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May 9, 2002 "AIRSHIP EXPERIENCES"
The young Maloney had serious career ambitions: he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from USC, Los Angeles, in 1965, followed by a Master’s degree in E.E. in 1967. He became an assistant professor at Duke University and USC in L.A., and added "Ph.D. E.E." to his list of academic achievements in 1971. Jim, Jr., also became a fixed-wing multi-engine heavier-than-air pilot, accumulating 1700+ flight hours in such aircraft as the Smithsonian Institution’s Grumman Albatross seaplane. But his love of blimps never diminished. Jim trained to become a blimp pilot and received his Goodyear wings in 1983. He has been flying a Goodyear blimp ever since, becoming Senior Pilot in 1985, and Assistant Pilot-in-Charge in 1992. Maloney has accumulated over 9500 LTA flight hours to date, and he became "PIC" of the blimp based at Wingfoot Lake in 2000. Meanwhile, our speaker found time to get married, and he and his wife, Sally, an Akron native, have two children. Last October, Maloney received national attention when he was featured in an article in the Wall Street Journal. In it, he discussed the challenges blimp operators face with new FAA restrictions imposed since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The restrictions have eased a bit since then, but many new rules now affect blimp operations. Mr. Maloney will enlighten us about the new operating environment and share some of his stories from more than four decades of association with Goodyear’s aerial ambassadors. A interesting historical note: our speaker’s father, the late James C. Maloney, a Goodyear and Navy blimp pilot, also spoke about his airship experiences at a meeting of The L-T-A Society. The date - exactly 28 years ago to the day - May 9, 1974
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April 11th, 2002
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"Life in a 1950s Navy Blimp Squadron" Larry Karadin was an aviation structural mechanic and air crewman in Airship Development Squadron Eleven (ZX-11) from April 1956 until its decommissioning in June, 1957; and from that time, he was a member of the LTA Detachment of Air Development Squadron One (VX-1) until his release from active duty in September of 1958. Both of these Squadrons were based at NAS Key West, Florida. He will also discuss the various types of blimps in service during the 1950s. Now retired, he is a life-long area resident. |
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"GOODYEAR FILM DISCOVERY PROJECT" Bob Tejral served as team leader of a recent project to identify and catalog subject matter on 540 reels of motion picture films in the Goodyear vault. Of special interest was finding LTA-related images among the 16 mm and 35 mm films made by company photographers in the 1930s. Tejral organized the volunteer viewers for the Exhibit Support Team’s participation in a project for both the New Crawford Transportation Museum and The L-T-A Society. Bob Tejral graduated from Spartan School of Aeronautics as an Aeronautical Engineer. He was employed by Goodyear Aircraft (and later, Aerospace) Corp. as a stress analyst for 30 years and by Goodyear Tire & Rubber as a development engineer for ten years. At GAC he worked on radar antennas, guyed radio masts, shelters, cargo containers, missile launchers, ground support equipment, space hardware, DC 10 planes, and K, GZ 19, GZ 19A, GZ20, GZ20A and the GZ22 airships. At GTR, Tejral worked in the industrial department as development engineer of hoses used for transferring oil, on drilling rigs, on submarines, in the food industry, on dredge barges and to transfer concrete. Now retired, he volunteers at St. Thomas hospital, for mobile meals, and at his church. He is a nature photographer and does some work on bonsai miniature gardens. |
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"MODERN AIRSHIP MANUFACTURING MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES" Charles K Lavan Jr. is Engineer Principal and Chief Researcher at Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems - Akron. He is currently Project Engineer on the company’s High Altitude Airship program, working under a subcontract from StratCom International LLC. Mr. Lavan is also Principal Investigator on LTA IRAD, investigating new materials and construction methods for inflatable structures. His previous LTA experience includes being Systems Engineer on the 1980s Navy Airship program, Organic Long Endurance Airborne Area Surveillance System. He was also responsible for development of power system and flight avionics on the GZ-22 airship. Prior to his LTA work, when he was with the Westinghouse Aerospace Electrical Division, Lavan was responsible for power systems on F-16 fighter jets. Formerly Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Ohio Northern University, he earned a BS with Honors in Mechanical Engineering and an MS in Aerospace Engineering at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Lavan is now working toward a PhD degree at the University of Akron. |
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"TARS MOORING SYSTEM UPGRADES" Brian Steinkerchner will give a talk about the U.S. Air Force Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS): Recent upgrades in the mooring system. Mr. Steinkerchner is U.S. Air Force Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) project engineer at Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems - Akron. The TARS aerostats provide long-range, overlapping radar surveillance of the airspace along the U.S. southern border and into the Caribbean. |
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BlimpInfo.com is a publication of The Lighter-Than-Air Society, 526 S. Main Street, Suite 232, Akron OH 44311. Address all suggestions to Suggest@BlimpInfo.com
Jim C. Maloney is Pilot-in-Charge of the Goodyear blimp, Spirit
of Goodyear. As the son of Goodyear blimp pilot, Jim Maloney
Sr., you might say he came to the job naturally - or maybe by
osmosis. However, our speaker did not become a blimp pilot right
away. Jim first worked with Goodyear airships as a member of
the ground crew in 1959, when he was a Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio,
high-school student. He continued to serve as Airship Ground
Crewman during breaks in his college education during the next
decade.