Goodyear Airdock (Akron, Ohio)

 blimp, Goodyear, aircraft hangar, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places

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Former Goodyear blimp building. Was once the largest open-air hangar in the world. Now operated by LTA Research, under a deal with the University of Akron. New blimps are being built here because of the massive size of proposed surveillance blimps being built for the government. The Airdock has caught fire twice in the past after maintenance crews superheated the rubber coating of the structure.

* The building is 1,175 feet long, 325 feet wide and 211 feet high.
* The obstruction-free floor space is over 364,000 square feet.
* The last airship constructed at the airdock was the U.S. Navy's ZPG-3W, completed in 1960.
* The building is semi-parabolic in shape. The sections across it form parabolas and its longitudinal section also forms two half parabolas, connected by a straight line. The shape has been likened to a half of an egg or a silkworm's cocoon, cut in half lengthwise.
* The shell of the building is supported by 11 structural steel arches.