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Pag« 8
Portland Observer
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I
Thursday. June 24. 1976
The Goodyear blimp, Columbia, comes in (or a landing in Vancouver. The Columbia
ia 192 feet long. 59 leet high and 50 feet wide. The car, which is 23 feet long, carries sia
paaaengers and pilot. The ship is driven by twin Continental engines |6 cylinders, 210
hp each), with a maximum speed o( 50 mph and a crusing speed ol 35 mph. The
envelope ia made ol rubber-coated polyester fabric.
Cnthank | Malcolm X | Park
A team o! specialists operate the
Goodyear blimp. The Columbia has a staff
of five pilots, seventeen ground crewmen
and a public re la tio n s re p re s e n ta tiv e .
Ground crewmen, in addition to handling
the ship during takeoffs, landings and
moorings, serve as radio technicians, me
c h a n ic s , r ig g e r s , e le c t r ic ia n s , sign
specialists and clerks.
a
Senior Pilot John Crayton prepares to
takeoff. |above| Observer photographer
Dan lo n g takes the controls. ¡!®it|
Emanuel Hospital
The Columbia ia one of a fleet of four
Goodyear blimps, that trace their ances
torv bark almost 200 years - to 1783,
when the Montgolfier brother of Prance
launched the first lighter-than-air device
- a 35-foot hot air balloon made of paper.
N o r t h e a s t P o r tla n d
A in s w o r th
Street in center, Bethel A M E Church to
right. |below|
Although there ia only one type of
lighter-than-air craft still in operation,
airships have been classified as rigid,
semi-rigid and non-rigid.
Rigid ships,
such as the Zeppelins, had metal frame
works to maintain their shape. The lift
ing gas was in cells within the frame
work.
The semi-rigid ship had a rigid or joint
ed hull which ran the length of the enve
lope.
In the non-rigid models, such as the
Columbia, the envelope shape is main
tained entirely by internal pressure of
the helium lifting gas aided by air cells
or "ballonets" to compensate for pressure
differences.
looking north on I'nion Avenue.