Sunday aircraft blogging

I've been thinking about the Goodyear blimp ever since I stumbled on this site. I've never been in a blimp, although I came close to getting a ride in a Virgin blimp once. It's a little smaller.

I was hanging at the drop zone in Northampton and the blimp was on some promo gig and was buzzing the field all day long. I madly motioned them in every time they passed, using sign language to ask for a ride. Finally they buzzed in low over the runway and damn if they didn't slow down enough for me to hop on. I took off for the blimp but damn if Hubie didn't grab his rig and start running too. I didn't see him until he got past me so he beat to them and they took off. They didn't come back. Like they wanted to take a skydiver.

Man I was pissed. He just wanted another notch for his logbook, but I was chasing my life's dream. Not to mention they were mocking me for trying to motion them in. I didn't speak to him for days until he made it up to me by wangling a ride in Dupont's plane for a jump run. But that's a story for another time.

I really, really want a ride in the Goodyear blimp. Trouble is, you can't buy one. You have to know somebody and I don't. But if I had one of those wish lists on the sidebar like some Bloggers do, that would be number one on the list. The Goodyear, for no apparent reason, maybe its inaccessibility, is my first choice but I would settle for any blimp.

One thing for sure, if I ever get a chance to hitch a ride again, I'm going to run a whole lot faster.