R101 was an experimental airship built by the British Empire’s Air Ministry alongside and in direct competition to the development of the R100. The British government effectively organized an engineering competition between the Air Ministry and the private company Vickers (who developed tanks and automobiles used by the military) via their subsidiary Airship Guarantee Company. At the time that the R101 was constructed it was the largest aircraft to ever exist, coming in at 223 meters in length, and it would hold this record for seven years until the Hindenburg was created. Because R101 was built by the government using limited resources and the R100 was created by a private company who could spend as they pleased the twin dirigibles garnered the nicknames “Socialist Airship” for R101 and the “Capitalist Airship” for R100. The director of design for the R101 was Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Crane Richmond Royal Airman and Engineer. Due to a previous engineering disaster involving an airship called the R38, diesel engines were chosen over petrol because the low flash point of petrol caused the explosion that destroyed the R38 while it traveling through the warmer climate of India. The R101 had many successful test flights and was being improved as new problems arose; The weight of the engines was an issue, structural damage from gas bag migration, and tears in the cover were all problems faced by the engineering team.
Left: Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Crane Richmond | Right: Lord Thomson
On the evening of October 4, 1930, R101 departed from Cardington with the intent to fly to Karachi (the Indian portion of the British Empire at the time). A faulty engine gauge caused an engine to go down for maintenance but the ship was on its way. Bad weather led to a change in course to avoid North France which ironically put the airship on a route known to have turbulent winds. At 2 a.m. on October 5th, in the skies near Allonne France, R101 was flying low around 1000 feet above ground. At 2:07 R101 took a sudden 450 foot nose dive from which it slowly recovered from, tossing the crew and awakening any dormant members. The emergency ballasts were immediately deployed to try and stabilize the ship. The ship took a second nose dive regardless and as the call went over the radio to stall the engines the engineers had no time to respond because R101 had hit the ground and the hydrogen filled dirigible immediately caught fire, leading to a massive explosion. Of the 54 people aboard R101, 46 died upon impact and 2 more in the hospital later. The designer of the airship Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Crane Richmond and the Secretary of State Lord Thomson were among the many engineers, statespeople, and military representatives who died in the crash.
The Mass Burial of the 48 Victims of the R101 Incident
In an investigation following the disaster it was determined that a tear had developed in the forward cover of the R101 which had caused the sudden catastrophic crash. Additionally, the crew had poor visibility and were relying on an altimeter to determine their flying altitude, which, due to a difference in regional atmospheric pressure, caused the crew to believe they were flying higher than they actually were, leaving them less space to react to the event before crashing. While other hydrogen gas dirigibles had crashed without burning, R101 ignited and exploded immediately leading the investigation team to believe that electrostatic discharge or a fire in an engine car caused the ignition rather than the diesel engines. The inquiry also stated that it was impossible to avoid the conclusion that the flight would not have been attempted if there were not excess pressure to impress the public. The R101 catastrophe effectively ended British interest in the development of dirigibles. The R100 was grounded and eventually scrapped despite having great test flights.
I learned about this disaster when I came across the tribute song “Empire of the Clouds” by Iron Maiden. I never thought I would like an 18+ minute long song but I was wrong; The video with lyrics are below if you’re interested to check it out.
-Vince
Vince Designs 