When Lauren Richeson created the Goodyear Blimp Fan Membership on Fb in 2009, she anticipated only some relations and pals to affix. However just like the blimp itself, the membership started to slowly and steadily take off.
“Days can be the place I’d must approve 100 individuals to get in in the future,” she stated. “It’s been fairly overwhelming to see how many individuals the world over have an interest.”
The fan membership has 12,500 members and counting and is extra vigorous than ever because the Goodyear Blimp celebrates its centennial this yr.
The Goodyear Blimp flies over Los Angeles because the solar units.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Instances)
Folks take selfies and make their manner round Goodyear Blimp Wingfoot Three through the Toys for Tots occasion in December on the Goodyear Blimp Base Airport in Carson.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Instances)
Richeson created the Fb group when she lived in Torrance, the place she and her husband would typically see the blimp en path to its base in close by Carson. Now, the full-time artist lives in part of Florida the place sightings are few and much between, so on journeys to California she all the time makes time for one particular cease.
“There’s sure issues that I’m going again to L.A. for, like my favourite restaurant, the favourite locations to buy that I don’t get right here in Florida, and seeing the blimp is a type of issues,” Richeson stated. “So once I get to see the blimp, I’m a cheerful camper.”
Wingfoot Three, the blimp based mostly in Carson, has two siblings: Wingfoot One in Suffield, Ohio, and Wingfoot Two in Pompano Seaside, Fla. A fourth blimp relies in Europe.
Goodyear’s first branded blimp, Pilgrim, made its inaugural flight on June 3, 1925, and the well-known airships have graced the skies ever since, photographing and filming Tremendous Bowls, World Sequence, Olympics and extra. The blimp even made a cameo within the Beatles’ 1965 movie “Assist!”
The Goodyear Blimp undergoes annual upkeep and inspection at a hangar in Tustin.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Instances)
In traditional Southern California trend, Wingfoot Three doesn’t sit in a hangar like its siblings however hangs out within the open, turning heads on the 405 Freeway, which runs proper alongside the bottom. A small crew of pilots, digicam operators, mechanics and base employees carry out repairs and security checks, however from time to time, the blimp should escape the South Bay solar and bear upkeep in a hangar in Tustin, about 30 miles south.
A part of its enchantment is its sheer dimension: 246 ft lengthy from nostril to tail. In principle, the size needs to be menacing — some bigger 737s are about 140 ft lengthy — however the bubble-like form softens the airship into a mild large, and with nickname “Blimpy” adopted amongst many followers, it’s principally begging for a set of cartoon eyes.
The Goodyear Blimp, which is 246 ft lengthy, undergoes annual upkeep and inspection at a hangar in Tustin.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Instances)
“It’s identical to your dopey pal,” Richeson stated.
Earlier this month, followers acquired to see the blimp up shut on the base’s annual Toys for Tots drive, at which youngsters raced to the carnival video games and adults lined up for strolling excursions round Blimpy.
Susan Gutierrez Turner couldn’t wait a second longer. As soon as alerted of her place within the 4 p.m. tour group, she darted to the beginning line, exclaiming that, regardless of being a resident of Southern California since 1972, she has by no means seen the blimp up shut.
She melted right into a crowd led by Goodyear employees, directing the followers across the entirety of the blimp — tiny planets orbiting a solar, pulled in by a gravitational power of awe and admiration.
Airship mechanic Angel Gonzalez and supervisor of airship upkeep Jim Crone put together to reattach the door body onto the Goodyear Blimp.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Instances)
Necks craned, cameras flashed and questions flew; many concerning the upkeep of the airship and the helium inside (to not be confused with hydrogen, which is extraordinarily flammable). Others about its ridership capacities — a uncommon and coveted expertise amongst blimp followers.
“I wish to go on this new one so dangerous, it’s killing me,” stated Cheryl Ritz, a South Bay native who’s ridden twice on outdated fashions of the blimp. “It’s the perfect factor I’ve ever achieved.”
Every tour group maintained its distance from the blimp, anchored down by solely its nostril and threatening to maneuver if the wind kicked up. In fleeting moments, when the blimp would start to budge, you may virtually hear faint cheers for stronger gusts.
However one tour group’s dream is a tour group chief’s security concern, in order that they traced the sting of the blimp’s swing radius, staying out of attain of the resting large.
All through 2025, the three U.S. blimps marked the centennial with a 100-city-plus tour. And there to witness them at every cease — and in between — have been members of the fan membership.
The Goodyear Blimp hovers over various areas while touring Southern California. (Juliana Yamada/Los Angeles Times)
They track the blimp’s routes, strain their necks and snap up photos to later post on the Facebook group, which is usually active on a daily basis. The stream of posts is host to photos nostalgic for the 2017 Goodyear Toys for Tots drive-through, documentation of a blimp-shaped dark chocolate treat, and the smiles of countless fans, standing next to the blimp as one would when taking a photo with a Hollywood celebrity.
But most of the photos shared capture the blimp with striking-but-identical sky-blue backsplashes, and yet the amazement never ceases. Comment sections overflow with exclamation points and emojis, the emotion palpable through the screen.
The Goodyear Blimp’s nose approaches the mast at the Goodyear Blimp Base Airport in Carson.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
Ground handler Eddie Duran watches as water is released from the water ballasts on the Goodyear Blimp prior to takeoff. Water is used as a weight stabilizer for the airship.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
“My husband would say that I have a childlike wonder about a lot,” Richeson said. “The Goodyear Blimp is probably one of those things.”
The fan passion isn’t confined to visual offerings, but also tantalizing debates. One of the most common, according to Richeson, is whether the Goodyear Blimp is really, well, a blimp.
The current models are technically semi-rigid airships rather than non-rigid ones that make up a blimp, but Goodyear reminds people that “while it may no longer be a dictionary-definition blimp, it will always be the Goodyear Blimp.”
The blimp even posted a heartfelt confession about its rigidity on Instagram, on which its account has amassed almost 200,000 followers. The not-so-micro influencer maintains an active social media presence, throwing out sassy remarks like “Are you guys even paying attention or am I flying for nothing” on X and collaborations with rapper Ice Cube on Instagram.
Head pilot Taylor Deen goes through a pre-flight checklist before doing passenger flights on the Goodyear Blimp.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
Pilot-in-training Fayth Rascon-Ryn prepares to land the Goodyear Blimp.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
The blimp might be booked and busy for its centennial, but it has still managed to hop on the year’s hottest trends, debuting an edited green-and-pink “Wicked” look, all while lovingly trolling its fans for constant requests to ride the blimp.
Goodyear offers passenger rides through charity auctions, sweepstakes, corporate partnerships and other invitations, but the opportunities are rare, with only 0.0006% of Americans able to claim they have flown in the famed blimp. According to John Tamura, a SoCal resident who met Richeson in 2024 and joined the fan club soon after, it can be a lifelong dream for blimp fanatics.
“People always ask, ‘What is it gonna take to actually get on that blimp? Do I have to sell my life, or donate a lot of money?’” Tamura said. “That’s how fervent they are about it.”
Besides the handful of fans lucky enough to snag a guest invite, some admirers found their way to the sky through routes that required a bit more training.
Goodyear Blimp pilot-in-training Fayth Rascon-Ryn grew up near the Carson base and would drive past the airship all the time. Though she didn’t always know she’d end up on the other side of things, she’s now on the inside looking out — often at fans.
“It’s really fun, especially if we’re flying low enough and we’re in these areas where people are stopping, I can see them wave, I can wave back,” Rascon-Ryn said.
For Nick Sintora, president of the L.A. chapter of the National Gay Pilots Assn. and a member of the Facebook group, growing up in Southern California meant the blimp was intertwined with his memories of the area. Now, as a flight instructor, Sintora flies in planes over and around the blimp all the time, and he hopes to one day perhaps mix business with pleasure as a pilot for the blimp.
Blimp pilots, Sintora said, share one mission: to excite the masses. “Bringing that joy to people really appeals to me,” he said.
And if he ever does sit in the pilot’s seat, one gets the sense that his experience will be like Rascon-Ryn’s. People on the ground will look up and wave. And he’ll wave back.
Avery Fox contributed reporting to this story.
