Howden's Airship the R-100

[@bryand1958]

I live close to the Airship Hangers at Cardington, Hanger One is still used for the development of airships, the Airlander Project and I was fortunate to see it on one of its test flights in 2017. The other Hanger is managed by Cardington Studios for film productions and stage designs. All of these make for an interesting life around the hangers. Incidentally both hangers have now been restored

[@gaz11h]

Know the sheds well and do have the occasional trip to Cardington never got to see the Airlander in flight but did get to see it a few times once in shed one while it was under construction the second when it was ready to fly saddened these days to see how the housing estates are taking up the area so close to the sheds

[@Bercyable]

I have always thought the R-100 was the most beautiful airship ever built. A shame it had to suffer it's sad fate after the demise of the R-101. Nevil Shute Norway and Barnes Wallis have my eternal admiration for conceiving such a wondrous design. Thank you for you brilliant film!

[@chunkymonkey55555]

Better it was taken apart before it crashed or blew up ? :)

[@melonslice1991]

@@chunkymonkey55555 Having giant airships around was a huge risk (especially with hydrogen). But It was worth the risk in my opinion for a 50 hour Atlantic crossing with a bedroom, chairs, tables, a kitchen and an amazing view of all the ships under you.

[@chunkymonkey55555]

@@melonslice1991 Yes agree, just probably a good idea to make your last Will and testament before you take the trip :)

[@melonslice1991]

@@chunkymonkey55555 Back then, definitely. But I'm sure you could make it very safe now. We could even make helium escape balloons.

[@chunkymonkey55555]

@@melonslice1991 Yes agree, the air ships could use modern weather information to avoid bad weather on the trip. I did hear they are bringing back air ships to transport cargo a while back, but not heard much since. Its a great idea in my opinion, as long as you are not worried about the extra time, it has got to be a good form of potential transport?

[@48alfaone]

Thanks for the video! My Great Uncle "Major G. H. Scott" flew on the R-100 to Canada, plus he was the Captain of the Famous "R-34 Atlantic Flight" (round trip England to USA). He died on the R-101. They were great Airmen!

[@nigpud]

I enjoyed your video. In the 1950's I spent an afternoon in the company of the coxswain of the R100. One of his memories that stayed with me is of his telling how the crew would climb on the top of the airship and lie behind the fin, sheltered from the slipstream, and sunbathe!

[@gaz11h]

many thnks glad you enjoyed it, must of been fascinating having the opportunity to chat with one of the crew have seen photos of riggers out on the tail if your on facebook there are a number of Airship groups there is one dedicated to the R 100, once again many thanks

[@brylorbs69]

Thank you Nevil Shute Norway! This great author was the chief "calculator" who made this airship a success.

[@FroggyFrog9000]

R100 was a success by the looks of it, with some great engines too.

[@lelandhetrick205]

Great underneath images of the R-100. More windows than expected. Nice that details of the six powerplants, the Conqueror, were given.

[@gaz11h]

thanks for the Comment much appreciated glad you enjoyed it, It was a shame the program was cancelled but airships keep trying to make a comeback hope fully in the not to distant future they will

[@thedarkvaleman]

Great video. Really interesting to see a feature on the R-100; its success always tends to be overshadowed by the R-101 tragedy. It would have been great to travel on one of those beauties (although bailing out before Beauvais in the R101's case.)

[@lifesahobby]

Excellent

[@gaz11h]

@rhimember72 Thanks for the Comment and the sub have to be honest couldn't agree more about Nevil Shute I have read most of his books, and thats down to my mum, she was always a fan of his works and once bought me a copy of I think it was Rainbow and the Rose read it and enjoyed it and tried to get as many of his books as i could the only one i wasn't keen on was on the beach which was a little sinister I thought.

[@rhimember72]

A fascinating account of a little known episode in history, well presented and so detailed. Glad you mentioned Nevil Shute Norway, so few people know of him now and he is such a good writer.

[@davidpearson736]

I came to this video while half-way through reading Nevil Shute Norway's fascinating autobiography "Slide Rule" where he goes into great detail about designing and building this amazing aircraft. There's no doubt in my mind that new technologies are bringing about a renaissance of airships. The big money for R&D will probably come from defence budgets, but if the end justifies the means, why not?

[@gaz11h]

have to say I couldn't agree more what with the promising developments with the Airlander at Cardington and as for Slide rule is not only a very interesting and informative read but also good for reference to , thank you for your comment

[@peterkar]

Bravo! A much-overlooked success. Has to be said that the Dragon Rapide was a lovely plane for its time, and that also had quite a lot of Nevil Shute in it. Thanks for this.

[@gaz11h]

@48alfaone They certainly were great Aimen and pioneers in Aviation. I well remember filming the R101 memorial for this film, it was on 25th December 2008 around dinner time it was so quiet whilst i was filming the memorial as most people wer settling down to their Christmas dinner the bells on St Mary's church rang out the time its a moment I put in the film to the fallen of the R101, thank you for your comment

[@Humbertusmarius]

Great video, I really enjoyed it. It's such a shame the whole program was cancelled because of the loss of the R101. Thanks for the video.

[@JamieBignell]

Thanks very much for putting in the effort to make this video, it helped a lot! Truly great!

[@gaz11h]

@thedarkvaleman Thanks very much glad you liked it, would of liked to have had a flight on one of the large ridgids to preferably the original Graf Zeppelin, I was lucky enough to get a flight on the Good Year Blimp recently that was fun

[@gaz11h]

@peterkar thank you for watching glad you liked it

[@MvcVmc]

virtualmuseum.ca released a short podcast on the R-100 for our series "History Matters" yesterday (on the home page, icon on the right of the page) that you might find interesting. The episode is linked to an online exhibition produced by the Société historique du Marigot with over 100 fantastic photos. Also, if you didn't see, Scientific American published an article on May 4 about the return of the airship. Thanks for the video! ~ Dave, Virtual Museum of Canada

[@9teen48]

Excellent video - very informative.

[@mm881969]

great great video! i really enjoyed it. thanks for posting it!

[@TranscendianIntendor]

It was this event that proved to Nevil Shute Norway that private industry was superior to that of public funded research & development. We can see a good deal of waste & profiteering in regards to the F-35, a plane of dubious value while touted as useful for all institutions of the DOD. Even the main proponent of extreme standardization MacNamara was apologetic for what his influence had wrought. There are things that government does better than private industry. The reason for this is that when the missions are clearly stated, the post office being a prime example, the mission is accomplished as it has been set down by the leadership. Goals matter a great deal. If the goal is all murky, for profit and the public good, well then inevitably a level of corruption is introduced and nothing seems to turn out well.

[@MegaThecolonel]

This was brilliant thsnk you very much

[@gaz11h]

@48alfaone I have to agree thats a good way of getting some idea how they would of looked as with Trev like i say he really is Mr Airship a font of airship knowledge, and many thanks for your interesting comments

[@kc4cvh]

An interesting study of one of the three rigid airships worldwide that didn't ultimately crash and/or burn.

[@gaz11h]

thank you for watching

[@bfmcarparts]

Hello gaz, What info do you have concerning the St Hubert Airport airship tower in Canada? I know the tower is gone, but I've heard possibly some of the cable securing anchor rings surrounding this tower may still exist.

[@gaz11h]

As far as know there is at least 1 mooring block left but there may be more

[@bfmcarparts]

Thank you for the reply. I'll have to remember to try to find it if I ever visit St. Hubert. I know there were several other proposed airship tower locations before deciding on St. Hubert. One was near a small community called Richvale, north of Toronto Ontario, about a half hour drive from where I used to live. The Richvale site became an asylum, the in the 1980's developed into sprawling housing and shopping malls.

[@gaz11h]

thanks hoping to do one on the R101 in the not to distant future

[@48alfaone]

@gaz11h Thanks to your video i now see the final resting place of my uncle G.H. Scott. Are the names of those lost in the R-101 crash on the Memorial? Thanks again for the great video, Kev from Canada.

[@gaz11h]

@MvcVmc Thanks very much, sounds interesting will check it out many thanks

[@jonskowitz]

Listening to the account given by engineerguy in his book, "Fatal Flight" it seems like they were determined to wreck the R.101 with all of the showboating and what have you. It was a real shame too given how successful the R.100 and the North Shore class airships were.

[@skovner]

A classic example of gold-plated government programs vs private programs (even if government funded). The R-100 had a fixed budget, and Vickers met it. The R-101 was overbuilt and needed more gas cells to have useful lift. The skin may have been compromised due to reaction between the doping to tighten the fabric and the glue to hold it in place. Plus, the R-101 had to leave due to political time pressure, overloaded, also due to political considerations (could not subject VIPs to diesel fuel fumes refueling in Egypt, so carried extra fuel) Can anyone tie this attiude to the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster? I thought you could.

[@gaz11h]

Think there's always going to be pressure on projects of that magnitude to be on time but unfortunately when the pressure gets to great, greater risks are taken

[@conveyor2]

At 5:24, Canada did not use that until 1965!

[@gaz11h]

See what you mean the Canadian flag wasn't adopted until February 1965 so fair comment as I didn't know it was so young

[@chunkymonkey55555]

Was the R100 significantly differently designed to the R101? Did the R100 suffer any of the same issues regarding the outer linen cover that on the R101 started to Rot? Fatastic magical machines that can capture most imaginations! They are no good in a storm now though are they? :)

[@gaz11h]

yes R100 was built by a different team with a different designer and both ships did have problems with the outer cover and gas cells, R100 on the return journey from Canada lost electrical power due to water getting in through the outer cover as for storms they tried but died ( R101 5 October 1930)

[@chunkymonkey55555]

I have a feeling all our best airship deisigners also died in an air ship crash before the R100 and R101 were built. Meaning men with lesser knowledge ended up deisigning the craft. Wow, i am glad i wasnt aboard the R100 on return jouney from Canada then. I would have needed a clean pair of underpants when all the lights went out.

[@gaz11h]

@@chunkymonkey55555 still would of been an amazing trip to of been on been a bit scary on the out ward bound journey over the St Lawence when the R 100 hit bad weather and was forced violently upward definitely a full bog roll on that one as for designers Barnes Wallis was about the best with the R80 and R 100 to name few think the designers you refer to were on the R 38 that was lost over the Humber

[@chunkymonkey55555]

Thats right yes, a crash on the Humber :) I wonder if they could make a Hydrogen Airship these days that would actually be totally safe? Modern materials and what have you. I know they would choose to use Helium, but Hydrogen has more lift. I heard they are making new airships to carry cargo. Would be awesome to fly over the Atlantic in one. No life boats though... lol

[@gaz11h]

There has surprisingly a hydrogen ship (albeit a small blimp capable of carrying 2 crew) built in China and yes agreed hydrogen is the best gas for lift as for ocean crossings well maybe not life boats but inflatable life rafts helium filled for lightness lol

[@gaz11h]

think you will find there were a lot more ridgid ships that didn't crash and burn to name a few R 100, Graf Zeppelin, Graf Zeppelin 2, R 80, R.M.A.9, HMA 23, HMA 24, HMA25, R26, R29, R31, R32 (tested to destruction), R33, the French ridgid Spiess, Los Angeles(ZR-3/LZ126) , thats just some of the ones that were dismantled at the end of their lives,

[@gaz11h]

[@48alfaone]

@gaz11h Hey thanks for the info, i am going to connect with Trev through my kids facebook stuff. We get 600-1000 foot Ocean Freighters past here, i look at them and imagine one of them flying, that's what those Airships would look like, huge haha. Thanks for the video again, Kev.

[@EnglishAirship]

That's why my username is "English Airship".

[@0110-d7y]

yay go Howden

[@gaz11h]

@48alfaone All the names of those on the R101 are on the memorial Gorge H Sott appears on the far side of the Memorial from the gate if you are on Facebook I can let you have photos of the Memorial also I noticed when i subscribed yesterday you also subscribed to trevorcardington and he actually lives in Cardington and is quiet an authority on airships again he is on facebook also and does run quiet a few airship groups and also has a photo of the crew of the R101 thaks again

[@mheermance]

The R 100's success and the failure of the R 101 should have been instructive about how to manage large engineering projects.

[@mandolinic]

Dismantling the R100 instead of putting it into passenger service was government mandated vandalism.

[@epicmanthatisntadog5661]

Who else is from Howden?