What’s it like to ride in a blimp across Kansas City? A select few now know firsthand
If you saw a 180-foot sandwich blimp flying from Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium Wednesday, don’t be scared. It won’t hurt you.
I joined a few other lucky riders in the Subway in the Sky, the blimp from the Subway restaurant folks that took flight over Kansas City, with plans to do the same Thursday. (Tuesday’s planned flights were delayed due to the wind and weather, said spokesperson Sarah O’Connor-Guffey.)
Registration opened at 7 a.m. Saturday, and it was a hot ticket, selling out in 17 minutes and drawing people from all across the country.
On Wednesday, Subway representatives could not stop talking about the couple on the flight before ours, who drove all the way from Delaware for this “bucket list” item.
Chief Pilot Terry Dillard has been taking to the skies for 33 years, starting out flying hot air balloons for guests at Disney World and Sea World in Orlando.
Before our 10 a.m. flight, we watched the blimp touch down about 100 feet away. A swarm of helpers in all-white clothing, Subway logos on their hats, wrangled the blimp down, using the ropes on the front to hold it in place.
“I can’t do anything without those 17 guys,” Dillard said.
I had thought there would be more space inside the blimp, which was described as a “dining experience taking to the skies.” Instead, I found myself sandwiched inside the sandwich — two rows of four seats, just a few feet behind the cockpit. It was just enough space to eat from the Subway lunchbox with four of their signature sandwiches inside, if you were brave enough to eat.
Dillard took us higher than the 1,000 feet in the air the Subway registration website promised. He said we hit 3,000 feet, around the same height he’ll be tomorrow for the NFL Kickoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions at Arrowhead.
As he spun the wheelchair-like controls to move the blimp around, we dipped up and down as if we were on a roller coaster at Worlds of Fun. We floated over downtown (I waved at my Star colleagues in Crown Center far, far below) and flew over Interstate 70.
The ride ended after 45 minutes, and I was curious to see how far everyone traveled to ride the blimp. Though most of the passengers were from the KC area, Brayden Bednarz drove six hours from Kearney, Nebraska, to ride. A senior in high school, he was the youngest of the riders on our flight.
“I told my teachers I had an appointment in Kansas City,” Bednarz said.
Bednarz wasn’t lying, and his mom, who was waiting for him to land, can back up his claim.
