Kakahead

I had a flashback on Wednesday!!  No, not the psychedelic kind… a vivid memory accompanied by warm fuzzy happy stuff.  The Farmer’s Insurance zeppelin was cruising the Muskegon skies, and I got to see it twice.  One of the ladies at work breezed past my office and blurted, “if you want to see the Farmer’s blimp, you better come to the window!!”

I ran.

There it was off in the distance!!  A beautiful example of technology that seems really weird but actually makes a lot of sense.  And definitely a blast from the past.  Then I got a closer look on my way home as it was cruising around in its huge, cigar shaped glory.

Technically, the Farmer’s Insurance “blimp” is not a blimp at all, it’s a zeppelin.  The difference (I just looked it up) being that a blimp is a dirigible, basically a giant gas bladder filled with helium.  A zeppelin, on the other hand has a frame or at least a partial frame that is used to keep the shape constant and also to mount motors in the back.

The flashback I mentioned earlier was sparked by the sight of the Farmer’s Insurance zeppelin.  I was maybe 6 or 7 years old, our family was living on Long Island at the time.  I remember playing outside and hearing the drone of some aircraft motors.  That was not unusual in those days, because when I was a kid the majority of commercial aircraft traffic was still being handled by propeller type airplanes.

However, these motors seemed pretty close to the ground, judging by the noise.  I also distinctly recall the shiver that went down my spine as I saw this huge dome shaped nose cone rising overhead above the trees.  I also remember a panel of lights with words scrolling along the bottom of this strange craft.  It was the Goodyear blimp!!  I had seen film of it on TV but here it was flying straight above me!!  From what I’ve read, typical operating altitude for such craft is about 1,000 feet, although they can go as high as 8,500 feet.  When you’re a kid and you see something that big, it seems much closer.  I’m pretty sure it was cruising at a much lower altitude than 1,000 feet, but that was a very long time ago.

So the magic of a zeppelin sighting brought me back to a very happy childhood memory.  Exactly what I needed… work has been a bit of a pain this past year.

So thank you to Farmers Insurance for sponsoring this wonderful craft.  I would have loved to been lucky enough to score a ride, but I didn’t get much advance notice.  Besides, I didn’t have a spare $536 lying around for a one hour zeppelin ride.  Ah well.

Oh, and and thank you Goodyear for keeping up the tradition also.  Goodyear has been making blimps since 1925!!  I never knew.  Sounds like they intend to keep doing so, and that the “new” designs will be zeppelins!

Are those things cool or what??
 
Speaking of flashbacks… this was made in 1953. We used to watch newsreels like this in school!