| Place a Classified | Subscribe today | July 10, 2009 |
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Blimp pilot entertains crowd
POCATELLO - Rod Jackson loves to fly and building things that fly. So, operating the Simplot blimp at Holt Arena suits him well.
''I've been interested in flying every since I knew what planes did,'' Jackson said. ''I fly everything radio-controlled.'' A member of the Eastern Idaho Aero Modelers, his collection of radio-controlled planes ranges from aircraft with a 9-foot, 10-inch wing span to small 54-inch planes. Jackson, an information technologies specialist at Idaho State University, is currently working on an F-4 Phantom. He purchased the kit for $300, but said the cost of customizing the plane is much more.
''By the time it's air-worthy I'll have $800 to $900 in it,'' he said. ''And that's only because I have everything I need to do it.'' The inspiration for Jackson's love affair with flying was the USS Enterprise. He later served on the aircraft carrier with the U.S. Navy.
''I missed my calling in not being a pilot for the armed services,'' he said. The new Simplot blimp, which cost more than $13,000, cruises above the crowd at ISU football games and the annual Simplot track and field competition. Jackson flies the craft from the northeast end of the field and drops free coupons for local services and goods among the crowd.
He's responsible for keeping the helium tanks full and making sure the blimp is in good operating condition. ''When you're dropping things on people's heads, you want to make sure it's not part of the blimp,'' Jackson said.
He and his wife, Tina, have been married for seven years and have two daughters, Samantha, 11, and Sydney, 8. While they don't share his love for flying, he said they tolerate it. As well as flying and maintaining the blimp, Jackson supervises the help desk and technical support staff at ISU.
A graduate of Pocatello High School, Jackson is a selftaught computer expert and has always been mechanically inclined. ''Machinery to computers, it's all the same,'' he said.
A former Union Pacific railroad worker, Jackson came to ISU because he was tired of traveling. When he's not working or flying, he enjoys snowmobiling and riding his 1983 Honda GL 1100 motorcycle, which he rebuilt.
''It was a hunk of junk when I got it, but I put it back together,'' he said. Jackson also likes to cook.
''I make a mean baked chicken,'' he said. The university atmosphere agrees with Jackson, who hopes to get his pilot's license one day. Until then he's happy piloting the Simplot blimp. ''They pay me to do this, but I'd do it even if they didn't,'' he said. BY DEBBIE BRYCE dbryce@journalnet.com Article RatingReader CommentsSubmit a CommentCommenting RulesWe encourage your feedback and dialog. All comments are subject to deletion by our Web staff.
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