[akdetrick]

I've seen these blimps in NYC, Boston, and Chicago to name a few places that are notably far from Akron and Miami. I've always wondered - I'd love to know if the blimps are flown from their base locations to other cities, or if they're somehow trucked in and inflated on location.

The fact that they're considering zeppelins leads me to believe that the normal procedure is to fly them to events, which seems crazy given how slow they appear to be...

[bdavisx]

I've seen them flying over the city I live in a few times. Bloomington, IL, US - it's between Chicago and St. Louis right on the main Interstate 55. So I would say they normally fly them wherever they are going.

As far as speed goes, they can keep a constant AIR speed, they don't get caught in traffic jams or anything like that.

From the FAQ: The usual cruising speed is thirty-five miles per hour in a zero wind condition; all-out top speed is fifty-three miles per hour on the GZ20. As to cruising range: the ship can carry enough fuel to fly for twenty- four hours, although it rarely does so. When traveling cross-country the blimps fly wherever they go, and the crews try for an eight-hour day, or about 300 air miles.

[mikey_p]

They do indeed fly them. I grew up in west-central Ohio and every year about 1.5 weeks before the Indianapolis 500 we'd see the blimp fly over, headed west towards Indianapolis.