Akron, Ohio
Akron. Ohio is the world headquarters of Goodyear, and of course the Goodyear blimp.Pehaps not as widely known by non-aviation nuts is the Goodyear Airdock hangar, a structure built in 1929 to house the airships of the day such as the USS Macon and USS Akron and which still stands today.. The cool thing about this building is it's sheer size-when built, it was the largest structure in the world unsupported by interior beams. This thing is huge, covering an area of eight football fields, with doors that weigh 600 tons!
Sadly, it's not open to the public since the current owners, Lockheed Martin, are using it to develop lots of top secret defense stuff such as a dirigible that hangs out at about 60,000ft and removes the need to launch GPS satellites on costly rockets. Flight systems for the Cadillac of jet fighters, the F-22 Raptor, are also said to be tested inside as well as the latest laser defence systems (perhaps that's how the building almost caught fire a few years ago!). At any rate, the photo ops these days are understandably limited with security sweeps ensuring no one gets near the structure every five minutes or so according to some of the local aviators.
Sadly, it's not open to the public since the current owners, Lockheed Martin, are using it to develop lots of top secret defense stuff such as a dirigible that hangs out at about 60,000ft and removes the need to launch GPS satellites on costly rockets. Flight systems for the Cadillac of jet fighters, the F-22 Raptor, are also said to be tested inside as well as the latest laser defence systems (perhaps that's how the building almost caught fire a few years ago!). At any rate, the photo ops these days are understandably limited with security sweeps ensuring no one gets near the structure every five minutes or so according to some of the local aviators.
From the highway
It doesn't look so big from a distance but suffice to say that it is so voluminous inside that it has been known to rain within the building.
You might be surprised to know that Goodyear also took a crack at airplanes with the Goodyear Duck but apparently misjudged postwar demand for floatplanes and only built 19. This is the last and only remaining example of the final model known as the Drake. Located at the MAPS aviation museum in Ohio. Nov 1 2022
I think technically, the MAPS museum is in Canton, buzt close enough to Akron to warrant inclusion on my Akron page! All the aircraft below, photographed at the MAPS museum, November 2022