Throughout the 1920s, Britain built airships that never quite competed with the German and American programs. In 1929, they sought to catch up by holding (and funding) a competition between a commercial and government teams to build a rigid airship capable of traveling to the far corners of the British Empire. The team behind R-101 created an ambitious design that allowed for both long-haul travel and luxurious accommodations. However, 6 hours into her maiden voyage, she crashed into a French hillside, in the deadliest civilian airship disaster in history.
On this episode, we're discussing airships and blimps, the "Socialism vs. Capitalism" competition, and the fatal flaws in the R-101's ambitious design.
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Sources for this episode include:
“R 101 Final Trials and Loss of the Ship”, Royal Airship Heritage Trust, retrieved 2023
“Airship: Design, Development, Disaster” by J. Swindon, 2012
“Innovation Pushed Too Far Too Fast”, System Failure Case Studies (NASA), 2007
