Question about blimps

[Steve]

Any Blimp drivers on the board? I was wondering what kind of background gets you at the controls of one. Do the pilots usually have mostly lighter than air time?

 

[350DRIVER]

Jim Maloney is Pilot-in-Charge of the Goodyear blimp, Spirit of Goodyear. As the son of Goodyear blimp pilot, Jim Maloney Sr., you might say he came to the job naturally - or maybe by osmosis. However, our speaker did not become a blimp pilot right away. Jim first worked with Goodyear airships as a member of the ground crew in 1959, when he was a Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, high-school student. He continued to serve as Airship Ground Crewman during breaks in his college education during the next decade.

The young Maloney had serious career ambitions: he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from USC, Los Angeles, in 1965, followed by a Master’s degree in E.E. in 1967. He became an assistant professor at Duke University and USC in L.A., and added "Ph.D. E.E." to his list of academic achievements in 1971.

Jim, Jr., also became a fixed-wing multi-engine heavier-than-air pilot, accumulating 1700+ flight hours in such aircraft as the Smithsonian Institution’s Grumman Albatross seaplane. But his love of blimps never diminished. Jim trained to become a blimp pilot and received his Goodyear wings in 1983. He has been flying a Goodyear blimp ever since, becoming Senior Pilot in 1985, and Assistant Pilot-in-Charge in 1992. Maloney has accumulated over 9500 LTA flight hours to date, and he became "PIC" of the blimp based at Wingfoot Lake in 2000. Meanwhile, our speaker found time to get married, and he and his wife, Sally, an Akron native, have two children.

Last October, Maloney received national attention when he was featured in an article in the Wall Street Journal. In it, he discussed the challenges blimp operators face with new FAA restrictions imposed since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The restrictions have eased a bit since then, but many new rules now affect blimp operations. Mr. Maloney will enlighten us about the new operating environment and share some of his stories from more than four decades of association with Goodyear’s aerial ambassadors.

A interesting historical note: our speaker’s father, the late James C. Maloney, a Goodyear and Navy blimp pilot, also spoke about his airship experiences at a meeting of The L-T-A Society. The date - exactly 28 years ago to the day - May 9, 1974!

 

[350DRIVER]

Airship Pilot Life Stories
The Account of Rob Parker
I started my career as a hot-air balloonist who was approached by another balloonist looking for some ground crewmen. When he asked me if I'd join his crew I said "Sure, I'm not doing anything this weekend." Well, that weekend has turned into 8 1/2 years so far, and it doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon. I knew on my first day as a ground crewman that I wanted to be an airship pilot, so I worked hard, and learned all of the ground positions, and duties associated with maintaining and operating a commercial airship, hoping that one day I would be able to take command of an airship as a pilot.
In the meantime I was also working on the prerequisite ratings required by Airship International, my employer at the time, who required their pilots to have at least commercial and instrument ratings before being trained by them as airship pilots. Once I obtained these ratings, I remained a ground crewman until a new airship was built, creating the need for a new pilot. This was the opportunity that I had been waiting for. I was trained, and became a fully certified airship pilot. I had my dream job!

A year later, Airship International encountered some financial problems which forced them to lay-off some of their pilots. I was invited to stay on as a crewman, due to my past experience, so I stayed hoping that they would once again need certified pilots. Unfortunately, Airship International never did recover from their economic hardships, but I will forever be grateful for the opportunities they gave me by training me and letting me fly their airships all over the U.S. and even to work for a brief time in Mexico.

After leaving Airship International I was unemployed for a brief time as there aren't many places for a "Blimper" to find work. It is a specialized trade with few operating companies to look toward as potential employers.

Eventually, I was approached by The Lightship Group, (Formerly Virgin Lightships) who was expanding their operations thereby requiring more pilots. I've been with The Lightship Group for almost two years now and have been having the time of my life. With them I've flown in the U.S.A., Canada, England, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and even Malaysia. The Lightship Group is involved not only with advertising, but has also done scientific work for NASA, The British Ministry of Defence, and even marine research as well as onboard live television downlinks for various sporting events such as The Kentucky Derby, Baseball World Series, The Superbowl, FA Cup Football and many more. For more information regarding The Lightship Group please visit our website at www.Lightships.com.

 

[hydroflyer]

I did a report in an aviation class in college on different people with interesting jobs and one person I talked to was a pilot for the Fuji blimp. From what I learned, you usually need your commercial, instrument and multi ratings. Companies also prefer CFI background in all 3 as well since you are usually trained after being hired and some/most of the current pilots may also be instructors. One big downside was the continuous time spent on the road, unless that is something you like.
One way to get several questions answered is to look up some blimp operators and send an e-mail to their chief pilot asking to talk to him regarding steps to take if you want to do that sort of thing. The Fuji pilot was real great to talk to and answered all of my questions. Unfortunately your timing is like mine was, just after a Goodyear blimb "crash" and so I wouldn't bother calling up Goodyear, you won't get an answer to any questions.
Hope this helps.

 

[Stifler's Mom]

Does flying the ATR count?

They look similar and it flies about as fast as a blimp.