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performed as he had predicted

The Airship was up to the specification air speed. In fact was some ten miles an hour faster than what was required. Compared with the R101, R100 was easier to control.

The team working on the R101 were finding they were falling behind the specifications required. In the long-distance performance trials it was clear there were problems to address. The Burley group began to discuss the likelyhood of a postponement of the maiden flights. R100 was planned to go to Canada in October while R101 was to fly to India in November.

The R101 group wanted to the ship’s maiden flights should be postpone. But this time it was the Airship Guarantee Company who would not co-operate they refused to even discuss the matter. Even after the very sinister performance of the R101 during the Hendon Air Display at the end of June 1930. The R101 Airship showed she was almost out of control when a shallow dive was requested . The craft would buck into a dive and when corrected the craft would pitch up and down as much as 25 degrees to the horizontal. With these problems she had mechanical failures, leaking valves in her gas system. It was also noticed small holes were appearing everywhere in the outer covering of the airship.

Meanwhile in October R100 made her maiden flight to Canada. Barnes Wallis with his 17 years experience in Airship design showed their true worth. Yet as the prime creator of the R100 he was unnoticed by the Press, and with them the public for he had secured victory for the “Capitalist” ship which earned him a small but secure place among the private hates of Stafford Cripps. Lord Thomson had received cabinet approval to fly to India on R101’s maid flight and as R100 had already proved itself it became urgent that the flight be made without delay. The 4th October 1930 was the chosen date for the journey to commence R101 left Cardington heading south. Heavy rain and high winds had been forecast for the route. With R101 grossly overloaded and making heavy work of the flight things did not look good, It was hoped that the overloading would be self righting for as fuel was used she would become more buoyant!

But in the meantime the craft was being kept up by the application of excessive up elevator. For this to success the craft needs to be moving forward, for the elevator can only give lift if there is a sufficient flow of air across it’s surfaces but when such air flow falls below stall point the action of the elevator fails completely! The nose of the craft would drop. In these conditions the craft is out of control and will continue to be until the airflow again reaches lift conditions at the elevator, when control can return again. Worse still the outer covering of the R101 was beginning to tear and rainwater was entering into the envelope. Excessively loading the front end of the ship and stressing the elevators even more. As R101 crossed into France it was found impossible to keep the nose up the ship was loosing height and struck the ground completely out of control this happened at Beauvais

R101 was completely destroyed of a compliment of 54 only six survived. The Prime minister continued to say this was only a mishap which had occurred in Beauvais it was a temporary “setback” the public and the news papers followed his line, Barnes Wallis nor any of his team were not invited to the funeral of those killed.

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