Dirty Jobs.

Do you know what a spähkorb is? It's a little wicker capsule covered in doped fabric, teardrop-shaped with fins at the back, containing a chair, a little writing desk, a telephone, and one dude with way more courage than common sense.

This whole ensemble, crazy man and all, would be lowered on a 2,400-ft cable beneath a zeppelin so that accurate blimpensteeren and bombendroppen could be done with the airship itself still safely hidden by the clouds.

Apparently there was no shortage of lads volunteering for the gig either, because you could smoke to your heart's content down in the spy basket. There's one on display in the Imperial War Museum in London; apparently LZ 60's winch broke one quiet September night over the English countryside and the spähkorb landed a little earlier than the rest of the zeppelin. I am unable to determine whether or not the Brits had to hose a Luftverrückter 1st Class out of the thing before putting it on display or if it was unoccupied at the time of the accident.