We All Float On: The Goodyear Blimp is Now Available to Fly in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 now includes the Goodyear Blimp as a flyable aircraft, giving players a very different kind of vehicle to master: a helium-filled, semi-rigid airship with heavy mass, delayed response, and a strong dependence on wind and altitude management. For developers, it’s a reminder that the sim’s aircraft roster is broadening beyond conventional fixed-wing and rotorcraft handling models into slower, more experiential traversal spaces.

The modern blimp in the sim is based on Goodyear’s current Zeppelin NT platform, with a carbon-fiber-and-aluminum internal structure, fly-by-wire controls, three vectored-thrust engines, and a configurable gondola for up to 14 people. Real-world specs put it at about 246 feet long, more than 22 hours of endurance, a 600-mile range, and a top speed of 73 mph. That combination makes it less about speed and more about route planning, visibility, and environmental awareness.

The release lands alongside World Update 22: US National Parks, which adds more than 30 parks and monuments. Microsoft is positioning the blimp as a way to take in places like Death Valley, Olympic, Acadia, and Mount Hood at a pace that suits sightseeing rather than transit. Jorg Neumann called it a good match for the update’s celebration of U.S. landscapes and the country’s 250th birthday.

Goodyear’s chief pilot of training and safety standards, Adam Basaran, highlighted the importance of patience, wind management, and thinking of the airship like a ship at sea. He also pointed to the quietness of stadium flyovers as a defining part of the...