The R38 /ZR-2 Story - Final Flight

[@johndavies8590]

My father, Ernest Wynne Davies, who was a rigger, was in the tail section when the airship crashed. He told me that he literally fell out through the fracture and into the water and swam to the sandbank. He appears in both the crew photos on the film. Thank you for keeping memories alive of these fascinating aircraft. John Davies

[@airshipheritagetrust1419]

Thank you John. This is why we do the videos to keep airship history available to the wider audience. More coming soon!

[@tsbrownie]

What the Allies failed to appreciate with every airship, was the amount of knowledge that was contained in the German airmen. The ships were tough when flown within parameters, but it was easy to get outside the envelope without the skill and fine finesse that decades of experience had given the Germans.

[@airshipheritagetrust1419]

Yes, completely agree with your comment. We forget how knowledge was gained in early aviation, and each time progress often came on the back of disaster.

[@iancanty9875]

Very interesting. My father died on 25th July 2022 only 11 days from his 105th birthday. He was born in 1917. He had many fascinating memories of how life used to be over a hundred years ago. I remember him telling me that when he was only 5 he was taken out on 24 August 1921 by his mother and other relatives to see the R.38/ZR-2. It was a sight that everyone was itching to see. His my grandmother lifted him up so he could see over the crowd. He wasn’t sure where he was supposed to be looking so only caught a quick view of it before it exploded in flames and crashed into the Humber. He remembers the shock of the crowd and people shouting comments and there being an awful sense of collective sadness. What a sad memory.

[@foowashere]

Wonderfully narrated and illustrated, but such a tragic story. One would have thought that the repeated buckling of girders would have raised more concern. Clearly something was off in the calculations, by the full safety factor and more. Thanks for making and sharing!

[@airshipheritagetrust1419]

Thanks for your kind words, and yes indeed there were concerns on the design. The Germans had started to design "heirgh climbers" whereby they could fly to a heigher ceiling. This is where the British were trying to copy with the new design. This incident also lead to improvements in the design testing for later ships, called the Design Stressing Pannel, who would check the stress calculations on the later ship concepts.

[@jsa-z1722]

Thank you as always for a wonderful informative video on the fascinating topic of airships

[@airshipheritagetrust1419]

Our pleasure! and glad you enjoyed it. We're working on the next ones!

[@navigatorstrato7232]

nice

[@airshipheritagetrust1419]

Thanks! glad you enjoyed it

[@RichardGoth]

Tragic the designers failed to realise the zeppelins on which this based sacrificed strength for the ability to make extreme altitude to evade fighters and AA guns- they were only suited for high speed at maximum altitude in thin air, and at lower altitude the dynamic stresses just ripped the ship apart.

[@airshipheritagetrust1419]

Yes indeed, and a tragic story of aviation beginings and fatigue. We seem to have forgotten the same things happened in heavier than air beginings.