Goodyear Nipple

Posting photos is the refuge of an indolent blogger, but lately for-profit writing has taken up most of my total writing time. That isn't remotely a bad thing, of course.

Still, this too is a September memory. It's my "nipple" shot of the Goodyear Blimp Columbia at the Smyrna, Tennessee, airport in mid-September 1986. I rode on the blimp shortly after taking the picture, which I wrote about some time ago (see March 9 & 10, 2003, on the original BTST).

I did some looking around and found out that Columbia was retired in 1992. I also found this intriguing story from the FAQ section of the Goodyear Blimp web site.

"Q: What is the story behind the 'ghost blimp'?

"A: Early in World War II, the Navy blimp L-8 left Moffet Field in California on a routine anti-submarine patrol flight over the Pacific. Two Naval officers, Lieutenant Cody and Ensign Adams, were aboard When L-8 had been out for about an hour, Cody radioed that they had spotted an oil slick and were investigating. Then nothing. This message was the last ever heard from the two men. Later that same day, the blimp was spotted nudged against a cliff on a beach south of San Francisco. As rescuers approached, the ship dislodged itself and drifted inland. It floated down in Daly City, made a perfect landing on its one wheel, and came to a stop in an intersection. No one was aboard the L-8, and no one has even been able to account for the disappearance of Cody and Adams. The throttles were at idle, everything was working normally, there was fuel in the tanks and the cabin door was open. Some local volunteer firemen slashed the envelope, completely destroying it, in the mistaken belief that the crew might be trapped inside. Only the car was saved. Goodyear donated the gondola to the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola, Florida. It is currently being restored and will soon be on display."