The iconic Goodyear Blimp is 100. To celebrate, a flight over Ohio

MOGADORE, Ohio — The iconic Goodyear airships are taking a victory lap over the skies of an Ohio city this week.

The Akron-based tire company is celebrating the 100th anniversary of ''Pilgrim,'' its first blimp to take flight just outside of the city on June 3, 1925. The airships took to the skies on Tuesday, and will again on Wednesday and Thursday, flying over land that once housed the company's original hangar.

Jim Crone, who manages airship maintenance, explained why the company chose this swath of land in 1917. ''It was secluded. It was away from most of other parts of the city, and it allowed them to build airships here. It's a lot of property.''

Goodyear had started experimenting with vessels that would be lighter than aircraft in the early 1900s, and the dirigibles have since become a lasting and iconic symbol of the corporate brand. For some, it evokes nostalgia, while for others it offers a glimpse into a larger-than-life part of advertisement history.

Locally and around the country, Crone said the brand has a ''cult following.''

''People love the airships,'' he said. In the Akron area specifically, "they identify with Goodyear and identify with the airships. They've become part of this community.''

One of those fans, Madison Hayberg, brought her 2-year-old son Levi with her to see the airships on Tuesday.

Here is a by-the-numbers look at Goodyear airships over time:

1910

Goodyear establishes an Aeronautics Department to build lighter-than-air aircrafts, and by 1912 the company had built its first balloon.

In 1930, the ''Defender'' blimp became the first airship in the world to carry a lit neon sign so the company's name could be seen after dark.

Goodyear began making airships for the U.S. Navy in 1917, and its first blimp — the first commercial non-rigid airship flown using helium — launched years later, becoming a marketing tool.

New Year's Day 1955

The Goodyear Blimp has been a regular at major sporting events since flying above the 1955 Rose Bowl. A few years later, it became a service vehicle for television coverage while simultaneously functioning as a highly visible advertising platform.

Since that time, blimps have undergone wholesale changes and improved dramatically: steering technology; safety innovations; high-definition cameras; aerial views captured with specialized systems that compensate for movement during filming, resulting in stable and smooth footage footage; and much quieter rides thanks to relocated engines and propellers.

4 blimps

There currently are four Goodyear Blimps — the three in the U.S. and one in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

246 feet

The Goodyear Blimp is 246 feet long (75 meters), which would cover about 80% of a football field. It is 58 feet (18 meters) high and holds three Olympic-sized swimming pools' worth of helium.

Goodyear gets helium for its blimps from multiple sources. Because helium is a finite resource, the company purifies its helium every six to eight weeks to extend its life.

The blimp travels more than 100 days per year, with trips ranging anywhere from three days to three weeks. A crew of nearly 20 people travel with the airship whenever it is touring. Today's Goodyear Blimps fly between 1,000 and 1,500 feet (305 meters and 457 meters) in the air and travel at speeds up to 73 miles per hour (117 kilometers per hour).

10 blimp pilots

2,500 and 500,000

The blimp has covered more than 2,500 events and taken more than 500,000 passengers for rides, according to Goodyear. Former President Ronald Reagan might be the most famous passenger, but it was rapper Ice Cube who raised the blimp's street cred when he included a line about it in his 1992 song titled ''It Was A Good Day.''

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