According to tiretechnologyinternational.com , Goodyear has been flying blimps for about 90 years now and this source says the current design goes back nearly 50 years...and the last one recently took its last flight.
The replacement is larger and semi-rigid, leading to higher airspeed. It also holds more people and is quieter. In Carson, CA, a new inflatable hangar is being built for the new airship according to ocregister.com. Look for it off the 405 freeway.
This AC was fortunate to have a blimp ride over LA and Orange County about 15 years ago -- arranged by a friend with the right Goodyear press office connections. Our ride was the last of the day (before changeover to night/billboard operations) and we were the only passengers. This gave us plenty of time to talk with the pilots who are part of a pretty interesting (and rare) group. Some fun facts:
+ The top air speed of 35 mph applies in level flight.
+ ...and also while climbing and descending. Buoyancy makes the blimp react very differently than normal heavier-than-air airplanes. On our flight, they pointed the nose down at what felt like a very steep angle, but the airspeed didn't change.
+ Pilots from the elite Air Force test pilot school get checked out on blimps
+ Flight controls are very different from normal aircraft, I don't remember seeing any automated systems. While the blimp reacts fairly slowly, it's far from stable and the pilots are chasing things all the time.
+ After our flight, we watched them attach the lighting system. It was heavy enough that no passengers could be carried and possibly some of the cabin was removed to save weight (seats?...memory is fading). It used a small turbine generator (aircraft aux power unit, APU) to power the display.
(Score: 1) by butthurt on Saturday February 25 2017, @09:19PM
A March 2016 post by Goodyear to Facebook says:
This morning our second newly completed airship came out of the hangar for the first time and for the first test flight. Photos tell the story, left to right: (1) The ship exits the hangar at Wingfoot Lake; (2-3) Sitting on the mast while engines are run and instruments are checked is a big part of a test day; (4) the ground crew chocks the tail wheel while the compass is calibrated; (5) Pilots make a few final checks before the ship is launched...everything must be working just right. (6-7) First flight over Wingfoot Lake.
-- https://web.archive.org/web/20170225210012/https://www.facebook.com/GoodyearBlimp/posts/10153847587915168 [archive.org]
A contributor to Wikipedia somehow deduced from that that
Wingfoot Two will remain based in Suffield Township, Ohio until 2017, when it will be relocated to Carson, California.
-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeppelin_NT#Goodyear [wikipedia.org]
That agrees with what the OC Register said in 2015.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/goodyear-676653-new-old.html [ocregister.com]