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Aug 13, 2009 10:27 pm US/Central
Money Shots: Flying A Blimp Over The PGA
CHASKA, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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The Metlife blimp has two basic functions – to advertise the brand and take live video for the television broadcasts of the PGA Tournament.
CBS
After "What's it filled with?" and "How does it work?", the question MetLife blimp pilot Charlie Smith gets most is, "Can I go for a ride?"
"Unfortunately, we're not able to do flights very often," he said, "So, it's kind of hard to tell people, you know, turn them down for a flight."
The blimp is filled with 69,000 cubic feet of helium and small pocket of air to maintain the pressure. Smith steers it with foot pedals and directs it up and down with wheels on the side of his pilot seat. Its instruments and control panel are similar to any other aircraft and it must follow all air traffic control rules. It takes 14 people to run the blimp.
The Metlife blimp has two basic functions – to advertise the brand and take live video for the television broadcasts of the PGA Tournament.
In the early part of the week, the pilots drove the blimp all over the metro area. It stays up for hours at a time.
On Saturday and Sunday, they'll mount a camera to outside of the blimp. Smith says filming golf can be demanding.
"The tricky part of every hole is in a different position," said Smith, "We have to find the perfect position to be lined up with the hole on the sun side without getting our shadow on the course when the players are about to swing."
The blimp is a great vehicle to take steady, live video. The ride is relatively quiet, slow and smooth.
"That's what we love about it. We can go 20 miles an hour at 1000 feet off the ground. We can see anything we want to," he said, "You can stay in here in that perfect position for 10 to 15 times longer than any other aircraft."
The maximum speed is 40 to 45 mph. The pilots fly the blimp from place to place. It took three days to get to the Crystal Airport from Indianapolis.
It's a difficult schedule, but one the crew, pilots and mechanics love.
"I like the freedom of flying it. There's nothing else you can do where you fly slow to the ground. People just look up in awe at you," Smith said. "The rest of the world in flying is going 40,000 feet and going from point A to B. We get to see so much detail on the ground and so many things throughout the country. It's amazing."
Heather Brown and WCCO.COM producer Karna Bergstrom took some photos of the flight.
Check them out in the
slideshow.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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