Goodyear

Orden de batalla · fabricantes de aeronaves · Estados Unidos

Goodyear

Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation · Goodyear Aircraft Corporation · Goodyear Aerospace Corporation

A tyre company built the biggest helium airships ever flown, 134 wartime anti-submarine blimps, 4,007 Corsairs and an inflatable aeroplane, then sold its aerospace arm to fend off a corporate raider.

1898Fundado
ActivoEstado
7Aeronaves registradas
2Fuerzas aéreas que vuelan sus tipos
Photo: Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
PaísEstados UnidosFundado1898SedeAkron, OhioEstadoActivo
La historia

Goodyear: the company and the aircraft that made its name

Zeppelins in Ohio

After the First World War Germany was forbidden to build Zeppelins, so in 1924 the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company formed the Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation, two-thirds Goodyear and one-third Luftschiffbau Zeppelin. German engineers led by Karl Arnstein moved to Akron, and inside a vast new airdock they built the Navy’s USS Akron and USS Macon. At 785 ft, Akron was the world’s first purpose-built flying aircraft carrier, and the pair remain the largest helium-filled airships ever built.

Corsairs and K-ships

As relations with Germany collapsed the airship arm became Goodyear Aircraft Corporation on 5 December 1939, starting with tails for the Martin B-26. In the war it built 134 K-class blimps for anti-submarine patrols and licence-built 4,007 FG-1 Corsairs, 857 of them for the Royal Navy. Its own F2G Super Corsair, with a 28-cylinder engine, climbed at 7,000 ft a minute; ten were built before the order was cancelled.

From inflatable planes to radar

Post-war, Goodyear tried the GA-2 Duck amphibian and the Inflatoplane, a rubber aircraft meant to be dropped behind enemy lines; 12 were built. Its engineer Carl Wiley invented synthetic aperture radar in 1951. Goodyear Aerospace, as it became in 1963, was sold to Loral for $640 million in 1987 after James Goldsmith’s takeover bid. The blimps still fly, but since 2014 they have been Zeppelin NTs, built in Germany.

A tyre company built the biggest helium airships ever flown, 134 wartime anti-submarine blimps, 4,007 Corsairs and an inflatable aeroplane, then sold its aerospace arm to fend off a corporate raider.Goodyear · verified 2026-10-03
De un vistazo

Goodyear in numbers

La empresa

En breve
Fundada en 1898

  • Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio
  • Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation formed 1924
  • Goodyear Aircraft Corporation 1939, Goodyear Aerospace 1963
  • Aerospace arm sold to Loral, 1987

Producción

Más conocido por
Airships and Corsairs

  • USS Akron and USS Macon rigid airships
  • 134 K-class blimps
  • 4,007 FG-1 Corsairs under licence
  • F2G Super Corsair, GA-2 Duck, Inflatoplane

Hoy

Ahora
Blimps, but not built in-house

  • Fleet of Zeppelin NT airships since 2014
  • Last Goodyear-built blimp retired 2017
  • Goodyear Aerospace designs passed to Lockheed Martin in 1993

Los números

FG-1 Corsairs delivered
4,007
K-class blimps built
134
Sale price of Goodyear Aerospace to Loral
$640 million1987
Airframes produced in Arizona in WWII
more than three million pounds
El avión

Every notable Goodyear aircraft

Aeronave Role Primer vuelo Construido Estado Nota
USS Akron (ZRS-4) Rigid airship, flying aircraft carrier 1931 2 Jubilado With sister ship Macon; 785 ft long; Akron lost April 1933
Goodyear K-class blimp Anti-submarine patrol airship 1938 134 Jubilado Atlantic and Pacific convoy patrols
Goodyear FG-1 Corsair Carrier fighter (licence-built F4U) 1943 4,007 Jubilado 857 to the Royal Navy as Corsair Mk IV, 60 to the RNZAF
Goodyear F2G Super Corsair Low-altitude interceptor 10 Jubilado R-4360 engine; 428 ordered, cancelled
Goodyear GA-2 Duck Light amphibian 1944 19 Jubilado Used only for testing and demonstration
Goodyear Inflatoplane Inflatable rescue aircraft 1956 12 Jubilado Tested until the early 1970s; never ordered
Goodyear GZ-20 Advertising blimp Jubilado Last Goodyear-built blimp, Spirit of Innovation, retired March 2017
¿Quién los pilota?

Goodyear aircraft in the world’s air forces

2 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew Goodyear types. Ninguno de ellos todavía tiene uno en servicio.

Fuerzas aéreas En servicio Anteriormente volado
Real Fuerza Aérea de Nueva Zelanda Vought F4U-1 y Goodyear FG-1D Corsair
Fuerza Aérea Salvadoreña Goodyear FG-1D Corsair (y Vought F4U-5 para repuestos)
Lugares, personas, registros

Where Goodyear built, who led it, what it achieved

Fábricas

  • Goodyear Airdock · Akron, Ohio — Built Akron and Macon; FG-1 plant later NAS Akron
  • Arizona plant · west of Phoenix, Arizona — Ground broken 15 July 1941; canopies and armour after the war
  • Wingfoot Lake · Suffield, Ohio — Airship hangar and base

Gente

  • Karl Arnstein · vice-president of engineering — Former Zeppelin chief engineer; designed Akron and Macon
  • Carl Wiley · engineer — Invented synthetic aperture radar, 1951

Récords y primicias

  • USS Akron and USS Macon: largest helium-filled airships ever built
  • USS Akron: first purpose-built flying aircraft carrier
  • F2G climb rate of 7,000 ft/min, double a standard Corsair
Cronología

Goodyear, year by year

1924

Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation formed

1925

Pilgrim, the first Goodyear commercial blimp

1931

USS Akron maiden flight

1938

K-2 prototype blimp flies

1939

Goodyear Aircraft Corporation formed

1943

First Goodyear FG-1 Corsair flies

1951

Carl Wiley invents synthetic aperture radar

1956

Inflatoplane built

1963

Renamed Goodyear Aerospace

1987

Goodyear Aerospace sold to Loral

1993

Loral defence unit acquired by Lockheed Martin

2014

Wingfoot One, a Zeppelin NT, christened

2017

Last Goodyear-built blimp retired

El árbol genealógico

Before and after Goodyear

Vino antesLuftschiffbau Zeppelinone-third partner in Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation, 1924–1941Read the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin pageLlegó despuésLockheed Martinacquired Loral’s defence unit, 1993Lea la página de Lockheed Martin
Preguntas y respuestas

Everything people ask about Goodyear

Did Goodyear build aircraft?
Yes. Goodyear Aircraft built airships, 4,007 FG-1 Corsairs in the Second World War, the F2G Super Corsair, the GA-2 Duck and the Inflatoplane.
Who builds the Goodyear Blimp today?
Since 2014 Goodyear’s airships have been Zeppelin NTs built by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in Germany; the last Goodyear-built blimp retired in 2017.
What was the Goodyear Inflatoplane?
An experimental inflatable aircraft meant to be dropped to downed airmen in a container. Twelve were built between 1956 and 1959.
What happened to Goodyear Aerospace?
It was sold to Loral for $640 million in 1987; Loral’s defence business went to Lockheed Martin in 1993.
Who invented synthetic aperture radar?
Carl Wiley, an engineer at Goodyear Aircraft, in 1951.

Continúa el recorrido

Around Goodyear

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Fuentes y lecturas adicionales

Todos los datos, verificados

Verificado el 3 de octubre de 2026.