# How does the Goodyear Blimp vent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794 "2010-04-29T21:43:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/1 "2010-04-29T21:43:49Z")
If the Goodyear Blimp needs come down, it needs to have less helium in its gasbag. Do they just vent the helium into the air or do they compress it and store it in a canister? Also how do they store the blimp. Do they leave it inflated in a hanger? Or do they pump the helium out? It seems to me that they would lose a lot of helium from leaks if they left it inflated all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/2 "2010-04-29T22:04:28Z")
> [@](#): > > A blimp or airship controls its **buoyancy** in the air much like a [submarine](http://www.howstuffworks.com/submarine.htm) does in the water. The ballonets act like ballast tanks holding “heavy” air. When the blimp takes off, the pilot vents air from the ballonets through the air valves. The helium makes the blimp **positively buoyant** in the surrounding air, so the blimp rises. The pilot throttles the engine and adjusts the elevators to angle the blimp into the wind. The cone shape of the blimp also helps to generate lift. > > As the blimp rises, outside air pressure decreases and the helium in the envelope expands. The pilots then pump air into the ballonets to maintain pressure against the helium. Adding air makes the blimp heavier, so to maintain a steady cruising altitude, the pilots must balance the air-pressure with the helium-pressure to create **neutral buoyancy**. To level the blimp in flight, the air pressures between the fore and aft ballonets are adjusted. Blimps can cruise at altitudes of anywhere from 1,000 to 7,000 ft (305 to 2135 m). The engines provide forward and reverse [thrust](http://www.howstuffworks.com/airplane1.htm) while the rudder is used to steer. > > To descend, the pilots fill the ballonets with air. This increases the density of the blimp, making it **negatively buoyant** so that it descends. Again, the elevators are adjusted to control the angle of descent. > **[How Blimps Work](https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/blimp.htm#pt2)** > > You've probably seen a Goodyear blimp providing TV coverage to a sporting event, such as a football game or golf tournament. Blimps are a type of lighter-than-air (LTA) craft called an airship. Like a hot air balloon, blimps use a gas to generate... 8500 ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/3 "2010-04-30T00:38:14Z")
Heh. Gasbag. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/4 "2010-04-30T04:25:48Z")
Blimps generally don’t exactly park on the ground - they take the buoyancy way down and “dock”, which basically means tie a (presumably very strong) line from the nose of the blimp to a pole anchored in the ground. I can probably find out more details (such as why they don’t just stick it in a hangar), but my source of blimp information is in France right now, so it’ll have to wait. (Posting this mostly because it gives me an excuse to use the phrase “my source of blimp information”, which I’ve been kind of looking for an excuse to use lately. And I do actually have a source who has recently learned quite a bit about blimps, who is in France.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/5 "2010-04-30T04:34:00Z")
[Related Straight Dope column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2854/my-buddies-and-i-want-to-be-blimp-pilots-what-do-we-do), about getting an LTA rating. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/6 "2010-04-30T12:59:12Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > … such as why they don’t just stick it in a hangar… Likely to have something to do with sufficiently large hangars being tolerably scarce. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/7 "2010-04-30T13:53:00Z")
Blimps are stored in hangars all the time. [Link](http://faa.travel/goodyearblimp.html) ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/8 "2010-04-30T14:20:08Z")
at a blimps home base there might likely be a hanger. nonblimp airports may not have a blimp sized hanger. on the road they may be moored in the open. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/9 "2010-04-30T14:54:01Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Blimps are stored in hangars all the time. True, if “all the time” means “when at their home base or one of the very few other airfields that has a hangar large enough.” ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/10 "2010-04-30T15:17:23Z")
I have actually flown on that blimp in Pompano Beach. And actually flown in the pilot’s seat as well. It was great! 😃 This was back when they first came to town. My Mom worked for the city and all the city employee’s were offered rides. My Mom asked the Captain if I could get a ride when we arrived for vacation. I’ll point out that when the “pump” air into the ballonets it’s done through scoops behind the props on the engine pods. They open the scoop and the prop blast forces the air in. It doesn’t take much pressure at all. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/11 "2010-04-30T15:47:11Z")
Mostly by screaming and throwing things around the hangar, I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/12 "2010-04-30T20:02:26Z")
Well this is the suckiest thread I’ve ever seen. When I saw the thread topic, I opened it to post two things: that joke and the fact that I’ve piloted one of the Goodyear blimps. And **GaryM** and **Elendil** steal my thunder! What the heck? –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/13 "2010-04-30T20:12:01Z")
Heeheehee. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/14 "2010-05-01T02:56:50Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > at a blimps home base there might likely be a hanger. nonblimp airports may not have a blimp sized hanger. on the road they may be moored in the open. Even if they do have a hanger, renting it doesn’t come cheap. Unless bad weather is predicted, they save money by just staying in the open. The large hanger will have regular planes that normally stay there (otherwise why would they have built a large hanger) – you would have to move out all them out, and find places for them (or leave them out in the open). And if bad weather is predicted, they probably wouldn’t like that. So the airport manager has to decide, do I annoy all my regular plane owner customers who are here year-round, or annoy the Goodyear people who come here once ever year or two? What do you think their answer is likely to be? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/15 "2010-05-01T04:06:15Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Blimps are stored in hangars all the time. > > [Link](http://faa.travel/goodyearblimp.html) Piece of cake. 😃 Take a look at [Navel Air Station Tillamook](http://www.nastillamook.org/index.htm) in Oregon. It’s now an inactive blimp base. The two wooden blimp hangers at NAS Tillamook were 1,086 feet long, almost 300 feet wide and 195 feet tall. Check out [the historical images](http://www.nastillamook.org/gallery/historical/index.htm). There is one showing eight blimps, each 252 feet long, all in one hanger, and apparently ready for flight. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/16 "2010-05-01T13:18:00Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > So the airport manager has to decide, do I annoy all my regular plane owner customers who are here year-round, or annoy the Goodyear people who come here once ever year or two? Your point that large (and thus expensive) hangars are likely to be spoken for is sound. But apart from that the decision is likely to be easy, in that the number of hangars tall enough to hold a blimp is tiny. For example, the Goodyear blimp is about the same height as a B-747’s tail but would fit into few if any 747 hangars, as these are typically made with only a small area for the vertical fin. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/17 "2010-05-01T14:29:30Z")
In general, blimps spend their entire life outdoors. Yes, there are a few genuine blimp hangars left over from the 1920-1940s. But not many store blimps today. This [Google Maps](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=carson,+ca&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=36.778911,50.625&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Carson,+Los+Angeles,+California&t=h&ll=33.855457,-118.276244&spn=0.004713,0.00618&z=17) is where the original Goodyear blimp lives in Los Angeles. That asphalt bullseye has a ~40 ft. tower in the center which the nose of the blimp moors to. The blimp’s one wheel under the gondola rolls around on the asphalt circle as the blimp aligns itself with the prevailing wind. If you switch to street view & put your little man on the South end of bridge where Main St. goes over the canal at the West corner of the airfield, you’ll see the blimp moored to its tower. If you drag yourself North along Main St. to anywhere North of the North end of the bridge, the blimp will disappear from its mooring. But if you look South right along Main St. & pan up a bit, you can see the blimp approaching. There’s apparently a stitch in their recodings right there on that bridge. There are similar facilities around the country for all the other Goodyear & non-Goodyear blimps in use today. Each blimp has a home and doesn’t travel too far from it. i.e. a few hundred but not a few thousand miles. As to adverse weather, they avoid it. They don’t base blimps in North Dakota in February. If a hurricane is coming to south Florida, they’ll bumble off to Alabama for a few days. Blimps, both in flight and on the ground, are fair weather machines. ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/18 "2010-05-01T17:30:25Z")
I remember, as a kid in early 70’s, regularly watching a Goodyear blimp, based just north of Houston, Tx, landing and being handled. It seemed like it flew downward rather than ‘sank’ downward. There was always some forward motion (for control?) until the seemingly dozens (?) of guys on the ground grabbed the ropes hanging off of it. Then it got hooked to a tower-thing and kinda rolled around on its one wheel. Windy days had it taken into the HUGE hanger pretty quick, and really windy days it never came out at all. Dad would always stop the car so we could watch operations whenever it was out, and I was saddened to learn that particular hangar (and blimp?) is now gone. I loved seeing it flying at night with its system of lights (veritable billboard) flashing on its sides. Once, my younger brother thought it was really Santa/reindeer flying overhead through the foggy skies with the sound of the engines barely being audible over Houston’s traffic. Wow, that was a long time ago… ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/19 "2010-05-01T18:03:09Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > True, if “all the time” means “when at their home base or one of the very few other airfields that has a hangar large enough.” Actually, by “all the time” I meant “it isn’t at all uncommon”. You seem to think that I mean blimps spend a majority of time in hangars. Your reading comprehension issues are yours, not mine. Of course, you could always try leaving the snark at home and asking a clarifying question if you’re actually unsure of my meaning. That would be too easy, though. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794/20 "2010-05-01T20:44:36Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Mostly by screaming and throwing things around the hangar, I’ve heard. The well-adjusted ones deal with stress by getting regular exercise. For example: on a treadmill. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-goodyear-blimp-vent/537794.md?page=2)