Akron is getting ready to celebrate its very first Blimp Day Saturday, with two of Goodyear’s iconic airships scheduled to fly over each of the city's 24 neighborhoods.
Wingfoot One and Wingfoot Two will take off from Wingfoot Lake State Park, flying in circles above each neighborhood in Akron. Their first stop is at 9:30 a.m. in the skies over East Akron, Goodyear Heights and Ellet.
Jerry Hissem, Goodyear's chief pilot for Akron will be piloting Wingfoot One on Saturday. He compares flying the airships to “riding on a magic carpet” or “floating in a bubble.”
While some rain is in the afternoon forecast, Hissem does not anticipate any challenges.
“There are times when the air is really calm, like calm waters -- or there's times when the airship's kind of lumpy with kind of rough seas,” Hissem said. “We're monitoring the weather closely, and we're in close contact with the city as well. Hopefully we have the weather to have a great event.”
Mayor Shammas Malik announced the new city holiday in his state of the city address on May 20.
“We plan to host this event every summer,” the mayor said, “and while the specific date might change, you can get ready for a yearly Blimp Day holiday here in the City of Akron."
For this year’s inaugural holiday, residents can enter a contest to share photos they take of the two airships in flight over their neighborhood.
The winner gets a package of blimp and Akron merchandise.
“One symbol of Akron, of both our past and our future, is the Goodyear Blimp,” Malik said at the State of the City address. “After last year, we thought, ‘What is a cool way that we could have some fun and also give [the city] some civic pride?’"
For Hissem, his favorite part of being a pilot at Goodyear is making connections with the community.
“Flying the blimp is nice, but I like the interaction,” Hissem said. “I like to share my experiences with the nice people we meet.”
In celebration of the Goodyear Blimp’s 100th anniversary on June 3, 2025, Goodyear flew three airships over the city of Akron.
Among the airships was Wingfoot One, with a makeover from Goodyear inspired by its first blimp, Pilgrim. Wingfoot One now has a black and silver color scheme with a vintage Goodyear logo on either side, while all other Goodyear blimps maintain the iconic blue and yellow design.
That first Goodyear blimp made its maiden voyage in Akron on June 3, 1925. It was the first blimp to operate using helium rather than flammable hydrogen.
Since then, the airships have become a fixture in Akron and the surrounding areas.
In the future, Akron will celebrate Blimp Day with a festival, including opportunities to get “up close and personal” with the Goodyear blimps, according to the mayor.
Here’s the Blimp Day flight plan for Wingfoot One and Wingfoot Two:
- 9:30 to 10 a.m.: East Akron, Goodyear Heights and Ellet
- 10 to 10:30 a.m.: North Hill, Chapel Hill and Cascade Valley
- 10:30 to 11 a.m.: Merriman Valley, Fairlawn Heights and Wallhaven
- 11 to 11:30 a.m.: West Akron, Sherbondy Hill and Kenmore
- 11:30 a.m. to noon: University Park, South Akron and Coventry Crossing