American Blimp Company is a privately owned Hillsboro, Oregon

Hillsboro, Oregon

Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...

-based company that is the largest manufacturer of blimp

Blimp

A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is a floating airship without an internal supporting framework or keel. A non-rigid airship differs from a semi-rigid airship and a rigid airship in that it does not have any rigid structure, neither a complete framework nor a partial keel, to help the airbag...

s in the United States. It manufactures the hardware and rigging for the Lightship and Spector brands of airships.

Models

ABC was founded in 1987 by James Thiele. The company's lightships are the A-60 and A-60+, as well as the A-150 and A-170. The website says, "There are more A-60+ airships flying in commercial service than those of all other manufacturers combined."

In 1995 it launched the Spector series, with a gondola capable of nine passengers plus the pilot.

The blimps feature internal lights and translucent envelopes for the advertising and sales promotion markets. The airship's envelope

Envelope

An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card....

s are manufactured by ILC Dover

ILC Dover

ILC Dover, LP is an engineering development and manufacturing company based in Frederica, Delaware. ILC specializes in the use of high-performance flexible materials, serving the aerospace, personal protection, and pharmaceutical industries.Best known for making space suits for NASA, ILC...

's Lighter than air

Lighter than air

Lighter than air refers to gases that are buoyant in air because they have densities lower than that of air .Some of these gases are used as lifting gases in lighter-than-air aircraft, which include free balloons, moored balloons, and airships, to make the whole craft, on average, lighter than air...

 division based in Frederica, Delaware

Frederica, Delaware

Frederica is a town in Kent County, Delaware, United States. It is part of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 774 at the 2010 census...

.

Oregon facilities

Its Hillsboro location has a 2300 square metres (24,757 sq ft) facility and leased space in an airship hangar at Tillamook, Oregon

Tillamook, Oregon

The city of Tillamook is the county seat of Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on the southeast end of Tillamook Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The population was 4,352 at the 2000 census...

. There are 45 employees in Oregon.

The Lightship Group

Wholly owned subsidiary The Lightship Group (TLG) sells lightships and is based in Orlando, Florida

Orlando, Florida

Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

 and has more than 200 employees. TLG was formed in 1995 as a partnership of Virgin Lightship

Virgin Airlines

Virgin Airlines may refer to any of these airlines:*Virgin Atlantic Airways*Virgin America*Virgin Blue Holdings**Virgin Australia**V Australia**Pacific Blue Airlines**Polynesian Blue*Air Asia X*Virgin Nigeria Currently Air Nigeria...

 and ABC's Lightship America. In 2002 ABC acquired control of the group.

TLG has operated the Goodyear Blimp

Goodyear Blimp

The Goodyear Blimp is the collective name for a fleet of blimps operated by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company for advertising purposes and for use as a television camera platform for aerial views of sporting events...

 outside of the United States, in Europe and countries such as Australia, Brazil, and China; this includes airships such as the "Spirit of Europe 1" and 2 as well as the "Spirit of the South Pacific". It was one of TLG's Goodyear airships that crashed in Reichelsheim

Reichelsheim

Reichelsheim is the name of two communes in Hesse, Germany*Reichelsheim *Reichelsheim...

, Germany on 14 June 2011, resulting in the death of Michael Nerandzic, an experienced pilot whose last-minute actions saved the lives of his three passengers.

According to its website, TLG is the "world's largest airship operator, providing integrated, full service Airship advertising and promotion programs for companies such as Goodyear

Goodyear

Goodyear may relate to:* Charles Goodyear , inventor of vulcanized rubber* Gary Goodyear, Canadian politician*Joseph Goodyear* Julie Goodyear, British television actress* Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company...

, Met Life, General Motors

General Motors

General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

, DirecTV

DirecTV

DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...

 and Sanyo

Sanyo

is a major electronics company and member of the Fortune 500 whose headquarters is located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo targets the middle of the market and has over 230 Subsidiaries and Affiliates....

."

External links

• Official website
• Official website of ABC's Lightship Group subsidiary