A Blimp Lands In Flushing

"When I was little my grandfather told me about a "Goodyear Blimp" that floated over his house on weekends. As I had not heard the word "blimp" before, and knew from TV commercials that Goodyear made automobile tires, I could only comprehend that he was describing some kind of a giant automobile tire floating above his house. Oh, that Grandpa - he was always pulling my leg.

Goodyear at that time had started using nearby Flushing Airport to dock it's aerial-broadcast blimp during the weekend games at Shea Stadium. For many local residents the big balloon was a new major attraction, and they'd visit the airport just to watch it come and go in it's amusingly lumbering fashion. Grandpa, of course, filmed it for posterity, and his movie cleared up any confusion I had over Goodyear blimps and tires.

Flushing Airport has been out of business since the 1980's. Half of it is now a swampy mess, while the other half has been developed into - what else? - a shopping complex." - Robert Martens, April, 2011

To celebrate our 3 millionth hit

"Congratulations on surpassing 3M hits! In order to celebrate, I created a video of aerial shots of Queens from the McBlimp when I had a couple of 1986 flights. Please feel free to post it on either site (QC or Facebook). I hope you're day is going well. Keep up the good work." - Al

When Jackson Heights had an airport

Read about in in Time Magazine from February 25, 1929.

Watch a short clip of pigeons being released at the airport here.

For the collectors: A vintage postcard.

And this weekend, the Rockaways remember an historical aviation moment.

Shooting the blimps

Two Goodyear blimps landed at Flushing Airport in 1964 for the NY World's Fair. I had a front row seat to watch these flying behemoths that were moored right outside my apartment window. I couldn't resist using this 1966 8mm footage to put together a fun piece with the Vejtables "I Stole the Goodyear Blimp" as background music. Now you know why I am called AirshipAl...

To build or to blimp?

The Queens Chronicle reports:

Flushing Airport Plans On Hold For Another Year.

One group has a different idea for the site:

College Point Airship Park

26 acres...would make a nice park, don't you think? What was that about the mayor's plan for 2030?

Photo: Beck's Studio, Jackson Heights, NY