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It was one of the worst airship disasters, along with the Hindenburg disaster that coloured international public opinion of lighter-than-air craft and effectively ended British employment of rigid airships. History
DesignThe R101 was the result of a British government initiative to develop airships. In 1924 the Imperial Airship Scheme was proposed as a military project able to carry 200 troops or 5 fighter aircraft. This was expected to require an airship of 8 million cubic feet (230,000 m³) — well beyond current designs. As a result the two prototype airships of 5 million cubic feet (140,000 m³) were to be constructed. To increase the development of new ideas, two different teams would be used: one, under the British Government's Air Ministry, would build the R101, and the other would be a subsidiary of the private company Vickers, which would build the R100 under contract for a fixed price. Among Vickers' engineers was the designer Barnes Wallis, later to become famous for the bouncing bomb and, as Chief Calculator (Stress Engineer), one Nevil Norway — later to be known as the novelist, Nevil Shute. The story of the designs of the R100 & R101, and the competition between them, is told in Shute's Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Engineer, which was first published in 1954.
ConstructionThe building of the R101 began in 1926 at the Royal Airship Works at Cardington near Bedford, England. Due to a failed attempt to create hydrogen-powered engines and several other new design concepts, the project's completion was delayed from 1927 to 1929. The R101 was meant to have a useful lift of 60 tons but ended up only able to carry 35 tons. The stability of the R101 was doubtful, due to the insufficient span of its fins into the airstream. During its flight at the Hendon air show in 1930, it almost plunged to the ground, as well as repeatedly going into a dive during the return flight. Its gas bags also developed numerous leaks. The gas bag valves may have also been defective, leaking gas and leading to the continual decrease of lift in flight. Despite this, it was given a Certificate of Airworthiness. Engineers lengthened the frame, added another gas bag, reversed propellers, and replaced the outer cover. After that, the ship was 777 ft (237 m) long with a total volume of 5.5 million cubic feet (160,000 m³) and a useful lift of just under 50 tons. At completion she was the largest flying craft ever built, surpassing the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, which was of similar length but only 3.7 million cubic feet (100,000 m³) in capacity. The LZ 129 Hindenburg would surpass her in 5 years at 804 feet (245 m) long and 7 million cubic feet (200,000 m³).
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