Fatal Flight audiobook: Prologue: The Perennial Promise of Airships (2/14)

Download this audiobook, view the figures in the print version, or read the appendices at www.engineerguy.com/airship. Fatal Flight: The True Story of Britain's Last Great Airship is written by Bill Hammack and read by the author.
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.
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.
This audio recording is released under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike Non-Commercial License.
Book Metadata
Publisher Articulate Noise Books | [e-mail]
Hardcover | ISBN 978-1-945441-01-1
eBook | ISBN 978-1-945441-02-8
Paper | ISBN 978-1-945441-03-5
Audiobook | ISBN 978-1-945441-04-2
Audience 01 - General Trade
Subjects
HIS015070 HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / 20th Century
TEC002000 TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Aeronautics & Astronautics
TEC056000 TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / History
SCI034000 SCIENCE / History

[@lilbee223]

This seems like a promising audiobook. Your voice is very nice to listen to. Thanks for posting.

[@engineerguyvideo]

+Lil B thank you ... enjoy

[@RobMacKendrick]

My grandfather was Chief Engineer of the Bremerton Naval Shipyard (and also a member of the second-ever UW class of aeronautical engineers; a grand total of four grads). My mom was once 50% of Boeing's entire female engineering corps. My little brother works R&D for IBM. And I can hardly add. But I do have a degree in history, and airships have been an obsession of mine since I was a kid. Thanks very much for this document!

[@sixstringedthing]

Wow, smart family! My dad was a banker and my mum a schoolteacher, and I'm just a lowly tradesman (electrician) but I've always been fascinated by aviation in all its forms. Hoping to attain an EE degree so that I might sidle closer towards the aviation world from that direction before my time is done. Cheers to you from Sydney Australia. ;)

[@Redbellynelly]

8:53 has a short segment of silence that I don't think was intentional, just so you know. Love your work!

[@Feliphezo]

That's on your side only mate

[@carpyet9507]

I hear it too

[@shanegarm]

I also heard it

[@JacobTyo]

I discovered your videos a few years ago while bored one evening in an airport. I ended up watching all of them that night. My favorite has been your explanation of attenuation using flowing water. I felt like I've learned so much from you and I wish I could give something back. Thank you for all your hard work!

[@qedsteve]

My wife and I are both engineers and we have a regular commute from Lancaster CA to Phoenix. An interesting audio book is JUST what the "doctor" ordered. Keep up the good work (FAMILY!!).

[@engineerguyvideo]

+Steve Slaughter thank you ... my wife was trained as an engineer and so we are a two engineer family also.

[@mikedrop4421]

Ha! The first one of his videos had me mesmerized by his voice. I was thinking about how much I'd enjoy listening to him read for an audio book. Amazing.

[@adampeterson4398]

Congrats on the kid. Thank you for the content.

[@Cherabi]

As always, thanks for posting.

[@harryfillpot666]

Bill you make the best videos!!! So glad to see a post!

[@jutilat]

Hi Bill, Your videos (and book) are some of my favorites on KZbin. Will we be seeing more from you in the future? If you have content on an alternate platform, please let me know. I would love to check them out. I hope all is well.

[@engineerguyvideo]

More coming … holding MS for new book in my hand right now, due on Friday; will be back in studio shortly

[@jutilat]

@@engineerguyvideo I'll be on the lookout for the new book! Excited to see forthcoming content. Thanks for the reply.

[@Dave984]

Thank you :)

[@mathewdennis5827]

Second readthrough. Anazing

[@theater40]

I miss your old videos

[@thedeathreaperofficial8079]

Interesting book so far.

[@gunny5335]

What's up with the last video in this playlist.

[@engineerguyvideo]

What do you mean?

[@gunny5335]

engineerguy Video number 15 is an unrelated children's video about colors.

[@hardheadjarhead]

Good reading job! A lot of authors lack that skill.

[@engineerguyvideo]

I was on public radio for about a decade!

[@sixstringedthing]

@@engineerguyvideo That explains a lot... you've a great "radio voice".

[@m.streicher8286]

A nuclear airship is the the kind of horrible idea I want to see made into reality