Celebration after the aerial trip, May 1995.
“Views of our flight over Ipswich in the Mazda airship in 1995 by Marian and Barry Jordan who are both members of The Ipswich Society.”
Back in mid May 1995 Marian and Barry Jordan had a very pleasant surprise. They had been customers of the local Mazda car dealer for some time and were regarded by them as being worthy customers.
As a reward for their custom they were selected to board the Mazda airship when it came to Ipswich on a leg of its trip round the country advertising the brand. With them came a competition winner from the area plus the pilot of the aircraft as they headed smoothly off to the north-west towards town.
The journey which took forty-five minutes, found them soaring gently to about five hundred feet over Nacton Road; cruise towards the town passing over Marion’s mother’s house in Clapgate Lane. Barry and Marian were able to continue filming and snapping away at the views before turning to fly over the town centre and the Cornhill. Although it’s not possible to see photographs of the whole trip, they flew over the north of the town towards Whitton over Whitehouse then turning towards the river following it down towards the wet dock. They flew over what was to become the Waterfront where it was possible to see the beginnings of the development there. Further down the river, Ostrich Creek was visible before sight of the glorious new Orwell Bridge came into sight. Finally, turning left they flew unhurriedly back to Ipswich airport.
On their descent they were greeted by a gang of lads - the thirteen -strong support team employed to grab the guy ropes and bring the “blimp” to a halt. Marian and Barry celebrated their trip on the May afternoon with a glass of bubbly along with the other passenger as the pilot prepared to head off on his tour round the country.
The Jordans tell us it was a smooth, exciting and pleasant journey with no hairy moments, in a space about the size of the interior of a large car, it was very noisy so they had to wear headphones but the view was splendid.
And they are still customers of Mazda Cars!
____________
According to research, 1995 was a good year for the Mazda Blimp. The ABC Lightship A60 N2022B “Mazda” was chartered for nine months, in which time it is toured 125 dealers being used to entertain clients and impress locals. It was recorded in June in Southend and filmed over Worcester in September. Mazda's marketing manager at the time said: 'When it's in an area it's a superb means of outgunning our rivals.'
There were some drawbacks, however, most notably the weather. At one point, one airship was grounded for three weeks because of low cloud and there was also the matter of its stately pace. 'When you move on to the next location it can take a long time to get there. 'You might spend two or three days flying over cows and sheep.' reported a spokesman at the time.
Celebration after the aerial trip, May 1995.
“Views of our flight over Ipswich in the Mazda airship in 1995 by Marian and Barry Jordan who are both members of The Ipswich Society.”
Back in mid May 1995 Marian and Barry Jordan had a very pleasant surprise. They had been customers of the local Mazda car dealer for some time and were regarded by them as being worthy customers.
As a reward for their custom they were selected to board the Mazda airship when it came to Ipswich on a leg of its trip round the country advertising the brand. With them came a competition winner from the area plus the pilot of the aircraft as they headed smoothly off to the north-west towards town.
The journey which took forty-five minutes, found them soaring gently to about five hundred feet over Nacton Road; cruise towards the town passing over Marion’s mother’s house in Clapgate Lane. Barry and Marian were able to continue filming and snapping away at the views before turning to fly over the town centre and the Cornhill. Although it’s not possible to see photographs of the whole trip, they flew over the north of the town towards Whitton over Whitehouse then turning towards the river following it down towards the wet dock. They flew over what was to become the Waterfront where it was possible to see the beginnings of the development there. Further down the river, Ostrich Creek was visible before sight of the glorious new Orwell Bridge came into sight. Finally, turning left they flew unhurriedly back to Ipswich airport.
On their descent they were greeted by a gang of lads - the thirteen -strong support team employed to grab the guy ropes and bring the “blimp” to a halt. Marian and Barry celebrated their trip on the May afternoon with a glass of bubbly along with the other passenger as the pilot prepared to head off on his tour round the country.
The Jordans tell us it was a smooth, exciting and pleasant journey with no hairy moments, in a space about the size of the interior of a large car, it was very noisy so they had to wear headphones but the view was splendid.
And they are still customers of Mazda Cars!
____________
According to research, 1995 was a good year for the Mazda Blimp. The ABC Lightship A60 N2022B “Mazda” was chartered for nine months, in which time it is toured 125 dealers being used to entertain clients and impress locals. It was recorded in June in Southend and filmed over Worcester in September. Mazda's marketing manager at the time said: 'When it's in an area it's a superb means of outgunning our rivals.'
There were some drawbacks, however, most notably the weather. At one point, one airship was grounded for three weeks because of low cloud and there was also the matter of its stately pace. 'When you move on to the next location it can take a long time to get there. 'You might spend two or three days flying over cows and sheep.' reported a spokesman at the time.