I think we've covered that about six times already in the thread.
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The dictionary definition of "blimp" is a small non-rigid airship.
So a semi-rigid or rigid airship is not a blimp.
I don't see where that was explained six or even one time before my post.
I just HAD to check out this thread...….I thought someone was talking about their wife.:D
The Goodyear Blimp "Wingfoot 1" last came to EAA AirVenture in 2015. They park the Goodyear Blimp at Pioneer Airport during the convention.
In the past, they use a hunk of grass between the museum/pioneer and the north 40. The thing only gets moored by the nose so it has to have enough space to swing into the wind. Amusingly, one year (probably in the 90's), I overtook the thing between OSH and MKE. It took me a minute to realize what it was that I was following. It was sort of like the first time I came into Akron. It took me a while to identify the blimp hangars as what they were at a distance (though I've seen them before at Moffett Field, CA and Tillamook, OR).
My Dad was a Navy blimp pilot in WWII and in the Reserves afterward. He was Stationed for awhile at Tillamook. He was stationed at all the blimp bases really, including both coasts. I believe the Lighter Than Air museum has several pictures of his as well as home movies he took.
The blimps were essentially replaced for aerial imaging on sports television by an airplane designed by an EAA member. It's first TV appearance was in 1996 filming Yeager, Rusty Wallace in a flight of 4 P-51s at EAA '96. Shot quite a bit of the airshow that year for the DVD I believe.
Three weeks after EAA it filmed an IndyCar race for it's first live TV work. The airplane went on to win the top Emmy in sports television product for "Technical Achievement". The concept of using an airplane instead of a blimp was first conceived at EAA '94. $700K was put into the development cost of the concept. (The camera on the airplane was ~$400K)
There's already a helicopter flying over most NASCAR races, don't know why they don't use that. It's used to relay the live "in car camera" shots back to the truck.