Background
SSI Operations takes the airships and sells contracts to “high profile” clients who use the aircraft for various purposes including PR, advertising, aerial filming, surveillance, testing, etc.
The most important job is to always represent the client in a public relations capacity.
We provide a “turnkey” operation for those clients. This includes the airship, vehicles, all support equipment, and personnel. We emblazon the airship, vehicles and crew with the identity of the client, and set out to accomplish a schedule of events that is intended to promote them, and their products, in the public arena.
Each airship operation has between 13-20 team members who travel with the airship from city to city. SSI holds FAA type certificates on 6 different sized airships up to 250,000 cubic feet. The difference in crew numbers is dependent on which of our products is being used for the client sponsor.
The airship operation is very much a team effort. Each of our airships has a fulltime crew who assist in the launch and recovery of the airship during flight missions, standing watches (for security and weather), maintain support equipment (including vehicles), and drive said vehicles to transport the airships support equipment between destination cities.
“Never a dull moment in the blimp business”.
Since the beginning of the company in the mid 1980s, we have worked all over the world flying airships for over 300 clients. We have worked on TV productions in the US, Australia, Europe, Brazil, Japan, Peru, China and many other countries. We have carried the identity of Anheuser Busch, M&M Mars, Kraft, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Miller Brewing Company, General Motors, Block Buster, Sanyo, DirecTV, Subway, Capital One and Dick’s Sporting Goods. The list goes on and on. We have performed in movie and TV productions, such as Fear Factor, Bay Watch, MTV (Real World and Road Rules) and the movie “Drop Zone”. Sometimes we have performed stunts such as towing water skiers behind the blimp, carrying sky divers, etc. Hardly does a weekend go by in the Spring, Summer and Fall months that one of our airships is not on TV carrying aerial cameras for a sporting event.
Duties
An applicant’s number one responsibility is the airworthiness of the airship. Technicians will be expected to conduct daily, 50-hour, 100-hour, and annual inspections on engines, airframe, envelope, and propellers along with all other duties of preflight and preventative maintenance.
Applicants are expected to assist with crew duties as required, launching and landing the airship, driving vehicles during transits, and standing watches.
