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Goodyear will build a new blimp fleet

[March 23, 2013]  AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- Goodyear is building the first of a new generation of its iconic blimps.

The tire maker said Friday that the blimp built in Germany by ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik (looft-shif-TEHK'-nik) will be assembled at Goodyear's Wingfoot Lake Hangar near the company's headquarters in Akron, Ohio.

Construction will take up to seven months. Airship certification and crew training are planned for early next year.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. says the new blimp will be larger, faster, more maneuverable and carry more passengers than its current fleet.

Goodyear has built and operated more than 300 lighter-than-air vehicles since 1917.

[Associated Press]

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