THOUGHTS

The Columbia Ship

March 8, 2019

I am late posting today! I thought I would share about my ride on the Goodyear Blimp.

My husband and I were out for a ride one afternoon near Carson, California in 1968 and thought we would go over and look a the Columbia Goodyear Blimp that was tethered at its station in Carson. It just happened that afternoon that the crew was out putting the blimp up for the night. We watched and then one of the crew came over to speak with us. And, as a small world department goes, my husband and the personnel of Goodyear just happen to know each other. In fact, the guy turned out to be one of the pilots of the blimp and invited my husband and myself to come back at a later date for a ride. We were thrilled! Back then, most of the passengers were purchased rides and many times were special VIPs, corporate personnel, or a dignitary.

So, that following week I played hooky from work and we went up in the blimp. At that time, the Columbia was the blimp stationed on the West Coast, California. Riley (don't remember his full name) flew us over the ocean, Disneyland, Los Angles and what a site it was. We had good weather that day, I remember, and what was really cool was Riley let my husband sit in the co-pilot seat and play with the controls. Oh, did I forget to mention, Riley and my husband, Bruce were in the Air Force together!

What was special is that once up, the blimp hovers at 1000 feet and is surprisingly quiet. We two, the pilot and one other lady and her son were the only ones flying that afternoon.

So, you just never know what serendipity will come your way when going out for a ride!

Seabreeze