Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co Blimp Base

Amazing! Had the best female pilot ever. She was extremely knowledgeable and talkative – came in handy for the kids on the ride with me. Great staff all around, and an awesome once in a lifetime experience. Highly recommend it. If you get an invite, don’t think twice, just do it!

If you see the Goodyear blimp flying around the South Bay of Los Angeles, head to the air field because they will probably be back to land and take off again about every hour!

Riding in the Goodyear Blimp is an amazing experience and if you get the invitation, don’t think twice, just GO! You have to be invited to go. I got the invitation from my job. We flew over the South Bay and Long Beach. It was amazing seeing the Breakwater, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, downtown Long Beach and the Rancho Palos Verdes Peninsula all from air! Our pilot was informed and we were allowed to ask questions and have discussion in the air via our microphone headsets. The blimp is very loud so the headsets were essential. This was by far one of the coolest experiences I’ve had in LA since I moved out here 5 years ago. The blimp is a fading industry with only a handful of specialized blimp pilots left in the country. Go now, before the blimp experience is no more. And ladies, wear flats… Heels are a no no! Last but not least, have fun!!! You are one of the few who gets to experience a blimp ride over the LA SPRAWL!!!

I feel fortunate to have gotten a ride on the blimp.
It is so much cooler than I thought it would be.
Amazing experience from hurrying in and out of the gondola while its bouncing on the ground and getting hit by the wind to the smooth flight and incredible views. Pilot was awesome, very nice, answered all our questions and more.
If I had the opportunity I’d absolutely do it again.

What a fun day!!! We were honored to fly with the first female Goodyear blimp pilot — Kristen — who did an incredible job. Was so much more fun that airplane or helicopter — awesome views and unforgettable experience. Go Goodyear… and Kristen!

The best Blimp out there!

Thanks to a previous and very nice connection I had the distinct pleasure of riding with 3 other friends on this great 1 hour adventure!
Riding the Blimp that is famous for flying over and providing shots for the Anaheim Angels is a true treat that is normally reserved for celebrities and dignitaries, but due to a really nice employee of the Goodyear Company I had the distinct pleasure of riding upon this fun and exciting vessel!
Most of us have seen the Blimp in all its glory sitting in that open field off the 405 Freeway and probably have dreamt of what it would be like to ride upon her… I actually was lucky one day and got to!
One can imagine the size of this thing, but it isn’t until gazing upon it in the flesh that you truly get a true sign of its size and majesty. The huge oval balloon sits ever so proud upon a gondola that holds up to 7 individuals. One of them of course being your über-​friendly and informative pilot.
One is made to feel truly official with headsets equipped with microphones to communicate with everyone…10−4 Good Buddy! There is plenty of room inside so nobody feels cramped… even if you’re tall like one of the guys I went with!
The Blimp’s hanger is located adjacent to a golf course so after your cool ride over the South Bay and Long Beach Harbor you descend into landing at a crazy angle as various golfers may wave at everyone.
This proves to be quite an amazing little journey that you will remember for a lifetime!

What an amazing ride — its as good as it gets.
Everyone is extremely nice and helpful and the pilot was really cool and talked to us the entire ride about landmarks and cool funny stories of things.
He also dipped the blimp and it felt like a roller coaster.
10 STARS amazing unique experience that MONEY CANT BUY.
Children must be 5 and older to ride. closed shoes only no open toe or flip flops, bring a light sweater or jacket and sunglasses.

Back in the days when I was a little kid, I was able to win 2 tickets to ride the Goodyear blimp by kicking ass at a scavenger hunt over at the Carson Mall (which is now the Southbay Pavillion) finding stuff about different cultures. When I won these tickets, I was like «huh?» because at that time, I didn’t really know what it was… plus the fact that I won a wrestling game and Ninja Gaiden 2 for the Nintendo Entertainment System got most of my attention. I remember my dad being more happy and proud that I won the Goodyear blimp tickets because he knew how rare of an opportunity of getting these are, since you have to either be wealthy OR a higher up of a big company, and who knows what other illuminati-​ish connection you have.
I remember having to take a bus from the parking lot to the actual blimp. When my dad and I boarded the blimp, it was super chill because nobody else rode with us, with the exception of the pilot!!! Everything felt like a personal VIP trip for my dad and I. The pilot was funny and cool as hell. Since I got to sit right next to the pilot as if I was a co-​pilot It was breathtaking looking at Carson and all around the Southbay from up above a freakin’ blimp that we usually look at from the ground. Being the young kid I was, I remember pretending that I was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle riding on the Turtle Blimp!!!
Every time I see the Goodyear blimp, it now reminds me of my youth. Much love and thank you to the city of Carson and Goodyear for giving me an un-​expectedly opportunistic childhood memory!

Allways been a great place, maybe one day I might get to go up in the Blimp.

My ride in the blimp was many, many years ago. I took my partner, one brother, and parents… and yes, it is by «invitation only.» If you ever get the chance… do it. It’s a «once in a lifetime experience.»

It was such a amazing experience!!! I loved every second of it.
I’ve always wanted to experience riding in the blimp. I jokingly told my boyfriend about how nice it would be if I can ride the blimp, who would of thought he took what I said seriously and contacted Good Year to see if he can purchase tickets to ride on the blimp. Unfortunately, he was told its by «Invitation Only». He was disappointed. Long story short, we got the chance to ride the blimp!!! When he told me about it, I almost fell to the ground, I couldn’t believe it, because its nearly impossible. As soon as he got the notification on when the ride was, we immediately cancelled whatever we had planned for that afternoon and headed over to Gardena.
We had Kristen as our pilot. She is so nice and sweet. She did a awesome job explaining how the whole blimp works and showed us around and pointed out landmarks, etc. The ride was about an hour, the weather was beautiful so everything was perfect. We actually got the opportunity to see Kristen park the blimp since we were the last riders of the day. The whole thing is amazing! I was excited throughout the whole entire flight.
If you ever get a chance to ride the blimp, do NOT pass it on because it is literally once in a life time opportunity.

alwaks available for the ucal games, adds an extra special touch to the game and the experiance
thanks goodyear piliot for a great experience

My boss called with an opportunity to ride the Blimp. My first reaction, WTF?! We didn’t have any time to decide, just 30 minutes to haul as$ and make the flight. Plus my two friends said, «Shut the f@ck up you’re coming, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.» They were right. We jumped into Jen’s car and raced over there.
We signed in and watched a 3 minute safety video. We met Captain Matthew, who was awesome!!! The blimp descended and we ran closer. One by one they launched us up the steps and into the floating Blimp. We sat down and put on our headsets. Then we were off.
We flew above Southbay and the ocean. It was such a beautiful day and we were in perfect weather. It was so much fun joking around on our headsets. Captain Matthew was mellow, fun, and a great tourguide. More importantly he made me feel safe at all times. He did test us a few times flying us almost vertically, but it was all in good fun.
I couldn’t ask for a better Blimp experience. I was so grateful to be given this opportunity.
Favorite Quote of the Day– «Is there a Blimp school where you learned how to fly?”(Hey we were all thinking it)

You can see this place off of the 405 freeway. It’s a really cool place to visit. I got the opportunity to come here one day because of work!
There’s plenty of places for your to park. I’m not sure when it’s open… but we were able to come here for a tour. No, we didn’t get to ride the blimp into the air. Although we got to go inside of the blimp and walk around it while it was thetered to a van.
It’s a fun place to go. The pilots were very informative. Check out the pictures we took.

Did you know you could ride the Goodyear blimp? I didn’t.
It was an awesome view of the Los Angeles county beaches and Palos Verdes. I think its way better than a helicopter b/​c obviously its a blimp.
Helicopter ride is too expensive, this one I got invited for free. Can’t beat that.
It’s about an hour ½ ride. Of course I felt lightheaded the rest of the day. But its a once in a lifetime experience!

Right off the 405 in Carson, you can get a nice view of the famous Goodyear blimp. It sits isolated in a wide open field. The blimp takes off many times during the day. Getting a view of it taking off (with its steep angle ascent) is quite interesting.
I was fortunate enough to get a ride on the Goodyear blimp. You cannot buy tickets for a ride on the Goodyear blimp. It is by special invitation only (or a date on ABC’s The Bachelor or The Bachelorette). You will occasionally see Goodyear blimp rides offered through local charity events and raffles.
There is an office where you check in. There is also a nice Goodyear sign where you can take pictures (you can also take pictures on the blimp).
Something about the wide open field makes the size of the blimp more impressive when viewing it from the freeway. A similar effect happens when you approach it. The tiny cabin (called a Gondola) is engulfed by the huge oval balloon/​envelope. As you approach the blimp, the sheer size of it is a lot to take in.
When boarding the blimp, you actually have to board while it is moving. There is a little stepladder you must jump onto first (and then you climb in). Staff is there to help you on (you board one at a time).
The blimp holds about 6 passengers not including the pilot. Fully loaded with passengers, the blimp’s cabin is small but not crowded/​crammed. You alternate seats throughout the ride (including a stop next to the pilot where he explains the old-​looking controls and levers).
It is quite loud so you have to wear headphones to communicate with everyone. You can open the tiny windows. The temperature up there is quite nice. You get a nice view of the South Bay on this blimp ride – it is high enough to appreciate a different perspective, but you can still see a lot of detail (thanks a lot to the steady cruising speed).
Landing is interesting because the pilot has to descend at an angle and then level off. The pilot performs this many times (because you cannot descend all at once like an airplane). My friend asked how steep can you descend; you can imagine what happened next. The pilot performed a very steep decline. You get a clear view of the ground as it almost feels like you are at a 90 degree angle (though it is not actually near that… I think). The thrill and feel of that drop will compete with some roller coasters.
The pilot was an older gentleman and a very nice guy (friendly and jokey). He seemed like he would be able to adapt to whatever the group dynamic was. Rides on the Goodyear blimp are scarce so if you get the opportunity to ride, you should definitely seize it. 5 stars because (1) how often do you get to ride on the Goodyear blimp and (2) Goodyear is «the» blimp.

On a blimp motherf&#!$r!
After ten years of toiling in the cubicle mines I’m finally, in my third decade of life, in a high enough position to get some quality client hookups. Awww, yeah!
This isn’t something you can just walk up to a ticket counter and fork over a goofy amount of cash for. This is old school corporate good-ol’-boy type shit right here. Although, to be truthful, if it wasn’t for 3 – 4 higher ups in my company having to attend the boss lady’s son’s baptism I wouldn’t have been invited. I never thought I’d say this, but HOORAY CATHOLICS!
I don’t really have much else to say about it. Words fail sometimes. If you don’t count getting married and childbirth and all that crap, this is neck and neck with treeing a racoon in my station wagon for the coolest thing I’ve ever done.
Yeah, it’s flying and we’ve all done that, but this was like floating through the sky in a submarine. It sure looks stable from the ground, but oh god, it bucks and rolls and tips side to side and pitches forward so that you have to brace your feet against the seat in front of you to keep from tumbling into the instrument panel because there are NO FREAKING SEAT BELTS and you can open the windows and lean out to take pictures and the pilot doesn’t even say «hey don’t drop that camera because you might kill someone» because I guess that’s never happened before. You take off and land at a 45′ angle while the pilot athletically manipulates a positively 19^th century looking array of levers, knobs, buttons, knobs on a string (?!), and a big-​ass wooden wheel. Terrifying, exhilerating, and life-​affirming to float so low and close to the ground, but high enough to leave you as play-​doh if you lean too far out when it rolls to the right. If you ever get a chance to do this and you think «Oh I’ve been in a small plane before, I’ve got better shit to do» (as apparently one of my co-​workers who flaked on us thought), trust me, you do not have better shit to do.
I’ll never look up at this thing in the sky again and not remember this day. I’ll be watching the video of the landing at least once a week until I die.