The Goodyear Blimp dirigable, a symbol of the tire brand, celebrates 100 years in 2025 from its first flight and will be present at the 6 hours of Imola del Wec
The spectators of the endurance world championship that will have in Imola between 18 and 20 April will be able to attend, in addition to the show on the track, the flights of the airship of Goodyearthe Blimp. For the first time, this symbol of the tire brand will be present at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari car, on the occasion of the second appointment of the 2025 season of the FIA WEC, which opened in Qatar with one Ferrari hat -trick. Goodyear is Single supplier of the LMGT3 categoryreserved for cars more derived from the series: it will equip the 18 cars in the category and belonging to eight different brands, from Ferrari to Mercedes, Porsche, Corvette, Ford, McLaren, Aston Martin And BMW. Goodyear’s dirigable blim dirigable celebrates 100 years from the first flight in 2025 and will be visible throughout Europe with celebratory flights also in conjunction with sporting events, such as the WEC in Imola and Spa-FrranCorchamps.
The story of the Blimp
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The first airship prototype used by Goodyear flew on the skies of Chicago already in 1917, but it is in 1925 that he actually debuted the Blim. Since then it has been used for about 30 years as a means of transport for air spare parts. In 1955 he broadcast for the first time Direct TV imagesa task that then acquitted several times later even during particularly important sporting events, such as the Super Bowl. In 1972 the Blimp fleet expanded for the first time outside the United States, moving from England to Italy and making a base in Rome. In 1973 the debut at the 24 hours of Le Mans took place, where he returned in 2020 and several times in the following years.
How the Blimp is made
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Today’s fleet of Blimp dirigible is made up of four specimens: three are allocated to the United States and bear the names of Wingfoot One, Two and Threewhile the fourth is stably in Europe. The length is of 75 meterswith a height of 17.4 me a volume of the 8,425 cubic meters envelope. These are semi-riigid dirigible, or equipped with an internal support structure that differentiates them both from the old Zeppelin with rigid frame and with real “blim“, where only the pressure of the gas keeps the ball swollen. A gondola placed below the hull carries up to 14 passengers and two pilots. The movement is guaranteed by three four -cylinder engines Lycoming I-360 of 200 HP eachplaced on the sides of the envelope and in the queue, capable of pushing it to 125 km/h maximum speed. The highest reachable altitude is 3,000 meters, but the ideal cruise fee is about 300 meters. In case of need it can remain in flight and move for over 22 hours.
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