Long Description:During the First World War there were about 211 airships in the
Royal Navy fleet. This type of airship consists of a strong metal
framework covered in linen to contain the gasbags and the R101 was
part of an experimental construction built in the 1920s. The new,
innovative designs boasted huge promises of travel far and wide.
They could fly from the UK to Australia in only 10 days, a
considerable advantage. The passenger airships provided comfort,
speed and safety and were much better than travelling by steamship.
The famous Zeppelins from Germany were available from 1919 and
the British had a certain amount of competition to produce better
airships. So, the government, Labour at the time, commissioned a
three year programme costing £1,350,000 to build the R100 and R101
to test the passenger and cargo carrying ships of the sky once and
for all.
The R100 was built in Howden, Yorkshire whilst the R101 was
built in the vast aircraft hangars of Cardington, Bedfordshire.
Competition was at a premium and experimental construction a major
factor. The whole project was rushed and to build the largest
vessel in the world of its day was a huge risk. The R101 was to be
taller than Nelson's Column with an outer cover of over 4 acres and
all built in the largest building in the UK. Critics thought it was
too big and fragile and they were to be proved correct.
The R100 was a huge success and added immensely to the
competition at Cardington. Statistics stated that the R101 was
simply too heavy but it was a very complicated design and had
ambitious craftmanship. In 1930 the R100 was moored at Cardington
but never flew again and was eventually sold as scrap for £427!
The outer covering of the R101 was made from bullocks intestines
which had to be thoroughly cleaned by the female workers. The skins
were 'Goldbeater's Skins' and had to be soaked in glycerine and
stretched, varnished and made into bags which would lose 10,000
cubic feet of hydrogen per minute through a hole one foot in
diameter, in the case of a disaster.
Now for some statistics: The R101 used 400 feet round ferris
wheel structures which wove together like cobwebs, 14.6 tons of
Duralumin sheet and 36.2 tons of stainless steel. The outer cover
was 8.1 tons with 27,000 square yards of fabric. The airship was
732 feet long, 140 feet high with a diameter of 132 feet. It
weighed 133.5 tons but the gross lift was 146.3 tons. The problem
of weight was never solved.
During the test in Hangar 1 of Cardington there was 1 million
cubic feet of hydrogen used and it still wouldn't balance. The
engines which were 650hp Beardmore Tornado diesel engines meant
that extra weight was carried. Four were needed to propel forwards
and two backwards. Petrol was considered unsafe with the hydrogen!
The combined weight of the airship with engines was 17 tons
compared to the 9 tons of the R100 and 7 tons of the Graf Zeppelin.
Adding to the pressure every penny of expense had to be accounted
for, under government pressure.
In 1929 the R101 was 2 years behind schedule and costing 2
million in tax payers' money. The passenger lounge was to be filled
with fake palm trees, wicker chairs and tables and to be heated.
The lounge was 160 feet by 30 feet with space for 52 in 2 berth
cabins. The walls were canvas and balsawood and doors were
curtains.
On 30th September 1929 it was finally ready; it was 23.5 tons
heavier than its target of 90 tons and some of the weight had to
come off. Girders were removed, glass replaced with celluloid and
the gasbags expanded to the full causing chafing against the
girders and leaking hydrogen. This created an extra 9 tons of lift.
New valves were fitted as the old ones were releasing too much
hydrogen, it was an impossible task to design.
On 8th October 1929 the flying crew were given control but more
weight reduction took place until June 1930. An original project as
a prototype was now a hyped up disaster waiting to happen. The
maiden voyage on 14th October 1929 took the airship over
Northampton, Birmingham, Nottingham and back to Cardington and
people queued for miles watching the skies in awe. It survived
hurricane force winds on 11th November and could only be housed in
4 hangars in the world due to its immense size: Montreal, Ismilia,
Karachi and Cardington.
Lord Thomson wished to fly to India before October 1930 and this
put extreme pressure on all involved. On one test flight 1 engine
stopped and couldn't be restarted. Thomson wanted an extra bay so
the wires holding the gasbags were loosened allowing more hydrogen
to be pumped in gaining 6 tons of extra lift. The new length would
now be 777 feet with 5.5 million cubic feet of hydrogen. In order
to add the new section the airship was cut in two and the section
added next to the passenger quarters and 9 tons of extra lift
gained.
The 6th June 1930 saw a replacement cover but 202 feet of the
original cover was still left in place. This was deteriorated
fabric so reinforcing strips were applied; there was no time to
replace the whole cover. Despite some of the cover rubbing on the
girders as they were bursting with hydrogen and reports that it
could be torn like paper, time was of the essence, not safety. The
German Graf Zeppelin landed and took off perfectly at Cardington on
26th April 1930 and the race was on.
The Air Pageant at Hendon on 28th June 1930 saw the R101
erratic, veering from 1200 feet to 500 feet with long, slow climbs.
The water ballast had to be dropped to lose ten tons to keep the
airship off the ground. Substantial damage was found once it had
limped back to Cardington, the crowds oblivious. New engines was
fitted capable of reverse and on 1st October 1930 a test flight
proved 1 failed engine in a 16 hour flight. The speed test with
passengers took place resulting with a burst oil cooler and a
failure to complete the only test after all the modifications
before its fateful journey.
The R101 set off for India on 4th October 1930 after a political
decision had been made compromising any technical problems. 3000
people watched as after 6 years of work the R101 rose into the
skies. Thomson had requested a pale blue Axminster carpet adding
unnecessary, extra weight, but he had the political power. He took
a carpet with him for his hosts and his own baggage weighed 254lb
compared to the passengers' total allowance of 394lb! Food, silver,
glassware were stacked on board. Cigarette lighters were chained to
the tables. The crew were only allowed 15lb luggage each.
Weather conditions were of a typical autumn day with brisk
westerly winds and showers but conditions deteriorated
catastrophically later, the flight would never have been allowed in
those conditions if known. It was a 5000 mile flight to India and
nearly half of the water ballast had to be dropped almost
immediately as the airship tilted. Heavy rain reduced the speed to
one third and it remained at a low altitude. France was the first
stop.
No5 engine had problems quickly and was shut down, wind speed
picked up to 50mph and the airship slowed to 25mph. The R101 had
never experienced bad weather with the extra bay as it just hadn't
been tested. No5 engine was repaired and the airship reached full
speed putting stress on the cover. When crossing France at Pointe
de St. Quentin the cover had abosorbed 4 tons of water and 1.25
tons of water ballast had been collected. The storm persisted and
the R101 slowed to 27mph plunging to 1000 feet. Above Allonne, near
Beauvais it dived downwards, resumed even keel for one minute then
dived again. The hydrogen reacted appropriately and in one flash
everything was burned in an all consuming fire mid-air. There was a
white-hot core to the fire and it took 85 seconds from its first
dive to striking the ground.
8 survivors remained, 2 died in 24 hours time. There were 54 on
board. 2 survived beacuse the radiator tank split open and covered
them in water but the hydrogen burned out quickly. It was all the
wooden furnishing in the passenger quarters which stripped the
airship completely.
The memorial stands in the Cardington Cemetery and is obvious as
soon as you enter. All the dead from the disaster were buried in
one grave here and the pictures show all the names and
inscriptions. The R101 was left at its crash site until 1931 as a
perfect skeleton. Scrap contractors from Sheffield who were
specialists in stainless steel were employed to salvage what they
could. It was noted in the records of the Zeppelin company that
they purchased 5,000kgs of duraluminium from the wreckage for their
own use. Whether this was for testing and analysis or to re-cast
and use in the "Hindenburg", is open to further research and
speculation.
It is with thanks to the leaflet 'We're Down Lads!' by Ronnie
Barclay available for £1.00 in Cardington church that this
information was compiled. There is a plaque in the church together
with a display cabinet with the original newspaper prints from 1930
showing the disaster.
