Goodyear "Pilgrim" Gondola
name: label: Manufacturer
content: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Airship Operations
notes: label: Physical Description
content: Metal enclosure with plexiglas windows, painted silver with blue and yellow stripes; wood paneled interior with pilot's seat and 2 passenger seats; 3 cylinder radial engine, 4 bladed propeller.
label: Long Description
content: Goodyear Airship Pilgrim
label: Long Description
content: In the mid-1920s the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, built a fleet of small civil airships that were used to demonstrate the value of lighter-than-air flight and to train future airship pilots. One of those airships - the Pilgrim -- was the first ever designed for inflation with helium. It first flew at Akron, Ohio, on June 3, 1925 with pilot Jack Yolton at the controls. It flew with helium for the first time on July 17, and was christened on July 18 by Mrs. P. W. Litchfield, wife of the president of Goodyear. By the time the Pilgrim was retired on December 30, 1931, it had made 4,765 flights, carried 5,355 passengers, flown a total of 2,880 hours, and covered 153,000 kilometers (95,000 miles).
label: Long Description
content: The gondola, or control car, had a magnesium-coated steel-tube framework covered with thin metal sheeting. It could accommodate the pilot and two passengers in the comfort of blue mohair velour upholstered seats with mahogany finished veneer.
label: Long Description
content: Gift of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
label: Long Description
content: Length: 4.4 meters (14 feet 6 inches)
label: Long Description
content: Width: 1.1 meters (3 feet, 9 inches)
label: Long Description
content: Height: 1.7 meters (5 feet 9 inches)
label: Long Description
content: Weight: 987 kilograms (2, 175 pounds)
label: Long Description
content: Balloon Envelope: 1,157 cu m (55,000 cu ft) helium
label: Long Description
content: Range: 845 km (525 mi) at 64 km/h (40 mph)
label: Long Description
content: Fuel Capacity: 151 L (40 gal)
label: Long Description
content: Engine: Lawrence L-4, 60 hp, 3-cylinder, air-cooled; Reed four-blade propeller
label: Long Description
content: Manufacturer: Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, 1925
place: label: Country of Origin
content: United States of America
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Air and Space Museum Collection
label: Location
content: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
label: Exhibit Station
content: Commercial Aviation
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Inc.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Air and Space Museum
identifier: label: Inventory Number
content: A19330024000
objectType: label: Type
content: CRAFT-Airship
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Materials
content: Frame - Steel
label: Materials
content: Interior - Wood paneling
label: Materials
content: Skin - Aluminum