The GZ-20 class was introduced in 1969, with America (N10A) and Columbia (N3A) being the first two. The Europa (N2A) followed in 1972 and was based in Italy, the first Goodyear blimp operated outside of the United States. These blimps are slightly longer than the GZ-19. Beginning in 2014, Goodyear began retiring the GZ-20 and replacing them with the Zeppelin NT. On February 23, 2014, Spirit of Goodyear was retired in Pompano Beach after the 2014 Daytona 500. On August 10, 2015, the California-based GZ-20, the Spirit of America, was decommissioned. The Spirit of Innovation, took over California operations in September 2015 until its retirement in March 2017 as the last remaining GZ-20. In fall of 2017, Wingfoot Two will be relocated to California.

The interest shown by the general public in the Goodyear airships led in 1968 to a major expansion pro¬gramme involving the construction of a new “Mayflower” (GZ 19A) for Miami, a new “Columbia” (GZ 20) for Los Angeles, and a third ship “America” (GZ 20) for a new base near Houston, Texas. The GZ 20 type has an envelope of 202,700 cu.ft. and is powered by two 210 h.p. Continental engines. These ships became operational during 1969 and were joined in 1972 by “Europa” (GZ 20A), a brand new ship based at Rome as part of a new European venture. A completely new ship built at Akron (car) and Litchfield Park, Arizona (Envelope). Assembled and first flown at Cardington, Beds, 10 71 to 3 72.

The GZ 20 commercial airship America first flew in 1969, and was previously Ranger II and L 8. The second “Ranger” was a replacement for the first. Completed after outbreak of war and delivered direct to U.S.N. as L 8 at Moffett Field, 26 2 42. The car returned to Goodyear in 1946 and was stored. Rebuilt as GZ 20 type for AMERICA, 1968 69.

Goodyear operated four helium non-rigid airships, made of neoprene-coated dacron, for publicity and rides.
The Los Angeles based airship Columbia, owned and operated by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, was scheduled to be retired in late July 1975. During six years of operation the Columbia has flown more than 10,200 hours, covering more than 306,000 miles at an average speed of 30 miles per hour.

The blimp will be replaced by another airship bearing the same name, and of the same dimensions: 192 feet long, 59 feet high, and 50 feet wide. The new Columbia will be the 301st airship constructed by Goodyear since 1917, and will join three other Goodyear blimps based in Miami, Houston, and Rome in 1975.

Gallery

GZ 20 AMERICA
Ex RANGER II and Navy L 8.
Registration: N10A.
First Flight: 25 4 69.

GZ 20 COLUMBIA (III)
Ex ENTERPRISE II and Navy L 16.
Registration: N3A.
First Flight: 18 8 69.

GZ 20A EUROPA
Registration: N2A.
First Flight: 8 3 72.
Engines: 2 x Continental IO 360 D, 210 hp.
Length: 192ft 6in.
Maximum Diameter: 46ft.
Volume: 202,700 cu ft.
Max speed: 50 mph.
Cruising speed: 35 40 mph.
Max ROC: 2,400ft/min.
Endurance: 10 hours (with normal tanks), 23 hours (with auxiliary tanks).
Fuel: 138 Imp Gal (normal tanks), 158 Imp Gal (auxiliary tanks).
Max Gross Wt: 12,840 lb.
Empty Wt: 9,375 lb.
Useful load: 3,475 lb.

Introduced in 1963 and discontinued in 1978 after the Mayflower (N38A) was destroyed by a tornado, the GZ-19 design for this class resembles the U.S. Navy’s L class blimp.

The interest shown by the general public in the Goodyear airships led in 1968 to a major expansion pro-gramme involving the construction of a new “Mayflower” (GZ 19A) for Miami, a new “Columbia” (GZ 20) for Los Angeles, and a third ship “America” (GZ 20) for a new base near Houston, Texas.

Flying the Goodyear Columbia

Four American completed training for blimps when Columbia was christened in August 1963. Ray Belotti, Oxnad, Calif.; D.E.Swanson, Orange County, Fla; M.R.Johnson, St.Petersburg, Fla, and L.M.Cermak, Akron, Oh, completed 150 hrs of flight instruction including 20 hrs instrument.

The GZ 20 type has an envelope of 202,700 cu.ft. and is powered by two 210 h.p. Continental engines.

These ships became operational during 1969 and were joined in 1972 by “Europa” (GZ 20A), a brand new ship based at Rome as part of a new European venture.

The Goodyear post-war fleet was;
RANGER (III) Registration: N1A. First Flight: 28 5 46.
Ex U.S.N. L 18. To Goodyear 1946. Retired, 30 5 49. Flew again, 24 5 51. Wrecked, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 26 1 58. Car stored. Rebuilt as GZ 19A type MAYFLOWER IV, 1968.
VOLUNTEER (II) Registration: N2A. First Flight: 26-9 46.
Ex U.S.N. L 17. To Goodyear 1946. Retired, 30 10 49. Car rebuilt as GZ 19A type for COLUMBIA II 1963.
ENTERPRISE (II) Registration: N3A. First Flight: 9 10 46.
Ex U.S.N. L 16. To Goodyear 1946. Retired, 10 12 59. Car rebuilt as GZ 20 type for COLUMBIA III 1969.
MAYFLOWER (II) Registration: N4A. First Flight: 12 5 47.
Ex U.S.N. L 14. To Goodyear 1946. Retired, 24 11 49. Car rebuilt as GZ 19 type for MAYFLOWER III 1958 59.
PURITAN (II) Registration: N10A. First Flight: 27-3 47.
Ex .U.S.N. K 28. To Goodyear 1946. Retired 7 4 48. Reg. transferred to AMERICA 1969.
MAYFLOWER (III) Registration: N4A. First Flight: 25 2 59
Car rebuilt as GZ 19A, 1963. Retired from fleet service, 9 68. Used for R & D work and experimental military duties, 10 68 to 10 69. First airship to fly powered by stern mounted propeller system. Retired, 24 10 69.
COLUMBIA (II) Registration: N2A
First Flight: 23 7 63
GZ 19A type. Retired, 10 69. Ex VOLUNTEER 11 and Navy L 17.

GZ 19A
Capacity: 147,000 cu.ft.
Engines: 2 x 175 h.p. Continental.

GZ 19A MAYFLOWER (IV)
Ex RANGER III and Navy L 18. Registration: N1A. First Flight: 4 9 68.

With the end of WW II, the U.S. Navy’s airship service was reduced in size, but new types were developed by Goodyear and brought into service with the Navy. First of these was the N Class of 875,000 cu.ft. flown in prototype form on June 18, 1951. Preliminary ground and flight tests for the prototype were disappointing, mandating further evaluation to explore improvements. The Board of Inspection and Survey trials for N-1 persisted into 1953.

Under the post war naval airship designation system NA became ZPN 1, and with a further change in 1954 became ZPG 1. This greatly improved, long range patrol ship was 334ft long and powered by, two 800 h.p. Wright Cyclone 7 engines mounted inside the car. A crew of 14 was carried in the double decked car which gave much improved messing and sleeping arrangements compared with those of the wartime ships. One of the most notable external features of the design was the angled position of the tail surfaces, so arranged to, help keep the overall height of the ship (96ft) within the limits of existing sheds. Only one example of this type was built, (GZ 9) but it served as the basis of the later ZPG 2 and ZPG 3 ships.
After extensive evaluation trials with the prototype ZPN 1, an improved and slightly larger version, the ZP2N4, was completed and flown on March 20, 1953. This type was put into production in two forms known as the ZPG 2 patrol version and the ZPG 2W Airborne Early Warning version. The ZPG 2 of 975,000 cu.ft. was powered by two 800 h.p. Wright Cyclone 7 engines driving Curtiss Electric three blade, variable pitch, reversible propellers on out riggers projecting from each side of the car.
The control car accommodated the fourteen crew on two decks, with all operational stations on the lower deck and crew’s quarters on the upper deck. All control surfaces were operated by a single control column, duplicated for the pilot and co pilot; a major departure from the previous normal airship practice of separated elevator and rudder control wheels. The ship was also equipped with an autopilot which was of immense value in reducing crew fatigue on patrols lasting two or more days.
Twelve were 12 built 1953-1955 and were in service to 1961.
The ZPG-2W version was essentially the same except that it carried large quantities of sensitive, long range, radar equipment for aircraft detection, and a large radome on top of the envelope. This could be reached from the control car by way of a 75ft vertical tunnel inside the envelope. The, ZPG 2s made many long flights, setting up World endurance records in May, 1954, of 200.4 hours continuous flight, and in March, 1957, of 264.2 hours (11 days), both flights without refuelling. The second flight took the airship from its base at Weymouth, Mass., to Key West, Florida, by way of Portugal and North Africa, 8,216 miles in all.
Five were built 1957 1958 and were in service to 1961.
As a further development of the ZPG type, the ZPG-3W appeared in July, 1958. The largest non rigid airship ever built, it was 404ft long with an envelope capacity of 112 million cubic feet. Power was provided by two specially developed Wright Cyclone 9 engines of 1,525 h.p., driving 18ft diameter propellers. Twenty four crew were carried in a car 83ft long, with extensive crew quarters on the upper deck. The envelope itself served as a radome for a 40ft internally mounted radar antenna which rotated within the helium gas. Four were built 1958 1960.
Total post war naval airship production accounted for 55 of the 200 new airships built by Goodyear between December 1939, and July 1963. The last for the U.S. Navy was a ZPG3W delivered on April 4, 1960. At that time the Navy still had 27 airships in commission. However, changes in naval policy and the need for budget savings in the light of the costly new Polaris submarine programme, forced a re think of naval air requirements. On June 26, 1961, the Navy announced that the airship service was to be closed down, a decision which took effect during the following year.
Thirteen naval airships were deflated and placed in long-¬term storage in case of future need, while two ZPG 2s were retained for experimental work with the Airship Test and Development Department at Lakehurst. In addition, one ZS2GA was made available to Mississippi State University for a programme of boundary layer control research on airship envelopes. When these ships, too, were deflated at the end of 1962, forty five years of U.S. Naval airship operations came to an end.
The last Goodyear airship for the American Navy was the ZPG 3W of 1958, the largest non rigid ever built. A 40ft radar antenna rotated inside the envelope. These served until the closure of the airship service in 1962.

ZPG 1 (GZ 9)
Volume: 875,000 cu ft.
Length: 324ft.
Max Dia: 74ft.
Engines: 2 x 800 h.p. Wright R 1300 3A Cyclone 7.

ZPG 2 (GZ 11)
Volume: 975,000 cu ft.
Length: 343ft.
Max Dia: 76ft.
Engines: 2 x 800 h.p. Wright R 1300 3A Cyclone 7.

ZPG 2W (GZ 14)
Volume: 975,000 cu ft.
Length: 343ft.
Max Dia: 76ft.
Engines: 2 x 800 h.p. Wright R 1300 3A Cyclone 7.

Type GZ 17 (Navy ZPG 3W) 1958
Engines: 2 x 1,525 h.p. Wright R 1820 88 Cyclone 9.
Length: 403ft 6in.
Maximum Diameter: 85ft.
Volume: 1,465,000 cu ft (before stretch).
Maximum Speed: 90 m.p.h.
Cruising Speed: 50 60 m.p.h.
Maximum rate of climb: 2,400ft/min.
Range: in excess of 5,000 miles.
Endurance: 80 hours plus.
Fuel: 4,375 gallons.
Maximum Gross Weight: 93,496 lb.
Empty Weight: 71,130 lb.
Useful Load: 22,366 lb (including dynamic lift).

ZPG 3W (GZ 17)
Volume: 1,490,000 cu ft.
Length: 404ft.
Max Dia: 85ft.
Engines: 2 x l,525 h.p. Wright R 1820 88 Cyclone 9.

ZPN-1
Volume: 875,000 cu. ft.
Length: 324.4 ft.
Engines: two 800 h.p. Wright R1300
Top speed: 85 m.p.h.

ZPG-2
Volume: 975,000 cu. ft