Blimp crewman helps raise ship

Demanding job has its ups and downs, By John Church Hamburg — Helium is what keeps a blimp in the air but you need a crew to get it up there in the first place. With 14 years of experience Jorge Reyes of Hamburg knows the ins and outs, and more importantly, the ups and downs of being a blimp ground crew member. Originally from Ecuador, Reyes served seven years in the Army with the 82nd Airborne Division and went on to study accounting at LaGuardia Community College. He was working for an aviation company in Miami when he was recruited by Lightships Group. They provide airships or blimps for advertising, aerial filming and promotional purposes. That’s how he became involved with the Horizon blimp. “The blimp is 132 feet long, 48 feet tall and is filled with 69,000 cubic feet of helium,” said Reyes at Solberg Airport in Readington, where the blimp is currently based. The blimp is currently wearing the blue graphics of Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey. And that adds some weight to the airship. “The decals weigh about 230 pounds,” said Reyes. Horizon has a contract with Lightships for a set amount of hours of advertising flight time and this summer’s rainy weather has played havoc with ground operations and the flying schedule. Bad weather has kept the blimp on the ground for safety reasons and not many people would be outside to see it fly overhead anyway. “When not flying the blimp is moored to a 29 foot tall mast,” said Reyes. It took us longer than usual to set it up as the field is so muddy we could not drive the truck to the site. We had to carry the pieces of the mast assembly out into the field.” Monday’s heavy rain left puddles on the grassy field. A big balloon The blimp is not filled with helium one time and then all set for a season of flying! All blimps seep helium and the decals are perforated to avoid bubbles and blisters from the escaping gas. The gas also expands and contracts with changing temperature. Strong sunlight can heat the helium and decreasing weight caused by the twin 80 hp engines burning fuel makes the blimp lighter. “As sunlight warms the blimp the helium expands and produces more lift,” said Reyes. “Rather than release helium we add ballast in the form of sand bags. The proper trim makes the entire operation easier.” “You want to take off heavy and be close to being in equilibrium due to fuel burn when you land,” said pilot Terry Dillard. Being in trim doesn’t end after landing. A new passenger must get on before the arriving passenger gets off. While resting on the single landing gear, being briefly too heavy is preferred to being too light. Blimps in the dark A real test of crewman competency is being on night watch. The blimp is never left unattended. When the blimp is moored after a cool, cloudy day it will become lighter if the next day dawns clear and sunny. It is the duty of the night watch to monitor and adjust the trim. “If the night crew is not very good the blimp will be anchored to the mast by the nose but the cabin will be high, out of reach, said Reyes. “Extra crew members would have to pull down on the mooring lines so the blimp can be properly trimmed,” he explained. If bad weather approaches, the blimp is not put in a hanger. Instead, the moored blimp is free to spin around the mast if there is a shifting wind. “You want to trim the blimp so it is about five feet above the ground so it can pivot without dragging on the ground,” said Reyes. “When properly moored and trimmed I have seen blimps endure 70 mile per hour winds without any damage.” That’s OK for some parts of the year, but winter and blimps do not mix so the operation heads to south for the winter. Contrary to popular belief the blimp is not deflated and moved by truck, it flies. “The blimp is filled with $60,000 worth of helium and that is too expense to let it go to waste,” said Dillard. He once flew a blimp from Florida to a new assignment in Palm Springs California. By the numbers 132 feet long 48 feet tall 69,000 cubic feet of helium worth $60,000 It takes 100 cubic feet of helium to lift 7 pounds 2x80 horsepower engines 75 gallons of 100 octane aviation gasoline How they signal During flight operations Jorge Reyes stands in clear sight of the pilot and coordinates the actions of the ground crew and the pilot through hand signals. An assortment of signals guides the operation from mooring mast release, engine start and continues through takeoff. On approach to landing the crew gives a visual signal to the pilot. “The crew will stand in a ‘V’ shape indicating the wind direction,” said pilot Terry Dillard.