From Monday 8 June 2026 until Wednesday 10 June 2026 the iconic Goodyear Blimp made a two-day stopover at Grimbergen Airfield in Belgium. The semi-rigid airship – a structure which indeed makes it more a zeppelin than a blimp – was on its way from its homebase at Essen/Mülheim Airport in Germany to the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans car race in France.
From Essen/Mülheim Airport to Grimbergen Airfield
On Monday 8 June 2026 around lunchtime, several Belgians aviation enthusiasts (including me) as well as the general public were taken by surprise as suddenly they noticed the iconic Goodyear Blimp crossing the skies. Several major Belgian news agencies and newspapers even reported about the Goodyear Blimp appearing in the Belgian skies. Zeppelin LZ N07-101 D-LZFN, which is just one of four Goodyear Blimps still in active duty and the only one based in Europe, is operated by Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei and had left its homebase at Essen/Mülheim Airport (ESS/EDLE) in Germany at around 09:00 local time (CEST / UTC + 2) that very morning. After a total flight time of just under four hours and after cruising at an altitude of around 1.000 feet above ground level with an airspeed of around 25-30 knots, the airship made several turns over Grimbergen Airfield (EBGB) before making a smooth landing. The airship would stay at the airfield for just a few days before continuing its journey to Le Mans.
As could probably be expected, the iconic airship managed to gather quite a few spectators during its two day stay at Grimbergen Airfield. It almost seemed like everyone wanted to get a glimpse of the legendary airship, which is truly an impressive sight given its length of 75 meters.
On the evening of Tuesday 9 June 2026 I decided to head towards Grimbergen Airfield myself to try and take a few pictures of the iconic airship, which I had never seen before with my own eyes (OK, maybe just once – or maybe even twice – but in my defence, this was many, many years ago and from quite a distance). Anyhow, at the end of another busy working day I took my camera bag and drove to Grimbergen Airfield where I arrived less than twenty minutes later.
As soon as I arrived at the airfield I noticed the iconic airship floating close to the ground while safely attached to the mooring mast of the mast truck. After taking several photos from a few different angles, I headed to another photo location near the perimeter fence of Grimbergen Airfield for some additional photos. Unfortunately the meteorological conditions were far from ideal at that very moment, with heavy rain shower and even some thunderstorms approaching the airfield. And indeed, few moments later it started to rain, so I decided to drive back home… only to hea back towards Grimbergen Airfield less than two hours later. I took my camera and continued my photoshoot in much better meteorological conditions. However, the lighting conditions had deteriorated significantly by then as the zeppelin was almost entirely backlit from my vantage point. After some final photos I called it a day and said goodbye to the mighty Goodyear Blimp.
From Grimbergen Airfield to the 24 Hours of Le Mans
On Wednesday 10 June 2026, after a two day stay at Grimbergen Airfield, the Goodyear Blimp and its crew were fully ready to continue their journey to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Various independent sources even stated that the airship would stay at Grimbergen Airfield until Thursday 11 June 2026 but it appeared these sources were not correctly informed (or maybe the flight plan for the second leg of the airship’s journey was changed at the very last moment, possibly due to meteo conditions enroute). Anyhow, at around 09:00 local time (CEST / UTC + 2) the airship was fully ready and released, it cleared the mooring mast and quickly increased altitude and speed as it departed Grimbergen Airfield. The flight from Grimbergen Airfield to Le Mans took just over nine hours to complete.
10 June 2026
