Airships and Good Year Company

Airships became popular for people after World War II. This was the revolutionary period for these airships when non-rigid airships were more famous. In 1912 and 1913, the most prominent company, which was involved in the making of airships, was “Goodyear.” This company entered in the aviation industry in 1910 but they produced their first airship in 1912. After about four years, more companies started getting involved in the airship business.

“Good year” Airship Company also served in World War II by producing the non-rigid type of airships. In 1919, they introduced first public airship using helium, which was named as “pony” and after four years, they introduced another airship with the name of “Pilgrim.” In the 1930s, airships were used for advertising purposes. This was a positive start for Good Year Company because it caused a boast up in the sales of airship. In addition, the use of airships for the military made the company more active in making airships. In the 1930s, Good Year Company introduced two military airships. One was named as USS Akron and the other was named the USS Macon. These airships were specifically designed for the purpose of carrying aircraft and other heavy machinery from one place to another.

Two years later, both airships were destroyed in a storm. This disaster also caused the virtual ending of non-rigid airships. Good Year was the most active company in the manufacturing of airships. You will be amazed to know that they produced 104 navy airships. Due to the technology development in that era, many sophisticated airships were developed with the capacity of staying aloft for more than a week.

After World War II, Good Year Company produced a prototype of an airship, which was named as GA-22 Duck. Although it was not formally developed due to some technicalities involved in it, it contributed a lot in the further development of other airships. On 4th April, 1960, Good Year Company developed the largest non rigid airship named as “ZPG-3W.” In addition, Good Year Company is also honored for making the ZPG-2 blimp (it is also known as “snow bird”) which holds the record of staying aloft for 11 consecutive days.

The era of late 50s and 60s is considered as the era of advertising through blimps. The company was the most successful in the making of advertisement blimps. Having said this, in 1959, they developed GZ-19 Mayflower for the purpose of advertisements after which many corporate giants shifted their attention toward blimps for advertisement because it was the most effective and easiest way for advertising any product, service, or event. Due to the attraction of this business, many other companies also started their business in making blimps of different kind but they were not as successful as the Good Year Company, due to their professional experience in this field. Good Year Company generated very attractive revenue through this business and extended their business to all European countries.