# Ah, Spring. When the Zeppelins Return to London. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 7, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268 "2008-04-07T02:43:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/1 "2008-04-07T02:43:12Z")
[They’re baaaack!](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3689784.ece) > [@](#): > > MORE than 90 years after zeppelins terrorised London in bombing raids, the German airships are coming back with a more benign purpose. > > Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik, the German manufacturer of the airships, has been given permission by the Civil Aviation Authority to make tourist flights over London. > > The promoter of the tours is Rory Laing, a former contestant on the BBC show The Apprentice. The trips, set to start in June, will last for an hour and cost about £150. > > Zeppelin hopes that the tours will help to erase the negative image of the airship among Britons following its use in the first world war. > > The new passenger zeppelin will be nearly 250ft long and will carry up to 12 passengers and two crew members at an altitude of 1,000ft. Sweet! ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/2 "2008-04-07T03:27:43Z")
“A mysterious string of sudden deaths among London’s centenarians has the city’s hospitals and nursing homes in an uproar. Otherwise sound elderly people are being found dead of massive cardiac arrest; strangely, these deaths always seem to occur near windows or within sight of the outdoors. Medical personnel are baffled by the phenomenon, which has become known as Picture Window Syndrome…” ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/3 "2008-04-07T12:35:47Z")
Quote: “Zeppelin hopes that the tours will help to erase the negative image of the airship among Britons following its use in the first world war.” I’m thinking those JU-88’s that came over a few years later, if not erased at least put the airships in perspective. Incidentally, one of the earliest memories of artist Francis Bacon was window-shaped patches of phosphorous paint being sprayed on vacant lots in his suburb, to lure the zeppelins away from the city to drop their bombs where he lived. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/4 "2008-04-07T12:42:50Z")
Jolly Good! All we need now are some Sopwith Camels and S.E. 5as with which to buzz the Zeppelins… Where are my Flying Helmet and Goggles, and where’s Biggles when you need him? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/5 "2008-04-07T12:49:55Z")
I’m going on a trip to Friedrichshafen, Germany, in the summer which includes a zeppelin flight over Lake Constance. Hopefully we won’t have Biggles along with us, we’re planning on some serious partying! ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/6 "2008-04-07T13:49:30Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] Jolly Good! All we need now are some Sopwith Camels and S.E. 5as with which to buzz the Zeppelins… Where are my Flying Helmet and Goggles, and where’s Biggles when you need him? 🙂 [/QUOTE] Top hole. Bally Jerry pranged his kite right in the how’s your father. Hairy blighter, dicky-birdied, feathered back on his Sammy, took a waspy, flipped over on his Betty Harper’s and caught his can in the Bertie! ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/7 "2008-04-07T22:48:40Z")
Will you be waiting for the return of the Zeppelins as the first sign of spring ? And if they are flying low, does it mean rain is coming ? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/8 "2008-04-07T23:50:58Z")
Incidentally, what did the Brits call their own miniature blimps – those big, unmanned, blimp-shaped balloons – that were part of their anti-aircraft defense [er, better make that “defence”]… er, somehow? One was lovingly recreated in the film **Hope and Glory**. (And were they effective?) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/9 "2008-04-07T23:55:32Z")
Barrage balloons. “Er, I’m afraid I don’t quite follow you, Squadron Leader” ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/10 "2008-04-08T01:29:14Z")
Thanks be they invented the really really long pointy stick in 1917 to fend off zeppelin attacks. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/11 "2008-04-08T01:45:53Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] Thanks be they invented the really really long pointy stick in 1917 to fend off zeppelin attacks. [/QUOTE] When I was playing _Red Baron_ with a Win 95 machine, it was the .303 incendiary round. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/12 "2008-04-08T01:46:42Z")
Is this anything like when the 747s return to Capistrano? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/13 "2008-04-08T03:44:29Z")
For the record, the etymology of the word [Blimp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blimp) is nothing to do with Type B, limp. BTW [here’s](http://www.zeppelintours.com/) a site that must get a record number of misdirected hits. [QUOTE=ElvisL1ves] “Er, I’m afraid I don’t quite follow you, Squadron Leader” [/QUOTE] “Cabbage crates coming in over the briny?” ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/14 "2008-04-08T08:26:07Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] “A mysterious string of sudden deaths among London’s centenarians has the city’s hospitals and nursing homes in an uproar. Otherwise sound elderly people are being found dead of massive cardiac arrest; strangely, these deaths always seem to occur near windows or within sight of the outdoors. Medical personnel are baffled by the phenomenon, which has become known as Picture Window Syndrome…” [/QUOTE] Reminds me of a resident of an English city heavily bombed in WWII writing to a paper to complain about a new the police helicopter. Its engines for some reason had that wavering drone that German bombers had and every night it flew over he woke in a panic. But to the OP, if the Germans want the English to accept their airships, just stop calling them bloody Zeppelins! ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/15 "2008-04-08T08:49:32Z")
150 quid? Sign me up. (One of my favorite London sites is a obelisk near the Embankment. It has a brass sign on it. “This moment was damaged in a German air raid, the City Counsel has not repaired it so it might serve as a memorial.” It is dated 1920 something.) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/16 "2008-04-08T10:49:37Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Is this anything like when the 747s return to Capistrano? [/QUOTE] I think it’s more like when [the Vulture](http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/9782/salvage1.html) returns to Hinkley, OH. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/17 "2008-04-08T12:13:29Z")
Something wrong with my banter, chaps? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/18 "2008-04-08T12:26:24Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] Something wrong with my banter, chaps? [/QUOTE] No, I’m just not understanding banter at all well today. Try typing it slower. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/19 "2008-04-08T12:28:31Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] Something wrong with my banter, chaps? [/QUOTE] Not at all dear chap, just got into a spot of bother with some Archie over Wipers this morning and before you can say Bob’s your uncle I’ve got a Flying Circus dropping in on me and I nearly got tangled in a Boche Sausage on the other side of the lines! Funny story, though, I managed to pull an Immelman and let one of the blighters have it with the Vickers, but wouldn’t you know it, the Rhone cut out and before I knew what the devil happened, my kite was upside down in a bocage field and I was getting pulled clear by some of the local villagers. As luck would have it I was on our side of the lines, and after a jolly good meal at the local pub and a pint of lager to steady my nerves, I got on the blower, gave the CO a jingle, and they sent the tender down to pick me up not half an hour ago. (Why yes, I did read a lot of Biggles books as a kid, why do you ask?) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268/20 "2008-04-08T12:33:28Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] just stop calling them bloody Zeppelins! [/QUOTE] Well, it’s not a [balloon](http://orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/zeppelin.htm)! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-spring-when-the-zeppelins-return-to-london/444268.md?page=2)