'It's just like your dopey friend': Inside the Goodyear Blimp's devoted fan base

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

When Lauren Richeson created the Goodyear Blimp Fan Club on Facebook in 2009, she expected only a few family members and friends to join.But like the blimp itself, the club began to slowly and steadily take off.“Days would be where I’d have to approve 100 people to get in one day,” she said.

“It’s been quite overwhelming to see how many people across the world are interested.”The fan club has 12,500 members and counting and is more lively than ever as the Goodyear Blimp celebrates its centennial this year.Richeson created the Facebook group when she lived in Torrance, where she and her husband would often see the blimp en route to its base in nearby Carson.

Now, the full-time artist lives in a part of Florida where sightings are few and far between, so on trips to California she always makes time for one special stop.“There’s certain things that I go back to L.A.for, like my favorite restaurant, the favorite places to shop that I don’t get here in Florida, and seeing the blimp is one of those things,” Richeson said.

“So when I get to see the blimp, I’m a happy camper.”Wingfoot Three, the blimp based in Carson, has two siblings: Wingfoot One in Suffield, Ohio, and Wingfoot Two in Pompano Beach, Fla.A fourth blimp is based in Europe.Goodyear’s first branded blimp, Pilgrim, made its inaugural flight on June 3, 1925, and the famous airships have graced the skies ever since, photographing and filming Super Bowls, World Series, Olympics and more.

The blimp even made a cameo in the Beatles’ 1965 film “Help!”In classic Southern California fashion, Wingfoot Three doesn’t sit in a hangar like its siblings but hangs out in the open, turning heads on the 405 Freeway, which runs right along the base.A small crew of pilots, camera operators, mechanics and base staff perform upkeep and safety checks, but every so often, the blimp must escape the South Bay...