Giant Flying 'Minion' On Nationwide Tour To Promote Upcoming Premiere of Despicable Me 2

It's a good thing the horses at the Kentucky Derby will be wearing blinders, less they be distracted by a strange sight overhead --- the Despicablimp!

Despicablimp is a 165 foot long helium filled blimp currently in Louisville, KY on a cross country tour promoting the coming premier of the movie Despicable Me 2, from Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures. Previous stops have included cities like Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Orlando and Miami.

The Despicablimp is an A-150 Lightship, a 150,000 cubic foot blimp built by American Blimp Corporation. Powered by two 180 hp Lycoming engines, it can attain a top speed of 45 to 65 mph and has a flight duration of 15 hours or 615 miles. It is one of just 15-20 blimps flying in the world. Unlike the Goodyear blimps that carry an exterior mounted lighted signboard, the Lightship blimps are illuminated from inside with two 1,000 watt light bulbs, illuminating the entire envelope.

Pilot Alan Judd (pictured)  likens flying the blimp to canoeing. “When you’re going downstream you’re going with the flow. It’s like a boat going with the waves, when the waves run into the boat it removes the speed of the waves. But when you’re going into the waves, the waves are coming at you so the ride is a lot harder. It’s the same thing in the air  ’cause you have these thermal bubbles rising up and hitting the nose (because the atmosphere is boiling) and it’s like canoeing upstream in white water. It gets a lot more vigorous.”

The primary controls are two rudder pedals and a trim wheel and Judd says a day at the helm of the airship can be an exhilarating and sometimes exhausting workout.
Pilot Terry Dillard says there are opportunities to build a career as a blimp pilot. With 15-20 airships operating worldwide and only about 50-60 certificated pilots, demand is there, but Dillard says the lifestyle is not for everybody.

“Your average person is not cut out to be a road warrior. Not your average guy can pack up two suitcases and have all your stuff in there and travel around the country for a year. You have people who are homebodies, and they need to be by their fireplace, their swimming pool, their dog, their friends and family and at least need to be home on the weekends and on holidays. For us, we’re always working the weekends, we’re always working the holidays.”

The Despicablimp has been ‘skinned’ to represent one of the ‘Minions’ - the army of diminutive followers of super villain, Gru in the original fin Despicable Me. The artwork is a vinyl wrap, similar to those used on automobiles.

From Louisville, KY, Despicablimp will go on to New York City and Boston before returning to San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA for the July 3rd holiday weekend premiere of the movie. Fans can follow the Despicablimp on Facebook and Twitter and can even enter a contest for prizes that include a ride in the blimp and a trip to the movie's premiere.

(Photo credit Joey Scarpinatto)

FMI: www.despicablimp.com