It takes a team to get the legendary Goodyear blimp off the ground.

The team - a pilot plus a

13-member ground crew - spent Friday afternoon shuttling groups of Central Coast residents in the skies above Santa Maria to celebrate 60 years of one local tire store.

SM Tire hosted the legendary airship to celebrate its diamond anniversary, with rides for invited guests, including long-time store clients, local politicians and the media.

The blimp made a rare extended stop to help SM Tire owner Craig Stephens celebrate the milestone on its way to see a Oakland vs. San Diego football game in Oakland.

The airship can hold six passengers plus the pilot. Once it's airborne, the craft usually cruises at 30 mph, but has a top speed of 50 mph.

From 1,000 feet above, the Santa Maria Valley has a patchwork appearance of farm land, houses and construction.

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Flying a blimp is unlike any other aircraft, said the three pilots traveling with the airship.

“There is a big difference,” said pilot Matthew St. John. “Planes you don't have to worry about as much ... (in a blimp) there is a lot going on and a lot of things to worry about.

“Plus you are flying an icon,” he added of the flying billboard that has advertised the company's tires for 80 years.

A wall of dials, switches and gauges appear similar to an airplane's cockpit, but the large brass elevation wheel, situated on the right side of the captain's seat where an armrest should be, looked more like a cruise ship's wheel.

The rudders, which control the craft's direction, are operated by foot pedals.

The teamwork that it takes to get the airship aloft is more of a choreographed dance, with ground crew members knowing exactly where to go and what to hold, than manual labor.

As the aircraft comes in, for what is a bumpy landing, the crew hustles into place with three people on each side of the blimp's nose and six people holding onto a runner along the bottom of the gondola.

“It's a team sport,” says Martina Wegscheider, who is the first female pilot of the Goodyear fleet.

“It takes a lot to stop it,” she said while the 13-man ground crew wrestled the airship to the ground.

Landing is the trickiest part, added pilot Jon Conrad.

“Every landing is different,” he said.

The blimp stayed close to Santa Maria Friday, giving rides to more than 40 invited guests. Once everyone was loaded on and the ground crew went from holding the airship in place to bouncing it in an effort to heave it off the ground.

Piloting a blimp is not a job Conrad envisioned for himself when he graduated from aviation college, he said. But after a turn piloting a helicopter on a farm in Nebraska, he found airships.

“It's a lifestyle,” Conrad jokes. “It's not an individual occupation,” he added.

For those who missed out on the rides over Santa Maria, SM Tire is holding a random drawing in October giving away two blimp rides from each of the company's Central Coast stores, Stephens said.

There is no purchase necessary for the contest but registration ends Sept. 30. SM Tire has stores in Santa Maria, 1709 S. Broadway; San Luis Obispo, 1185 Monterey St.; Arroyo Grande, 1270 E. Grande Ave.; and Atascadero, 9199 El Camino Real.

On Friday, Stephens had his third ride in an airship and it still brought a smile to his face.

“It's pretty unique,” he said. “Most people have seen it and a few get the opportunity (to ride it). Even as a dealer I feel fortunate for the opportunity.”

Malia Spencer can be reached at 739-2219 or mspencer@santa

mariatimes.com.

Sept. 9, 2006