Goodyear. Maybe that's coming soon.
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The blimps are still used for aerial photography, and use of non-blimp aircraft for aerial views of football games is not new. Keep in mind that there are (were?) only three blimps, but there might be dozens of televised football games each weekend. I've been going to 4-6 college football games per year for the last 25 years, and while I've never seen a Goodyear blimp over the stadium, I've often seen orbiting airplanes and helicopters, especially around kickoff and halftime.
 
A lot of the "aerials" with football is done with "cable cams." You don't tend to notice them except back for the year or so they were doing things in 3D (I bought a 3D TV now relegated to the pile with my slightly less-popular beta VCR) and the thing really popped out when it was suddenly in the foreground.
 
Saw this Wilga today at St. Simons Island. It's here to cover the PGA tournament.
 

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I remember the Goodyear Inflatoplane from the CB Colby military books I read as a kid. As a fourth-grader, my school library had them. At the time it seemed like the most incredibly cool airplane ever. Even now, I'd be a bit more James Bond if I had one!
 
For what it's worth, in my opinion, blimps are all but dead for sports TV broadcasting. MetLife, the 2nd longest running airship program in the US behind Goodyear is pulling the plug at the end of the year. They are very, very expensive to operate compared to a quadcopter you launch from the parking lot of the stadium.

And for what it's worth, the guy who runs Winged Vision is the guy for blimp/airplane TV broadcasting. He's been doing it longer and better than anyone else in the business.
 
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