“Bro, there is no way Goodyear is going to let us aboard one of their blimps for The Dart.” – Lutz
The Dart: Ep 106 – Goodyear Blimp from Richard Lutz on Vimeo.
If you’ve ever been to Los Angeles, you have probably seen The Goodyear Blimp flying majestically above the city. While zeppelin travel may not be as popular as it was initially expected to be in the early part of the 20th century, it makes me smile knowing that some groups still embrace the technology.
The story of how we were able to do this episode is going to take a little bit of exposition.
When I first moved to Los Angeles in March of 2010, Linda Peyton, a good friend of the family offered to take me around the Long Beach area to see the sites and help acclimate me with the town. One of the first things we visited was The Goodyear Blimp dock. She mentioned to me that when she was growing up in the area in the 1960′s, she would consistently visit the dock to watch the blimp take off. She passed her enthusiasm onto her son Andrew. Andrew is 20 years old and autistic. Riding on the Goodyear blimp has been a dream of his for years.
A month later, Lutz and I were brain storming ideas for the season one finale of The Dart when I suggested The Goodyear Blimp. I did some research and made some calls, but I didn’t expect a response.
A few weeks later I received a call from Bob Urhausen, the blimp’s P.R. manager. I told him about the travel show, and how we learned about the blimp dock. He was particularly interested in Linda and Andrew’s story, and after hashing out some scheduling and logistical details, he offered us four spots on the blimp.
To say the four of us were excited for the opportunity would be an understatement.
Our actual experiences are pretty well covered in the episode. I can’t thank Bob Urhausen, our pilot Kristen Davis, and Goodyear Tires enough for the flight. We’ll be talking about this one around The Dart HQ for at least a few months!
For more information on Goodyear Tires and The Goodyear Blimp, visit the following links.
http://www.goodyear.com/
http://www.goodyearblimp.com/
Until next time,
You don’t have to travel far to have an adventure.
Joey Clift
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Check back Wednesday for The Dart Extra.