Texans, Blimps, and Brits

November 21, 2023

Texans, Blimps, and Brits… Part 2

Mac McGugin told me a few more stories about his time with the Goodyear blimp crew in England during the early 1970s. The Texas blimp crew was there to assist the English blimp mechanics in getting the weather-wrecked Goodyear blimp in Britain flying again. The blimp had been blown away in a winter storm and ended up on a barn full of dairy cows. All the cows died of fright. Goodyear had to pay for the cows.

The mechanics used an old WWI dirigible hangar as their base of repairs. Mac told me that the old airship hangar was haunted and ghosts were about.

The mechanics used very long well-crafted wooden ladders to work on the blimp in the hangar. The ladders were taken from Germany as reparations after WWI. The Germans made great ladders.

After months of work, the Goodyear blimp was ready to fly again. It was May and the weather was good.

The pilot of the blimp took it up for a test flight. He came back cranky and very British telling the Texan crew that their work was shoddy and that the blimp flew like an unhappy cow full of gas.

Well, that’s kind of how blimps fly but the Texans took offense to the Limey’s aristocratic attitude.

So that weekend was to be a holiday in England. The Texans made nice with the arrogant British blimp pilot (let’s call him Harold).

The Texans invited Harold to join them in London at a pub for dinner and drinks. Harold was happy to join them.

The Texans spiked Harold’s drinks with grain alcohol which is 180 proof (almost pure booze). Soon enough Harold was telling stories of his unhappy childhood and prep school with paddling. The usual British school experience the Texans figured.

After Harold had passed out they put the pilot in a cab. They took all his clothes and told the driver to dump Harold in a field outside of the city. They tipped the driver well and it was a nice warm dry night so no danger of the pilot dying from hypothermia.

The pilot awoke in a field stark naked (the Texans were watching from a distance). Harold started screaming and looking about like a lost puppy.

The Texans sent a cab to pick up Harold. The driver didn’t let on that the Texans had hired him. The cab driver, an Irishman, had a bit of fun with the blimp pilot.

“Now, now, have you been out here harassing the cows have ya?” The driver asked the pilot.

“Certainly not!”

The pilot begged the driver of the cab to take him to the airship hangar and he’d pay him the fare when he got there.

At the hangar, the Texans were waiting. They paid the cab driver and threw Harold his clothes while laughing their asses off.

Harold gave the Texans no more trouble after that.
TJM