"When Lauren Richeson created the Goodyear Blimp Fan Club on Facebook in 2009, she expected only a few family members and friends to join. But like the blimp itself, the club began to slowly and steadily take off. "Days would be where I'd have to approve 100 people to get in one day," she said. "It's been quite overwhelming to see how many people across the world are interested.""
"In classic Southern California fashion, Wingfoot Three doesn't sit in a hangar like its siblings but hangs out in the open, turning heads on the 405 Freeway, which runs right along the base. A small crew of pilots, camera operators, mechanics and base staff perform upkeep and safety checks, but every so often, the blimp must escape the South Bay sun and undergo maintenance in a hangar in Tustin, about 30 miles"
Lauren Richeson started a Goodyear Blimp Fan Club on Facebook in 2009 expecting only a few friends and family, but membership expanded globally to about 12,500. The fan community gained renewed energy during the Goodyear Blimp centennial. Richeson formerly lived in Torrance and often saw the blimp near its Carson base, and now travels from Florida to California for sightings. Wingfoot Three is based in Carson, with siblings in Ohio and Pompano Beach and a fourth blimp in Europe. Goodyear's first branded blimp, Pilgrim, flew in 1925 and the airships photograph major sporting events. Wingfoot Three often parks openly near the 405 and occasionally undergoes hangar maintenance in Tustin.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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