Goodyear's Early Airship History

Pre-1920

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's Wingfoot Lake Airship Base, located near Akron, Ohio and sometimes called “The Kitty Hawk of Lighter-Than-Air,” is the oldest airship base in the United States.  Goodyear entered the fledgling aviation industry when it established its Aeronautics Department in 1910 to market rubber-infused fabrics and coatings for airplanes and lighter-than-air craft. Goodyear built its first balloon in 1912 and the next year began building and flying balloons in national and international competitions.  In 1916, Goodyear bought 720 acres of land southeast of Akron to serve as a flying field and manufacturing site. It included Fritch's Lake, which provided water power for a grist mill and a water reserve for factories several miles downstream.  Construction of the Wingfoot Lake hangar started in March 1917. The facility and the lake itself were named after Goodyear's corporate emblem, the winged foot of the Roman god Mercury.

The Early Days

Goodyear’s first airship production began in March 1917 when the U.S. Navy ordered nine B-type airships. Since the hangar at Wingfoot Lake was still under construction, the initial prototype, the B-1, was erected in a large amusement park building in Chicago.

The B-1 first flew on May 24, 1917. Five days later, it was flown nonstop to within a few miles of Wingfoot Lake. The second airship, the B-2, was also erected in Chicago and soon joined the B-1 as a training ship at Wingfoot Lake.

1918, the Navy ordered 15 C-type airships* from Goodyear, and production of the C-1, began at Wingfoot Lake shortly thereafter. After its completion, the C-1 was flown to the Navy facility at Rockaway, Long Island, New York, via Washington, D.C., on October 22. The next airship, the C-2, was used for training at Wingfoot Lake.

Although most of the B- and C-ships built by Goodyear were shipped to the Navy for final assembly and flight testing, Wingfoot Lake was used as the training site of the first class of Navy airship pilots. With Goodyear personnel as instructors, some 600 Army and Navy officers and enlisted men were trained to fly and maintain B- and C-type airships, kite (observation) balloons and free balloons.

The Navy took over the Wingfoot Lake facility and operated it as a U.S. Naval Airship Training Station from 1917 through 1921. It served as a construction, test and development base and consisted of 26 buildings by the end of World War I. The first Commanding Officer was Lieutenant (later Commander) Lewis H. Maxfield, and the last Commanding Officer was Lieutenant Commander Zachary Lansdowne.

The Roaring Twenties

During this period, Goodyear Blimps began dotting the sky over America and brought Goodyear’s name to remote locations across the country. From Hollywood to Ohio and New York to Florida, the Goodyear Blimps made their presence known.

Feats of derring-do and crude publicity stunts were hallmarks of a burgeoning aircraft industry. Wing walkers and acrobatic stunts gave aviation of all kinds a reputation for excitement and romance, and Goodyear’s Blimps sometimes joined in these attention-getting antics.

It wasn’t all fun and games, however, as the Blimps were destined for greater things. Always in the plan, their role in advertising and marketing for the growing company was quickly becoming legend. Meanwhile, the Blimps and more complex lighter-than-air craft were being groomed as defense vehicles for the military.