Five questions: Taylor Deen

Blimp pilot

April 1, 2017

Taylor Deen is a senior pilot for the Goodyear Blimp, and has flown the GZ-20A airship for five years. She earned her pilot certificate in 2005, spent time in Alaska as a bush pilot flying people and supplies to small villages, and was just 25 when hired on at Goodyear. Deen is one of only three female blimp pilots in the world. She has 2,500 fixed-wing plus 2,000 airship hours.

Photography by Chad Slattery

1. Is it hard to fly a blimp?

The hardest thing about flying the blimp is landing it. You’re not landing on a runway—you’re landing into a group of your coworkers who will be grappling it down. These are my friends, people I’m close with. The blimp is large and slow and very sensitive to winds and weather. Coming in too fast or too high puts them at risk. There’s a lot of pressure.

2. How do you become a blimp pilot?

I initially trained in-house at our base in Carson, California. Since there’s no flight school or simulator for the GZ-20A, Goodyear pilots train completely in-house for the lighter-than-air rating. It took 13 months of flying and learning with the more experienced pilots. We call it tribal knowledge. The GZ-20A was introduced in 1969. Goodyear has flown the model for 47 years—more than half the lifespan of the airship program. It’s 192 feet long, 46 feet wide, and 60 feet high.

3. What is it like to fly a blimp?

Max speed is 50 mph, but we usually cruise at 30. If conditions allow, I can actually fly it backwards. It’s completely analog, very hands on, and physical to fly. You feel everything. Takeoff pitch is only 30 degrees, but it looks and feels much steeper. In the air, we don’t like anything over 30 knots. If high surface winds develop, we just wait to land until they calm down. If we’ve installed our two auxiliary fuel tanks, we could fly for 30 hours. One thing we’re told early about the wind conditions—just wait, there’s no rush to launch or land. Our priority is to mind the safety of the ground crew who is catching the ship.

4. What’s the best part?

The best part about working here, that makes it different from working in the airlines, is that anyone who comes here to fly with us is excited. It’s not hard to be happy when everyone around you has smiles.

5. Advice for student pilots?

Keep all your doors open. Your career direction will change several times and you should let it. If you are too focused on one path you may miss out on another path that’s an amazing adventure. I found this position by Googling “pilot job in Los Angeles,” and look where it took me!