Our 62nd Annual Banquet and Silent Auction a Success!
Over 70 people attended our banquet and were treated to an amazing presentation by Michael Dougherty, Goodyear’s Assistant Chief Pilot. The evening included the presentation of two Lighter-Than-Air Society’s awards and a Silent Auction.
Throughout the evening, attendees had the opportunity to browse a large number of lighter-than-air memorabilia. Aside from items belonging to the Society’s collection, several members displayed items from their private collections.
The first award presented was The Lighter-Than-Air Society Achievement Award. It was awarded to the Goodyear-Zeppelin Team that worked on designing, fabricating and assembling the new LZ N07-101. The airship that is based on the design of Zeppelin’s LZ N07-100 was modified to accommodate the needs required by Goodyear for their airships.
The P. Rendall Brown Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Joan Reisig. Joan joined The Lighter-Than-Air Society in 1965, and is a Life Member. In 1983 she went to work for Goodyear Aerospace as a design draftsperson, retiring in 1991. She then joined the Goodyear Airship Operations at Wingfoot Lake as a contractor working on the design of the GZ-22 blimp. Joan has been a member of the LTAS Board of Trustees since 1990.
In his presentation Mike Dougherty talked about the design and construction of Goodyear’s new airship, a LZ N07-101 and compared it to the Goodyear GZ20’s that have been flying over the United States for many years. His presentation was followed by an animated Question & Answer session.
At the end of the evening, the results of the Silent Auction were announced – $ 3,949.00 dollars were raised. The auction items included a flight for 2 on the Goodyear blimp (courtesy of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.), a guided tour of the Akron Airdock for 4 (courtesy of Lockheed Martin Corp.), a round of golf for four at the Firestone Golf Club’s South Course (courtesy of Chemstress Consultant Co.) and several lighter-than-air collectibles. . The winners proceeded to check out, bringing the evening to a close.