Name That Blimp!

Goodyear is launching a new blimp this year and they're looking for a name! The contest is here if you want to take a shot at it. Winner gets the blimp for a day, nine runners up have to settle for a new set of Goodyear tires.

It's larger than its predecessor, so "Michelle's Fat Ass" might work. Since it's a larger gas bag than the one that went before it, I'm thinking "Obama's Promises". I'd go with "Obamacare", but I think it crashed in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

Construction Begins for Newest Goodyear Blimp

"Iconic airships will become larger, faster, more maneuverable..."

AKRON, Ohio, March 22, 2013 – The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced today that it has begun construction of the first of a new generation of airships to replace its fleet of world famous blimps.

The new Zeppelin LZ N07-101 airship, manufactured by Germany’s ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik, will be assembled at Goodyear’s Wingfoot Lake Hangar near Akron, Ohio. An agreement with ZLT Zeppelin to supply Goodyear with the new airships was announced in May 2011.

Relatively low tech Goodyear blimps have been flying since 1925. In a related story, the space shuttle, admittedly higher tech, took its first orbital test flight in 1981. Operational flights began the next year. The shuttle was discontinued in 2011. The next generation of shuttles is scheduled for... scheduled for.... Wait! Don't tell me! The next generation space vehicle of the preeminent leader of the exploration of space, is scheduled for... scheduled for... aw, nuts!