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A Leisurely Glide Over The City

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By ROB SHAW

rshaw@tampatrib.com

Published: January 28, 2009

TAMPA - Marty Chandler believes he has the greatest job in the world.

He has had the best seat in the house to past Super Bowls and college football games, along with professional golf and tennis tournaments and automobile races. But he has never had to buy a ticket.

That's because Chandler's seat is 1,000 feet above major sporting events in a Goodyear blimp.

The 37-year-old pilot from Pompano Beach won't be gliding along above Raymond James Stadium during Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday, however. A ban on commercial air traffic also applies to blimps.

"It's the world we live in today," Chandler said Tuesday while taking in breathtaking views of Tampa on a flight over the city and the stadium. "I would love to fly over the game, but they shut that airspace down. I'll be watching the game on TV like everybody else this year."

In his 13 years as a blimp pilot, he has seen people write messages in the sand for the blimp to see, or farmers cut out greetings in fields or grass. From only 1,000 feet in a blimp, compared with 25,000 feet to 30,000 feet in an airplane, it's easy to see the ground from the captain's chair.

But it's not as easy to hear the noise from below, with the exception being the roar of the engines in NASCAR.

Chandler, whose father was an Air Force pilot, has seen the beauty of fall in the mountains from a blimp's-eye view. And he has helped count manatees and witnessed the aftermath of the destruction of a hurricane.

But the high point - pun intended - of his blimp career is flying over football games at his alma mater, Auburn University.

"It's a very special job," he said. "I'm lucky to have it."

And it's a job that many people don't believe he has. So, often he won't even waste his time trying to convince people he is one of a handful of blimp pilots in the country.

"A lot of times I will say I sell tires, which is essentially what I am doing."

Rob Shaw can be reached at (813) 259-7999.

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