Growing up in Akron, Ohio—where the sight of a massive silver airship drifting over the skyline was both familiar and faintly surreal—Thomas Neptune (’21) never imagined he’d one day climb inside a blimp. Let alone maintain it.
“I always thought it was cool to see, but I never really thought of getting a job there.”
Thomas Neptune (’21)
“I always thought it was cool to see,” he says of the Goodyear Blimp, headquartered in his hometown. “But I never really thought of getting a job there… it’s pretty rare. You never think, ‘Hey, I could probably do that.’” And yet, that’s exactly what Neptune has done.
His fascination with aviation started early. His father served in the United States Air Force, a background that helped fuel his childhood interest in jets, flight and aircraft systems. “I’ve always just loved seeing airplanes fly—especially military jets,” he says. “I think my dad probably pushed that along when I was young.”
Armed with an Associate of Science in Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology from Embry-Riddle, Neptune is now the assistant lead airship mechanic for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. He’s part of a specialized five-person team responsible for keeping the iconic blimps afloat.
Today’s Goodyear fleet includes three semi-rigid airships—Wingfoot One, Two, and Three—all based in the U.S., and a fourth, operated by Zeppelin, in Germany. The fleet is the latest chapter in a legacy dating back to 1925, when the original Pilgrim became Goodyear’s first public relations blimp.
“Our Akron ship has been rebranded to look like the Pilgrim,” Neptune notes with pride. “It’s a tribute to the first ship Goodyear ever flew.”
But unlike that early helium pioneer, today’s blimps are technical marvels that require intensive, often acrobatic maintenance. Neptune’s role demands not only traditional skills in aircraft systems and engine diagnostics, but also sprat climbing—an industrial rope technique used to scale the airframe’s interior during inspections. “We climb about 70 feet inside the blimp,” he explains. “We’re trained to inspect the entire internal structure—fuel tanks, verticals, the whole frame.” This specialized skill is certified by the Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians (SPRAT).
While the Goodyear airships look identical from the ground, each is a complex machine requiring constant vigilance. Neptune and his team travel with the blimps to major events such as NASCAR’s Goodyear 400, towing mobile maintenance trailers and scaffolding equipment to ensure everything runs smoothly. “All five of us follow the blimp wherever it goes,” he says. “We even have the tools with us to do an engine change on the road if needed.”
This level of preparedness paid off during a recent mission when a friction clutch failure caused an in-flight engine shutdown. “It connects the engines to the propeller, and it shredded—probably a manufacturing issue,” Neptune recounts. “We had to remove the engine, the gearbox and the driveshaft. The entire gondola was empty. That was the most intensive maintenance I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”
Before becoming one of the rare few entrusted with such an aircraft, Neptune began his aviation journey humbly—refueling planes and loading baggage. His first exposure to aircraft mechanics came through a high school internship at a local flight school. “I started pilot training but ended up drawn more to maintenance,” he says. “Taking things apart, understanding systems—that just clicked for me.”
His choice to attend Embry-Riddle solidified that path. “Embry-Riddle stood out tremendously,” he says. “The quality of education, the tools we used—even just having a real jet engine to disassemble and rebuild—that gave me a huge edge.”
Neptune is quick to credit the university for preparing him, but admits nothing outside of on-the-job training qualifies you for airship work. “It’s its own beast, really,” he laughs. From helium sniffers used to detect micro-leaks to specialized pulley systems for onboard repairs, the toolkit has a few extras compared to that of other aviation mechanics.
Even in a job that requires physics, patience and the occasional mountaineering skill, Neptune finds time for wonder. “The most rewarding part,” he says, “is when we finish annual inspections and we finally get to see the blimp fly again in the spring. Seeing the excitement from the community, it really hits home.”
“The most rewarding part is when we finish annual inspections, and we finally get to see the blimp fly again in the spring. Seeing the excitement from the community, it really hits home.”
Thomas Neptune (’21)
He remembers one moment in particular. “We were on the road, and we saw a post about this little girl—maybe 5 or 6—whose birthday was the same day as the blimp’s. We brought her out, gave her a tour. Seeing her face light up … it reminded me why this job matters.”
Looking ahead, Neptune hopes to move into a leadership role, maybe even director of maintenance. But for now, he’s grounded in the joy of his current position—and about as close to the sky as one can get.
“It’s a different kind of flying,” he says. “And yeah… we prefer calm winds.”
✈️ Sidebar: When Pilgrim Landed at Lunken
In 1927, a different kind of Pilgrim landed—not at Plymouth Rock, but at Lunken Airport in Cincinnati. Built by the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Pilgrim was the first helium-inflated airship in the United States and the smallest dirigible in the world at the time. Its mission wasn’t military—it was promotional: designed to delight, inspire and train the next generation of airship pilots.
Embry-Riddle, then a young but respected name in American aviation, was tapped to help facilitate the landing. Co-founder John Paul Riddle worked closely with a 10-man ground crew and a mechanic from Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation. Together, they positioned a collapsible mooring mast—mounted on an automobile—in a sheltered corner of the field. When high grass posed a problem, Riddle pitched in to clear 300 feet by hand, perhaps recalling the hours he once spent weeding neighbors’ gardens in Pikeville, Kentucky, while dreaming of flight.
While Riddle focused on logistics, his partner Talton Higbee Embry charmed the press and local dignitaries. A born promoter, Embry cheerfully managed the ceremonial details—including boarding Pilgrim alongside Cincinnati notables such as William Cooper Procter (of Procter & Gamble), radio pioneer Powell Crosley Jr. and airport developer Mr. Lunken himself. The guests entered the gondola two-by-two and took their seats—of plush blue mohair, to enjoy the panoramic view.
Pilgrim made history as the first lighter-than-air vessel to use helium instead of hydrogen, heralding a safer future for airships. Goodyear would go on to build a small fleet of blimps for training and publicity, and Embry-Riddle’s role in that early chapter would echo decades later. In the 1940s, another Goodyear blimp flew over Los Angeles to promote The Outlaw, a film by Howard Hughes—an old hangar-mate of Embry-Riddle’s founders at Lunken Field. The pilot of that blimp? Jack Hunt, a decorated Navy veteran who would go on to become Embry-Riddle’s first president. He later invited John Paul Riddle to serve as a university trustee, closing the loop on a lighter-than-air legacy that began with weeds, wind and a Pilgrim.