Britain's Giant Airship: R.101

You can learn more about Bill's book Fatal Flight, The True Story of Britain's Last Great Airship -- including listening to an audio version for free -- at www.engineerguy.com/airship or here on youtube (see link below).
Fatal Flight brings vividly to life the year of operation of R.101, the last great British airship-a luxury liner three and a half times the length of a 747 jet, with a spacious lounge, a dining room that seated fifty, glass-walled promenade decks, and a smoking room. The British expected R.101 to spearhead a fleet of imperial airships that would dominate the skies as British naval ships, a century earlier, had ruled the seas. The dream ended when, on its demonstration flight to India, R.101 crashed in France, tragically killing nearly all aboard.
Combining meticulous research with superb storytelling, Fatal Flight guides us from the moment the great airship emerged from its giant shed-nearly the largest building in the British Empire-to soar on its first flight, to its last fateful voyage. The full story behind R.101 shows that, although it was a failure, it was nevertheless a supremely imaginative human creation. The technical achievement of creating R.101 reveals the beauty, majesty, and, of course, the sorrow of the human experience.
The narrative follows First Officer Noel Atherstone and his crew from the ship’s first test flight in 1929 to its fiery crash on October 5, 1930. It reveals in graphic detail the heroic actions of Atherstone as he battled tremendous obstacles. He fought political pressures to hurry the ship into the air, fended off Britain’s most feted airship pilot, who used his influence to take command of the ship and nearly crashed it, and, a scant two months before departing for India, guided the rebuilding of the ship to correct its faulty design. After this tragic accident, Britain abandoned airships, but R.101 flew again, its scrap melted down and sold to the Zeppelin Company, who used it to create LZ 129, an airship even more mighty than R.101-and better known as the Hindenburg.
Set against the backdrop of the British Empire at the height of its power in the early twentieth century, Fatal Flight portrays an extraordinary age in technology, fueled by humankind’s obsession with flight.
Link to Audiobook on KZbin
• Fatal Flight audiobook...

[@ARepublicIfYouCanKeepIt]

What can be said of Bill Hannack's work? Top-notch in every respect. Never flashy. Always thorough. Bill possesses qualities so rare as to place him in a category set apart from other researchers, scholars, authors, content creators, producers, and even performers. Follow engineeguy and be educated, enlightened and entertained like never before. Brilliant work as always, Bill.

[@Macieks300]

+

[@Twitchi]

didn't even know + was still a thing, but that said... +

[@Onihikage]

Hammack, not Hannack ;)

[@verdatum]

Twitchi, search "Gaming the Comment Algorithm" by vlogbrothers to learn the origin of "+". To be fair, it _probably_ doesn't work as originally intended at this point, but, it sorta became a habit/meme.

[@Twitchi]

Verdatum... it was a long time ago.. hence the "still a thing"

[@j3v167]

Bill's videos should be made compulsory viewing for anyone wanting to upload videos on KZbin. This is how it is supposed to be done. No loud introduction music that leaves one half deaf if you had the misfortune of wearing headphones. No background music that is actually foreground music as it competes with the Narrator so that you need to rewind and try to make out the words. No annoying pop ups that appear every now and again. Well done Bill. Very interesting. I really enjoyed this video.

[@rogerwilco2]

Yes.

[@HistoryandFacts]

You are absolutely right

[@Wolvenworks]

you forgot the bit where ppl would add in a sponsored ad like another one of those raid shadow legends ads

[@squirlmy]

Sorry, that's not how it works. You can't point to the Mona Lisa , and say "everyone should imitate Da Vinci when painting"- and I don't mean that as flattery to Bill. It's just if someone doesn't know how to modulate the audio, or any specific part of videomaking, just looking at this isn't going to show them how to do it. There's a hell of a lot more hidden technical things that go into making such a video. I'm not 100% certain, but "pop ads" are at least partly, if not wholly, at KZbin's discretion.

[@shorky9390]

Who's bill

[@marcmarc172]

A _free_ audio book about something Bill is passionate about and worked really hard on!? Yes.

[@ImplodedAtom]

Marc Marc He's got such a relaxing voice too. Looking forward to this!

[@drozycoder2007]

I just want to say I'm soo grateful for offering it for free. When I saw this video start by saying this was a video to pair with a book I expected it to be advertising and was very pleasantly surprised.

[@danchurch5062]

Just finished reading the book... an easy read and very interesting... Worth the money

[@stevebbkny2394]

Andy Hale he’s the bob ross of engineering

[@0xsergy]

@@drozycoder2007 given books are like 15 bucks tops and they can be read and reread by you and others they really aren't that expensive

[@buick1955]

You have a real gift in teaching .

[@raymichaelsusanto9515]

Nice voice too

[@donaldstanfield8862]

Absolutely!

[@piranha031091]

"She's the biggest vessel built by man, a giant of the skies For all you unbelievers, the Titanic fits inside" Iron Maiden - Empire of the Clouds

[@kokofan50]

That's some cursed metal.

[@fightkostka]

Maybe there was something added to the metal to make it cheaper but heaver

[@CorellianYT1300Series]

If we could track it down even more then we'd probably find out that some of it ended up in Challenger and Columbia.

[@radiozelaza]

maybe it's the same metal used to construct Titanic...

[@radiozelaza]

death metal...

[@49metal]

Like the "Demon Core"?

[@ericsbuds]

The wreckage was sold and used to build the Hindenberg! this story is too much!

[@blindassassin111]

It is very creepy...

[@chelfyn]

Cursed metal!

[@MushookieMan]

Cursed engineering.

[@welshpete12]

rubbish !

[@1224chrisng]

I swear, if we use the steel for Geiger counters and MRIs Scanners*, installed stationary and on the ground, it would somehow teleport to 500ft then crash and burn. *oftentimes, you'd use pre-WII steel for Geiger counters and other devices sensitive to radiation, because post-war, there'd be quite a lot of radiation from nuclear weapons testing and whatnot, which contaminated the steel. *I should have said some witty banter about the "Mars Climate Orbiter" which was a 300 million dollar satellite that was sent around Mars that crashed because NASA was using the Metric Units while their supplier Lockheed Martin was using Imperial Measurements. It presumably carried a Geiger Counter but I might be wrong.

[@paulwebbiweb]

This is a top quality video! No fuss, no time-wasting, no nasty music, no gimmicks: just clear visuals and commentary. Very interesting.

[@samthompson4601]

This is so fascinating to me. I have been researching my Father's family when I discovered your book. My Dad (also John Binks) told us that his uncle was on the r101 but not a lot more. His uncle was John Binks(Joe) the flight engineer. I am finding so much info of course , we didn't realize how famous this ship was. My Dad is deceased and was only 5yrs. old when the r101 flew over Britain, although he remembered his Mother taking him to see it. I have since found pictures of Joe's son, Derek and his wife. I now intend to buy your book, thanks for audio chapters, Dawn Thompson(nee Binks).

[@FredMiller]

Absolutely fascinating!! I watched this twice to make sure I did not miss anything. I will be listening to your book on my daily walks. Thank you, thank you for a wonderful story! Fred Ontario, NY

[@tonybowers9490]

I second that. Fascinating. Extremely so.

[@SlartiMarvinbartfast]

Agreed. Fantastic and fascinating content that's brilliantly presented and narrated by Bill. Thanks Bill!

[@sevtecsev]

Thanks for a well presented story. But isn't it time to note that the "lifting gas" (3.03) is the surrounding atmosphere, and the airship internal gas should be called something else, like the "displacement volume".

[@aspiradoraaspiradoras9296]

Fred Miller .

[@TheRausing1]

That ‘airship routes’ map is just beautiful, and so fascinating. I would kill for a 6 foot cloth print of that on my wall !

[@dbcooper91]

The way you presented the topic is... I cannot find words to describe how good you are at what you are doing!

[@sanferrera]

I totally agree. He's amazing!

[@RCAvhstape]

Airships are fascinating, perhaps the saddest of technological dead ends. So beautiful, so grand, so futuristic for the early 20th Century. The spire of the Empire State Building in NYC is an airship mooring mast, and there is actually a air terminal just below it for passengers. Unfortunately, tests attempting to dock to the building showed the vertical winds to be too dangerous and it was never used, another sad loss of something that would've been awesome to see, airships bringing passengers directly to the skyscrapers over Manhattan!

[@WarpRulez]

No wonder airships are a staple of steampunk.

[@jebise1126]

not completely dead end... but probably will never come back in such sizes

[@passthebutterrobot2600]

They could yet return for freight, as materials are now strong enough & light enough to make helium viable.

[@ironcito1101]

They could also be great for tourism. Imagine hovering over places like large waterfalls or the Grand Canyon in a ship that's much roomier and quieter than a helicopter. On a nice day, it could even drift in the breeze in complete silence.

[@theexchipmunk]

They are compared to Airplanes. A dream of the 30´s that was already in its death throes about a decade later. Even with modern materials and high tech we will never be able to build Airships that could compete with modern day airplanes.

[@richardkemp4144]

My late mother was born in 1921, she witnessed it fly over her school. I remember her telling me about it when I was a child. It must have been an incredible sight, but she particularly remembered the noise of the engines.

[@MaMahmod]

finally some quality content on youtube its been long time coming

[@shanboss8296]

what about Jake Paul XD

[@ElizabethSwims]

Incredible. That was akin to Paul Harvey’s “the rest of the story” I love your videos.

[@nellinecronje6911]

Nevil Shute wrote about his experiences on the R-100 project in his book "Slide Rule". It would appear from his writings that the R-101 was a disaster waiting to happen. Thanks for the video- very informative!

[@engineerguyvideo]

thank you. very familiar with Shute’s work ... her later toned down some of the criticisms according to peter masefield ...

[@philhealey449]

Was about to mention Neville Shute and Slide Rule! An inspirational book for all aspiring engineers.

[@yfelwulf9930]

I had an English Grandmother and young Aunts who assembled the Gas Bags for the 101

[@thebird404]

Thanks Bill for your appreciation of the R101. In 1969 I grew up in a village near Cardington and could see the enormous hangers. This started a life long passion for rigid airships. I photographed the airship industry blimps that were built there flew on a skyship 600 and was lucky enough to chat to an old guy tending a grave of his wife in my village that it turns out his wife had been a cleaner on the R101 during its trial flights. Needless to say I could ramble on for hours. I hope you have read the official government investigation into the crash. The airman who would not die by John G. Fuller is fascinating too.

[@engineerguyvideo]

Indeed I have read the report ... and all the testimony ... and all the supporting materials for the inquiry.

[@Shield_OW]

Reminds me of the iron maiden song about it's disaster, "Empire of the Clouds" if i remember correctly

[@Paul-wm6yv]

“She's the biggest vessel build by man, a giant of the skies For all you unbelievers, the Titanic fits inside“ Though I believe the Titanic was actually bigger

[@davidiancrux]

Heyyy I was thinkin about this

[@HaydnMowbray]

Bruce Dickinson is an investor in an large experimental airship being constructed in the same sheds at Cardington that the R101 was built

[@535phobos]

Well, at this time, the Titanic was in two pieces, so it might well have fitted

[@jakublulek3261]

I mean, what other band than Iron Maiden could make such song.

[@andrewkovnat]

Oh, hey! I listened to your audiobook on the R. 101 quite a few months ago! That was some mighty fine writing you've done. Edit: Corrected idiocy.

[@handsomebear.]

You read his audiobook? o.o

[@wobblysauce]

Yep, it is a paradox.

[@Gayestskijumpever]

I listened to his hardback book.

[@hamaljay]

synesthesia?

[@boostbogan]

Thanks for uploading videos again, love your work! 🇦🇺

[@ramairgto72]

Amazing, I really got caught up in this. When I was a child, I loved these things, used to spend all day in the library reading about them.

[@GamalKevin]

Wow... I just watched a quarter hour video, yet it didn't feel as long... Incredibly interesting, and well done. Thank you for this video.

[@vincewood657]

Almost four minutes in, but giant hydrogene bags and cellulose nitrate tells me this is going to end as a huge fire.

[@ManuJarvinen]

I'm not really fond of the subject - but the way you present it makes me interested in the subject, as well :)

[@StephenMortimer]

great comment (I agree)

[@mathyou9]

I couldn't agree more! When this video came up in my subscription feed, I was about to skip over it. But then figured I should give the courtesy of attempting to listen to it. I honestly thought that I'd stop after a couple minutes. Nope. The way Bill presents things makes it so captivating (kind of like his disposable diaper episode.) Needless to say, I listened to and watched this video in its entirety. :-)

[@hellsbellez]

Ditto, here by way of Led Zeppelin, but he's utterly fascinating! Made even this subject completely enthralling to me! I'm subscribing, this dude's pretty smart and I dig his delivery 💯

[@christopherkeller742]

This guy's videos have taught me more than school has the past 18 years of my life.

[@trevorcardington]

My great Aunt worked on the R101 cleaning the cow guts for the gold beaters skin for the gas cells, she was also part of the team along with many of the ladies from the fabric shops that made up part of the huge team of people that walked her out of Shed 1 at Cardington.

[@paulgrep3193]

Hopefully the book makes a mention of R.100- as the rivalry and double- dealing between the rival teams was crucial to what happened. Lived for 35 years near to Howden, and a lifelong fan of both Barnes Wallis and Neville Shute Norway!

[@billbrown7235]

It does a little bit, but not enough in my opinion. The R100 was cancelled because of the R101 disaster, but it had made several trips to Canada and was built by a private company with government backing. If Vickers had built both of them, it's entirely possible that airships would have been a thing until the Hindenburg put everyone off them entirely.

[@engineerguyvideo]

This was a debate about how much to include. Eventually the focus became the crew of R.101 and the pressures they felt. I could indeed have written a different book, but felt this choice was best for the general reader who is not very familiar with airships -- and this airship in particular. (You will find a lot of comments on here from people who have never heard of this ship.) I do mention R.100s single trip to Montreal and tell its sad fate -- to never fly again and be streamrolled! -- but I would say that if you know the story well enough to know that two ships existed, how they were built, and where they travelled, then this is not the book for you. My metier in my books and on this channel is introductions to a subject, a first acquaintance with something -- viewers may later dig in deeper. A key to doing that is to tell just the right amount; I may not succeed every time but that's my goal.

[@georgew2014]

@@engineerguyvideo I think you made the right choice. The general reader, as opposed to an enthusiast, would get lost in too much technical detail. And would miss the simpler main story. BTW, I have your excellent book in my airship library, right next to the very technical "Airship Design" by Charles Burgess. Thank you for hitting the main points of the R101 story in a readable manner.

[@hotpockets3660]

I was always fascinated with the Zeppelin but listening to Iron Maiden's song Empire of the clouds has gotten me interested in this fascinating airship as well. The song says that the Titanic could fit inside. How massive she must've been. Awesome store here.

[@squirlmy]

funny, there's a debate on this on forum.maidenfans.com. Apparently it would only fit if cut into pieces. The ship as is (as was?) wouldn't fit. It seems the lyric was meant mainly as a metaphor

[@michaelmeltzer5210]

Stunning, great job Mr. Hammock!

[@willemvandijk8860]

What a story! And a free audio book, that's amazing. Can't wait to start listening. Thanks so much!

[@b.p.7153]

All I can say is: brilliant! Thank you very much, Bill.👍 I ordered the book, by the way . . .

[@rfldss89]

thank you for making the audiobook free to download. I look forward to listening to it on the ride to and from uni, as I'm sure it will be a very enjoyable and insightful listen :)

[@charliepops]

Oh holy moly! I was told to come here because this guy has a voice like velvet - and now I love this dudes voice AND have a working understanding of how airships worked.

[@IPASAustralia]

Fascinating. Great story and very well narrated in this video. Thanks for posting.

[@gabriel.954]

The metal salvaged from the Hindenburg was, in turn, used in the first Pinto. Honest. Signed: Joe Isuzu

[@pumpkin6429]

He liked this topic so much, he wrote a book about it. Wow.

[@emorymeek]

Wow. I love the way you tell these pieces of history. It adds so much depth to the world. Thank you.

[@4thArmoredVet]

This was one of the best things I've ever viewed on KZbin. I've only discovered Bill's channel recently but have been hooked ever since. Thank you engineerguy!

[@flxfaber]

This story is also told in a fantastic book called Slide Rule: An Engineer's Autobiography. It's written Nevil Shute who worked first-hand on R.101's competitor airship before joining the de Havilland airplane company. He's also well known as a novelist (On the Beach, A Town Like Alice) so the prose is fantastic and tells the tale of the 20th century air pioneers in simple, rich detail.

[@engineerguyvideo]

One of the first books I read on airships! He later -- according to Peter Masefield -- tempered some of his judgements about R.101.

[@FrankyboyLegend]

I haven't read Shute's book, but the issue with it and other books is they cover enough criticism of the R101 while missing the fact that the R100 had many problems and not so much the flawless ship sometimes portrayed.

[@David8n]

In my opinion, Slide Rule is one of the best biographies that I have ever read. Everyone with even a passing interest in engineering should read it.

[@supercalifragic1551]

Really wish airships would make a comeback with modern tech and safety. Much more classy than an airplane.

[@lotharvonrichthofen4474]

Outstanding program Sir! Thank you

[@TheCryptKeeper8]

This stuff is pure gold. Thank you. Book on the shopping list. I lived opposite the Cardington hangars for 20 years and have just moved. I'm going to miss seeing the goodyears and the new airships floating around and imagining what it must have been like in the golden age.

[@TheLaurentDupuis]

The location of the crash: www.google.com/maps/@49.4044595,2.1220202,3a,60y,248.96h,99.81t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sdbB5zs6nHvI7mMVwkP4RMg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

[@BilgeDweller]

Bill, did you know that Nevil Shute, the British author, was the chief engineer on the R100?

[@engineerguyvideo]

Yes, I mention him in the book.

[@joylunn3445]

Don't forget Barnes Wallace, he was involved as well.

[@engineerguyvideo]

I mention him too - a real genius, who thought little of R.101’s design.

[@joylunn3445]

@@engineerguyvideo I have only just caught your video and I will definitely be ordering your book. I have seen the Cardington sheds and even from a distance they are huge.

[@karlhyde8941]

Slide rule" was Neville shute autobiography... the saga between the two airships.. one private built one government built.. still relevant today

[@EdgyNumber1]

That was absolutely FASCINATING stuff... thanks for sharing!

[@RobMacKendrick]

Been an airship nerd all my life. Great work on this project!

[@russdill]

I'm guessing that cutting the engines doomed the flight, as it removed any elevator authority.

[@engineerguyvideo]

That's one of the leading theories ....

[@Tekwyzard]

There's a similar theory about the Titanic, that by trying to stop via going into reverse, a process which itself took a lot of time to make happen, they removed any useful rudder authority, thus denying themselves of any possibility of steering away from the collision or reducing its damage, that ship had a lot of power and manoeuvrability, especially at its alleged speed at the time, and all of it was made useless. Of course that's just one of many theories ...

[@Tekwyzard]

I was going to mention that theory as well, but it was more suited to a video about the Titanic :-) Who'd have had the presence of mind to deliberately steer into a collision though, no matter how many lives it would inevitably have saved? That whole thing was a litany of mistakes and misjudgements that only 20-20 hindsight was able to see.

[@musicbruv]

Go head on into the iceberg and certain damage with uncertain consequences or try to miss the iceberg completely, I think human nature would go for the latter.

[@bibasik7]

I heard that the Titanic had been damaged by a fire when it was being built, but they didn't have enough money to fix it or cancel the voyage.

[@user-tl5fi9lz9z]

I seem to recall something about the government building either the R 101 or 100. And private industry building the other. And the privately built one was completed in much less time and for much less money.

[@manmonkee]

R100 was the one designed by private companies, designed by Barnes Wallace and a success, R101 was a failure partly because of political interference. Wallace said the main problem with the 101 is that he didn't design it.

[@dedfsh42]

What an incredible story! Thank you for bringing it to light.

[@LandoHitman]

Phenomenal video! Such an intriguing story and told so well!

[@JxH]

Oh dear, "666 Comments". Must. Add. Comment. to slay The Beast. LOL Author Nevil Shute (Norway) wrote "Slide Rule", including many details of his time on the competing private managed R100 project. He is very critical of the government run R101 project, and explains why in great detail. Probably has some valid points.

[@engineerguyvideo]

Shute' book was one of the first I read on this subject. It has many interesting features, especially about his work on R.100. According to Peter Mansfield, Shute softened some of his comments on the rivalry between the two teams.

[@georgew2014]

"Slide Rule" was a source for the novel "The Airshipmen" by David Dennington, which dramatizes the competition between the R100 and R101 teams.

[@EngAlperDemir]

It hurts me when such a video is disliked even only 10 times...

[@2adamast]

0.5% is good, it should normalize to 1% a few months from now

[@WarrenGarabrandt]

People like and dislike a video based on how it fits their interest, not on the quality of the video. There is a nearly infinite diversity of interests out there, and sometimes the KZbin algorithm recommends a video to someone that is not interested in it. They downvote, not as a value judgement of the video, but as training for the algorithm. When you like/dislike a video, it tells the algorithm what kind of content you want to see, nothing more. So, when you see a video with a very low like/dislike ratio, it simply means the algorithm doesn't know how to classify that kind of video so it recommended it to the wrong people. When you see a very high like/dislike ratio, it means the algorithm figured that video out and recommended it to the right people. There is an appropriate audience for literally EVERY kind of video that could be imagined. It doesn't matter if you or I would enjoy a particular video or not, because somebody out there will like a video that we would consider a waste of Internet bandwidth and hard drive space. For example, 90 minutes of static recorded from an untuned analog receiver. Somebody would like that, I guarantee it. Personally, I loved this video, and I plan to listen to the entire audiobook. This is the best preview for Audiobook I've ever seen.

[@Statist0815]

Some facts are simply not true.

[@squirlmy]

@@WarrenGarabrandt yes, and as someone who knows this, I deliberately downvote videos that are well-made but not my interest, and I don't waste time commenting about how much I don't like a video. Do you know if comments count as a positive like for KZbins' algorithms? I worry they might.

[@WarrenGarabrandt]

@@squirlmy from what I understand, commenting is viewer engagement, and a positive for a video.

[@jameshickman5299]

Absolutely OUTSTANDING! I'm hooked on Bill's videos. His channel is the first one I've felt compelled to subscribe to. In case I didn't make myself clear, I really liked it.

[@asebaninja]

One of the best videos I've seen for a long time, so glad you're back.

[@ComandanteJ]

How cool it would be to make one of these things with efficient modern engines, carbon fibre body and filled with Helium? I dont know what purpose it would have, other than being awesome, but damn, it would be awesome. Excellent vid, as always!

[@michaelcoulter1114]

ComandanteJ I agree that it would be incredible, but airships still carry the stain of events that occurred nearly 100 years ago. I really wonder if we'll ever see a huge airship take to the skies again.

[@CheapSushi]

Logan, you're assuming they mean just to get from point A to B. That's not the point of an airship, especially if a modern one would be made. It would be a cruise, the same way a ship (cruise liner) goes around the Caribbean. Imagine traveling over various landscapes, gently, sleeping on board for a few days. There's a difference in experience.

[@ComandanteJ]

Logan Waltz I'm sorry man but that's stating the obvious, i already said in my comment that i dont know what purpose they'd have, other than being pretty stinkin' awesome. What CheapSushi says is a good "use case". People used cruise ships long ago as a means of transportation, while all they are now is floating resorts. Airships could be the same, buth with the added benefit of being able to dinner while on top of a beautiful mountain, a birds eye of an awesome city, etc, instead of endless sea. I would never pay 100s of dollars to get into a cruise ship. But i would to get into a cruise AIRship!

[@seigeengine]

Cruise ships are still used for transportation. They go places, and you tend to get off at those places and spend some time there. It's just not transportation in the sense of "I want to get to my destination and that's it."

[@ComandanteJ]

seigeengine Haha yeah man, english is not my first language, but you know, semantics, you know what i mean. (And for the record, in Spanish, my native language, "Crucero" -cruise, is the type of ship that goes pretty much nowhere, and where the fun part is the cruise itself, and "Barco de linea" -liner, is the one that you use to go from Spain to Africa, for example, that has space for people, cargo and cars).

[@drizzlingrose]

im so sad i wont ever lay my eys on such a marvel of engineering, im so envyes i cant see something so huge fly :(

[@HebaruSan]

You must be a fan of big explosions. :)

[@drizzlingrose]

i think it could work with moden materials, but its the awe of something so huge flying, it makes me speachless (just spend a good min before i desided to make it speachless xD)

[@HebaruSan]

I find the old timey materials are the biggest part of the charm. Floating to India on fifty thousand oxen intestines!

[@drizzlingrose]

you made me giggle, thank you, have a good night ^^

[@Paint2D_]

You should watch the Falcon heavy test flight today.

[@mikeguitar9769]

Amazing story Bill, and you tell it very well, thanks!

[@nep3559]

Bless your soul Bill, it is so great of you to upload this fantastic and informative content for free.

[@engineerguyvideo]

You are welcome

[@asiriomi]

The metal was cursed

[@ericsbuds]

all those poor oxen

[@ericsbuds]

lolll I am not saying I dont eat meat, its just hard to believe there was even enough oxen alive to make all those double walled air bags. mind boggling.

[@Jixijenga]

To be honest it probably wouldn't have been used for much else.

[@Vehrec]

the slaughterhouses of Chicago provided the raw materials.

[@mikeguitar9769]

no oxen were harmed in the making of this video :p

[@datguy8805]

ericsbuds likely gonna be slaughtered anyways

[@InspireWire]

Absolutely engrossing, definitely going to listen to the Book thank you!

[@Zt3v3]

Such a smooth voice. I could listen to your narration all day.

[@Magestig]

"Yeah, let's make a smoking room in our airship. It's not like we have tons of highly flammable gas inside the airship!"

[@ianmacfarlane1241]

Magestig With a cellulose nitrate skin!!! They couldn't have made it worse by soaking it in petrol.

[@seigeengine]

The hindenburg had one too I believe, and yet, that wasn't what brought either down.

[@russdill]

People in that era are going to smoke. You might as well restrict and control it to one room.

[@rkvktmen]

I can't remember the specifics, but they had various seals and protections around the smoking rooms.

[@SuperDeinVadda]

Do you recon it would be possible do build a more reliable airship with today's possibilities?

[@AlRoderick]

It's being done. Not for passengers, but there are a few real monsters being worked on for carrying freight to hard-to-access areas of the world for less cost than an airplane.

[@CheapSushi]

An airplane isn't really a cruise in the way these airships are. Well not unless you fly the highest class on an Saudi jumbo.

[@SuperDeinVadda]

Logan Waltz and you must be the captain, captain obvious right? Tell me about those great metal birds because I've never heard about them. Its not like they are fucking everywhere *facepalm*

[@SuperDeinVadda]

Alexander Roderick have you got any more infos about those projects?

[@flounder31]

There was an article about the modern heavy-lift cargo airships in Wired magazine a few years back. Not sure how far back their online archive goes, but you might try there.

[@Tuberuser187]

The description of the aftermath of the disaster made me feel a bit teary, he narrated it so well and really highlighted the sad tragedy.

[@johnjephcote7636]

The second time I have watched this. A very well-made video! Apart from the inadequate air testing in rough weather and untried innovations such as the heavy Tornado diesels and the automatic valves (and the reckless use of the ship to convey Lord Thompson to the Imperial Conference in Delhi), Boulton-Paul of Norwich did such a superb job of the engineering that not a single piece was rejected.

[@jamesworth183]

I think it is a shame that you do not mention the R100 airship designed by Barnes Wallace and Neville Shute. It was a better design, had already proved itself in commercial flight and as such was superior airship to the R101.

[@alanvcraig]

Anyone who wants to know more about R100 should read SLIDE RULE by Neville Shute for a highly detailed account.

[@LiveMusicOntario]

@@alanvcraig I don't remember a single actual detail from Slide Rule, but I do remember picking it up from my day's stash of paperbacks and I couldn't put it down. That was maybe 45 to 50 years ago.

[@georgew2014]

David Dennington used "Slide Rule" as a source for his novel "The Airshipmen," about the R100 and R101. The story starts with the crash of R38. Barnes Wallace, Neville Shute, Lord Thomson, and V.C. Richmond are among the major characters.

[@dangerouslytalented]

Smoking rooms were not that uncommon, the Hindenburg had one.

[@pev_]

Yes, and if I remember correctly it was lined with asbestos and had a single lighter in the middle attached by a chain so it could not be taken outside the room.

[@pev_]

Heh, nice catch. No, I meant if I remember correctly from what I have read about it.

[@trevorcardington]

R101 had it first.

[@ramairgto72]

Richard Pryor, M. Jackson, Thich Quang Duc and not to be outdone Nhat Chi Mai, with Norman Morrison doing an amature job, all had a type of "Smoking" issue.

[@rkvktmen]

pev It was also slightly pressurised so that any leaking hydrogen would be kept out. Entering it meant going through an airlock of sorts.

[@adamskillings186]

Outstanding video. Thank you Bill!

[@AJ-ln4sm]

Fascinating! Thank you Bill!

[@iamthefoetus]

RIP you will be missed

[@cats400]

ey on what??

[@engineerguyvideo]

I think I am bothered that 3 people liked this comment

[@QLTD]

1:06 the map has a mistake, *Kuwait* and the *UAE* should be swapped

[@engineerguyvideo]

Sorry for the error

[@QLTD]

it happens, no need to be sorry, the video is more than great! thanks a lot

[@shinybaldy]

Rigid airships are so fascinating in that they featured so much engineering to try and solve aviation challenges of the era. Thank you for this wonderful story.

[@Skans-Gustav]

What superb research. Love your high quality videos. And a free book to listen to, Thank you. I can’t wait to listen to it. Fascinating how you have somehow gotten hold of photos and details on this incredible part of our air travel history. The details on how an engineer was forced to climb on a ladder down to his cramped little machine room says something of the times, wonderful that one of those engineers survived the disaster.

[@bdot02]

If your book flies off the shelves and you made a few million, would you build a airship with the proceeds?

[@engineerguyvideo]

One does not write a book on an airship to make money!

[@bennylofgren3208]

engineerguy You are definitely making fans though. It's a tremendous bit of work. Thank you!

[@Jimmyhickey90]

How could they make such and obvious mistake twice? Its literally a flying bomb!

[@seigeengine]

So are airplanes, basically. Shockingly neither tend to go well when they smash into the ground. Planes at least usually don't smash too bad since they can glide down.

[@TedSchoenling]

Jimmy, he did the math for you... It was simple calculation. Airplanes didn't have the range or capacity, ocean ships were too slow. The airship was the most cost-effective way and Hydrogen was better than helium in many regards.. just not safety.

[@TedSchoenling]

Oh.. and there were far more than just 2 hydrogen filled airships...

[@Tezcax]

And far more than 2 accidents. Airships are, or at least with the technology of the time were, a flawed concept. It's not even because of the flammability but it's just too large and susceptible to bad weather. Check wikipedia list of airship accidents. They blew up all the time.

[@georgew2014]

@@Tezcax DELAG flew airships safely for years, going back to 1910, and ending with the Graf Zeppelin. The company knew when to fly, what routes, and what time of year to avoid bad weather. No fatalities. BTW, the Hindenburg was not theirs. And most of the fatal accidents happened to military airships.

[@blackvic5157]

Outstanding. 17 minutes packed with history. I subscribed.

[@DaSpoonyBard]

Excellent documentary. Your voice eloquently portrays the scope and grandeur that was inherent to such an airship, and the journeys it made.

[@pr000n000bie]

Sidenote: Can you include Metric System units, too?

[@Macieks300]

he did on the screen

[@engineerguyvideo]

Indeed I did on the screen ....

[@mikaelkjericsson]

I love your videos. They are always top notch. But, how come you are mainly using non SI units, on an engineering channel of global interest? It is like using roman numerals as the main numeral system on a math channel.

[@burlatsdemontaigne6147]

Mikael Ericsson _ Just to piss off nerds like you, probably. The machine was designed and built using imperial measurements. You can figure out the conversions yourself.

[@DOTCurrency]

MAKE BRITAIN GREAT AGAIN

[@TheLolbot3000]

This is so incredible! Thank you!

[@starmanm31]

Bill, your a great story teller, you have the perfect voice for it ....I love listening to your insight and knowledge of subjects, whatever they may be .... Very well done Sir !

[@Muonium1]

inb4deluge of tired Mark Hamil jokes

[@engineerguyvideo]

My favorite of all these jokes was: "Wow, Mark Hamill has really let himself go."

[@Muonium1]

Greatly enjoy the content here. Easily in my top 5 channel subs. Irreproachably accurate technical detail and impeccable pedagogical rigor. Exceptional quality.

[@Sebach82]

Completely agree, 10mintwo. I wish there were more, but I would never want to sacrifice quality.

[@kewakl8891]

I wish I knew what those big words meant. (j/k)

[@ramairgto72]

I think I missed the joke? Mind if I ask without getting the YT version of fruit tossed at me? BTW, I think Corvette Summer ruined Mark's brain.

[@Poorschedriver]

So glad to see you're back Bill, I adore your work and your videos. Your storytelling is truly superb as is your editing and style. Such an amazing story of history and engineering. Give us more!

[@gwizz9175]

Just listened to the entire audio book today. A fascinating subject that I knew little of before.

[@workhardism]

12:27 Map shows country of Israel, which wasn't founded until 1948.

[@rkvktmen]

Virtually none of the countries on that map existed at the time of R101's flight. They've been put there because this gives modern audiences a better idea of the ship's route than a map saying things like "Mesopotamia" and "the Ottoman Empire".

[@ramairgto72]

Hate to be that guy, but Israel was founded long before 1948. I'm not much of a person who accepts ancient land borders tho.

[@engineerguyvideo]

I put in bold the first time I showed the map that it shows current place names.

[@workhardism]

engineerguy Thank you for your response. I stand corrected! I rewatched the video and the reference appears at 1:02. That's what I get for watching videos at 2:00am, bleary eyed, with only three remaining functioning neurons. LOL. I would like to take the opportunity to express my appreciation for your Channel. Your great passion for all things engineering is contagious! I believe I've watched every video you've made, with a 'thumbs up' and always look forward to your next one. I would like to begin reading your books, which one would you recommend that I buy and read first?

[@engineerguyvideo]

Thank you ... the most popular book of mine is eight amazing engineering stories.

[@r.f.thompson4955]

What a brilliant job producing this excellent video. Not only is the content incredible, but Bill’s delivery succinct and flawless!

[@billc5557]

Fascinating and masterfully presented, bravo!

[@shyamdevadas6099]

Bill, beyond your sheer talent as an academic you are a wonderful storyteller. Absolutely fascinating video.

[@milesbancroft]

Great work. Thanks Bill.

[@antor_khan]

Amazing presentation as always, thanks for the free book!!

[@petrbenda3406]

I listened to the audio book a few weeks back and boy was it awesome! I was hooked from the beginning to the end and I totally loved it.

[@hobbitilius]

Wow, great video Bill. Also, immense kudos to you for making the audiobook available for free.

[@dannyboyy31]

Your videos only appeared in my YT timeline today. I've already watched the one about the Titanic and her sister ships, and this one about the R.101. They are brilliant - no hype, no annoying music, and no fancy effects or misleading thumbnails. Superb stuff. And you even pronounce 'routing' correctly!

[@Albot940]

Amazing, thanks Bill. Will definitely be listening to your book.

[@jimtaylor431]

Fascinating to listen to and watch and you make it completely engaging. A piece of British history I never knew anything about.

[@forrestberg591]

Man I love deep dives into stuff like this! So well done, feels very complete

[@kf7tkj]

Amazing....thanks for all the great videos!