In 1979, a large wind storm swept through eastern Iowa, destroying the Goodyear Mayflower as it prepared to celebrate Independence Day in Mount Pleasant.

Goodyear sent its Wingfoot One airship to Plymouth to mark the 70th anniversary of Sullivan Tire, a Goodyear retailer.

The Goodyear Blimp is 246 feet long (75 meters), which would cover about 80% of a football field. It is 58 feet (18 meters) high and holds three Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth of helium.

FILE – A Goodyear blimp flies over Michigan Stadium in the first half of an NCAA college football game between Michigan and Southern California in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.

Goodyear began making airships for the U.S. Navy in 1917, and its first blimp — the first commercial non-rigid airship flown using helium — launched years later, becoming a marketing tool.