Remains of a ZPG-3W, largest ever nonrigid blimp.

[Bob Hudson]

In early 2012 I took my dad to Tucson AZ for a reunion of the Naval Airship Association (he'd spent 7 of his 20 years in the Navy as aircrew on the K-class blimps).

 

For almost 3 years now I've had on my iPhone some video I shot there of the remains of the ZPG-3W: only four of the 403-feet long blimps were ever built, and the only remains are a hull, upper deck and engine nacelles stored at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base boneyard in Tucson, Arizona.

 

If you've toured the boneyard, you know it's something where you normall stay on the bus as it drives up and down row-after-row of old aircraft. In this case though, we were allowed to get off the bus and explore the hull (which is not in such bad shape when you consider it was retired over half-a-century ago. I don't know what will ever happen to these remains - I suspect that nothing beyond what's already been done - but it was a hoot to go onboard with guys who actually flew these huge airships. My dad flew on the much smaller K-ships and didn't think he'd have enjoyed the giant blimps.

 

I wish now I'd shot a lot more video and photos, but I did have enough to create a shaky video about 4:30 minutes long.

 

[RustyCanteen]

Great video Bob, I enjoyed it. I have to say the condition was better than I expected.

 

The crewman who worked on and handled these blimps (and the rigid airships) worked in a very dangerous environment which I'm sure you know. Looking at the blimps they seem about as far from dangerous as you can get, but the hazards were still there at times.

 

Your dad didn't have any experience with the 'L' series blimps did he? I always thought the mystery of the L-8 was rather enduring.

 

Thanks for sharing this! It's great you had the opportunity to tour it with your dad too.

 

RC

[Bob Hudson]

Great video Bob, I enjoyed it. I have to say the condition was better than I expected.

 

The crewman who worked on and handled these blimps (and the rigid airships) worked in a very dangerous environment which I'm sure you know. Looking at the blimps they seem about as far from dangerous as you can get, but the hazards were still there at times.

 

Your dad didn't have any experience with the 'L' series blimps did he? I always thought the mystery of the L-8 was rather enduring.

 

Thanks for sharing this! It's great you had the opportunity to tour it with your dad too.

 

RC

 

I don't know if he ever worked on the L class.

 

I buy and sell old home movies and recently got a box of 1930's 16mm home movies including one of the Goodyear Defender, which was christened by Amelia Earhart in 1929 and sold In 1935 to the Navy, which designated it the G -1.

 

[Third Herd]

Way back in 1957 when I was a seven year old I can remember seeing blimps on the ground near Los Angeles from the highway but don't know the name of the Naval Air Station. I also saw the Goodyear Blimp for the first time on that trip. In the 1990's the Goodyear Blimp came to Lincoln, NE and flew low over my house, a neighbor who made the skin for it was up for a ride. The skin was made at the Goodyear Plant that used to be in Lincoln. It is surprising how thin the skin is, he gave me a blimp shaped sample of skin.

[bobgee]

Great video, Bob. Looks like you had a great trip with your dad. Bob

[Bob Hudson]

Way back in 1957 when I was a seven year old I can remember seeing blimps on the ground near Los Angeles from the highway but don't know the name of the Naval Air Station. \

 

That was probably the Goodyear airship base right off Interstate 405 freeway in Carson CA.

 

 

There is a an old Navy airship base south of there in Tustin, in Orange County and it still has a couple of the old large blimp hangers (said to be the largest wooden structures in the world) , but the military hasn't based airships there since the 1950's. You used to be able to see the hangers in the distance while driving on Interstate 5, but development has pretty much blocked that view. You can drive almost right up to one of them, and at 1,000 feet long and 300 feet wide, these are impressivve structures. Here's a Goodyear blimp parked in one to give an idea of the scale. These hangers held six Navy blimps each.

 

 

For years I had nightmarish dreams about being in a a very large room full of giant spheres that overwhelmed me. Then, I saw a photo of a hanger full of blimps and realized my dream was based on what I saw as a pre-schooler in the early 1950's when I went with my dad into one of the hangers at Naval Air Station Glynco in Brunswick GA. There would have up to six of these in one hanger:

 

[Bob Hudson]

Way back in 1957 when I was a seven year old I can remember seeing blimps on the ground near Los Angeles from the highway

 

I missed the 1957 date on my first reading of your post: that probably was the Tustin base: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_OrangeCo_SE.htm#tustin

 

In those days there was nothing between the base and Highway 101 except for some flat fields and you couldn't miss it. As I said, that area is now filled with development and if you know where to look you might catch a very quick glimpse of the hangers while driving on Interstate 5, which replaced Highway 101 (Disneyland is to the north along the same highway and years ago the Matterhorn loomed above it all - now it too is mostly hidden by buildings and trees). There is a road that runs east-west south of the hangers and can still get a good view from there, and if you wind through residential streets there is a housing development very close to one hangar.

[Third Herd]

Thanks for the information, I remembering seeing them and had no idea where it was. My family would take the train from Nebraska out to visit my Grandparents in Ontario and relatives would take us to see the sights. My first trip to Disneyland was the 1957 trip.

[pmanton]

I was stationed at El Toro in the 50's. The blimp base was known as "LTA" for lighter than air and was under the El Toro command. I had to work on an antenna on the roof of one of the hangars. Let me tell you it was a LONG way up.

Paul

Salome, AZ

[Bob Hudson]

I was stationed at El Toro in the 50's. The blimp base was known as "LTA" for lighter than air and was under the El Toro command. I had to work on an antenna on the roof of one of the hangars. Let me tell you it was a LONG way up.

Paul

Salome, AZ

 

Thats what my dad always calls them: lighter than air.

 

He was an airship rigger and would work on the blimp one day and fly the next. When he was working on it he would often haul himself up the side on a bosun's chair, which gives the shakes just thinking about it.

 

He was issued a Ka Bar when he was in LTA (one of my brothers now has it). As I understand it, its purpose was to allow you to cut through th fabric and escape in the event of an accident where the envelope collapsed and trapped you beneath it.

 

I was quite young during his last few years in LTA (maybe 3 or 4), but I do remember one thing: he'd sometimes bring home the Hershey bar from the box lunch they were given on flying days - that was a nice treat, as a young sailor's pay in the early 1950's did not allow for much in the way candy bars.

[0bx]

 

Thats what my dad always calls them: lighter than air.

 

He was an airship rigger and would work on the blimp one day and fly the next. When he was working on it he would often haul himself up the side on a bosun's chair, which gives the shakes just thinking about it.

 

He was issued a Ka Bar when he was in LTA (one of my brothers now has it). As I understand it, its purpose was to allow you to cut through th fabric and escape in the event of an accident where the envelope collapsed and trapped you beneath it.

 

I was quite young during his last few years in LTA (maybe 3 or 4), but I do remember one thing: he'd sometimes bring home the Hershey bar from the box lunch they were given on flying days - that was a nice treat, as a young sailor's pay in the early 1950's did not allow for much in the way candy bars.

 

Bob, I have always heard that there were very few Chief Airship Riggers, like seven or eight ever. Have you ever come across any such info affirming or to the contrary?

-fritz

 

[Bob Hudson]

 

Bob, I have always heard that there were very few Chief Airship Riggers, like seven or eight ever. Have you ever come across any such info affirming or to the contrary?

-fritz

 

 

That wouldn't surprise me. The impression I got from my dad and some other veterans at the Airship Reunion, was that most guys did maybe one tour of duty with LTA and then moved on to fixed wing or something else. If few people had long experience as a rigger, then it makes sense that there were few CPO's in that rating. By the time my dad started working as an airship rigger it was no longer a seperate rating: they became Aviation Machinists Mates. He spent 7 years with airships but that was only because he got orders to a fixed wing squadron in south Texas, which was even further from his Pennsylania hometown than was Elizabeth City, North Carolina. He basically told a yeoman, "no way I'm going to Texas." The yeoman got him new orders, to an LTA training squadron at Lakehurst, much closer to home.

 

But, before he reported for his new assignment, the squadron was moved to Brunswick, Georgia, so he stayed in the south, and in airships for a few more years.

 

Now there were CPO blimp pilots. The hard-to-find movie THIS MAN'S NAVY has Wallace Beery as one (these are screen shots I took when it ran on late-night cable a few years ago):

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bob Hudson]

I'd love to find one of these posters:

 

 

By the way, here is the website for the Naval Airship Association: http://www.naval-airships.org/

 

They sell a ballcap with a great emobroidered blimp on the front for those who like their head to be LTA.

[0bx]

Thanks for the additional information Bob. Funny you should mention Elizabeth City, NC. I live in Camden, NC and my house looks across the river directly at the old Elizabeth City(Weeksville), NC LTA blimp base. One hanger still exists and a company is building blimps for the military there. Get to see them fly over my house occassionaly. Very cool.

-fritz