Up in the sky! It's a bird, or a plane, or maybe Superman. Well, if Superman was a little overweight and blue. And had 'Goodyear' written on his side. Yep, you can believe what that person at work said. The Goodyear Blimp was flying over Sioux Falls Tuesday. And there's a good chance you'll see it Wednesday too.

The Sioux Falls Argus-Leader newspaper reports that the blimp's appearance in the skies over Sioux Falls is being hosted by local Goodyear dealer Graham Tire. The blimp came north from a stop in Omaha and will spend the night at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport. On Wednesday (June 27) the blimp will be ferrying various VIPs on sightseeing trips over the city. So keep your eyes on the sky.

The latest incarnation of the Goodyear Blimp is 246 feet long and almost 65 feet at its widest points. It weights nearly twenty-thousand pounds. The craft has a maximum speed of 73 mph. The blimp is filled with helium.

There are four crafts in Goodyear's fleet: Wingfoot One, Wingfoot Two, Wingfoot Three and The Spirit of Innovation. Wingfoot One is the craft that is in Sioux Falls.

Assembly of Wingfoot One began in March 2013 at Goodyear's Wingfoot Lake hangar. An international team of engineers and technicians from Goodyear and Germany's ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik worked side by side to complete the build project. Parts such as the tail fins and gondola were built in Germany and shipped to the U.S. for assembly. The balloon-like body of the airship – the “envelope” – is made of polyester with an innovative film from DuPont™ called Tedlar®, surrounding a semi-rigid internal structure, which differentiates this airship from previous Goodyear blimps. -Goodyear

 


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