Fatal Flight: The True Story of Britain's Last Great Airship

by Bill Hammack

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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, British Literature, Technology

304 pages, Hardcover

Published June 1, 2017

About the author

Make magazine called Bill a "brilliant science-and-technology documentarian", whose "videos should be held up as models of how to present complex technical information visually." Wired called them "dazzling." His work has been recognized by an extraordinarily broad range of scientific, engineering, and journalistic professional societies. From journalists he has won the trifecta of the top science and engineering journalism awards: The National Association of Science Writer's coveted Science in Society Award; the American Chemical Society's Grady-Stack Medal, and the American Institute of Physics' Science Writing Award--all typically given to journalists. From his engineering peers he's been recognized with the ASME's Church Medal, ieee's Distinguished Literary Contributions Award, ASEE's President's Medal, and the AIChE's Service to Society Award. He is a Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois - Urbana. He may be reached at bill@engineerguy.com or voice/text at 217-689-1461.

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited for this book, the story of R101, and the mystery of why it crashed. But then I got the audio book. The story was interesting enough, but the combination of a short narrative and highly distracting narration meant it was really not enjoyable.

The author seems in a race to get his words out. This 4-hour audio book probably could have been stretched to 6 or 7 hours had he slowed down and inflected a bit more. The author's voice isn't bad, in fact at first I thought it was going to be a great narration, but it moved so quickly that you don't know when one sentence ends and the next begins, and it makes the narrative move so quick you lose track of the plot or which characters it is following. The narrative is good enough, presenting the story in a way that makes sense and that moves forward logically. The only criticism that I could level is that there wasn't enough about the First Officer (though perhaps we lose track of him because nobody from the control deck survived to give an account of his actions?), and that some of the movement between R101's story and the comparison to R100 and other airships gets a bit confusing. I found the epilogue the most interesting and actually what I wanted from the book - I ended up actually laughing out loud at the last sentence, but that was the only time I was that amazed by the book or the story.

I would suggest getting the print version, or giving this a pass.

[Hayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting and detailed look at the last great airship of Britain. The book is very well written and well presented. I didn't know anything about the last airship or indeed the demise of airships although it is of course obvious they have. I think this book will appeal to those who know something of the existence of this airship already.

[Bob Moulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

All aviation accidents are the result of an unbroken chain of events that together lead to a tragedy. In Fatal Flight, Bill Hammack takes an in depth look at the various aspects of R101's demise, from politics, to personal hubris, to missteps in the design which together resulted in the loss of crew, capital, and the aspirations of many.

More than just a summary of events leading to the accident, Fatal Flight weaves the stories of the men and women who made the airship possible, the builders, the crew, those who advocated for its intended goal of connecting the farthest flung areas of the British Empire together, and of those who were its critics.

A short read (or listen), Fatal Flight was a breeze to comprehend; a credit to Bill Hammack and his skillful explanation of the many technical aspects of the vessel. Every step of the way, Hammack utilized terminology easy to digest to a non expert like myself, while not compromising on finer points he wished to convey.

Overall, Fatal Flight was a fantastic read, and I would highly recommend it to people who have an interest in early aviation history, British history in general, or those with a fondness for lighter-than-air vehicles. An aspiring aviation student would also benefit from the lessons taught in Fatal Flight; mostly that 'get-there-itis' and lack of preparation are profound human factors that can lead to disaster.

Additionally, the author has created a companion YouTube video where he supplements the book with pictures, video, and more to bring R101 and its story back to life for the readers. Below is the link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixxXh...

[Daan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting case of politics, technology, expectations, the countries hope and interpersonal drama leading right into an airship crashing in the first actual flight. And worse, due to circumstances to the death of many. Like a row of dominos, a lot of bad stuff happening.

This book is cut up in parts, some dry. Letters and Information from the ship logs. From the organization. To the first part where you get to read about the troubled history of R 101. But also with the other ships around that time.

It was, to say the least, a troubled time! So, yeah it is for history buffs a great little story and insight into how things went those days. And where it went wrong! Horribly wrong. But yes it also has dry sections which mean that 2/3 of the book is really for history buffs.

Also, after the crash, some of the metal ended up in the Hindenberg. Ouch!

[Shim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The audiobook is well read with the author's calm and calculated voice. The content is quite interesting, covering topics that most people will know nothing or almost nothing about. Aside from the Hindenberg disaster the history of the airship is one that is largely forgotten.

The book dives deeply into the engineering of the airship as well as the historical and political context that also contributed to its demise.

There are some artistic details that appear to be completely fabricated as I don't see how it's possible that anyone would have recorded anything as detailed at the time as the action of taking off one's glasses and wiping them at such a specific moment. In that it seems to attempt to be both a history book as well as a novel. This makes it a bit more entertaining but does raise some questions about what is fact vs fiction in the book.

[Mike Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

My previous book was 'Airship On A Shoestring', which told the story of R100, the private-finance sibling of R101, so thus was a logical next book to read. I criticised the writing in that book, but this is worse. The book is written in 'American English', which is irritating enough, but using that when directly quoting English people is unforgivable. Points docked for thar. Also, there are thoughts and actions directly quoted as factual, from people, who died in the crash, when the author could not possibly know that level of detail. Again, points docked.
On the plus side, it was interesting to read a comparison of the two airships and their issues; the two airships had both common and individual problems, but both were unreliable.

[B. Zucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never heard of R.101 before, so I got to read this as a novel. (The title did give a hint as to how it might end, though.) Good technical detail but still accessible to the casual reader. I would have appreciated more pictures and diagrams, but I guess omitting them keeps down costs.

Regarding the story itself, it makes me think a lot about airships and why we don't have them any more. Jet travel made them obsolete, of course, but I also learned a lot from this book about how difficult these things were to fly and manage.

[Bkunkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating historical account

This book had some amazing facts and it held my interest all the way through. No spoilers here, so if you read the book, keep reading after the crash until you find out what happened to the steel from the frame of the R.101.

Bill Hammack seems like a great guy and his take on technology is always interesting.

[Kenny Parnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book! I listened to the audiobook and Bill did an amazing job. I listened to it with my kids and they all enjoyed it as well. Not only is this an interesting story from history it contains a number of lessons that apply to anyone who works on projects/products with an engineering flair that will keep anyone engaged.

[Rob Neyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still can't quite understand how R.101 was docked, despite a detailed description of the procedure. I also can't quite understand why R.101 was so stupidly built so differently than the great German airships (although this is certainly touched on). Still, fine, evocative monograph on a fascinating subject.

[Spero · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written really well. It was really well researched with appendices that presented documents from the time of the R101. The author is known as the "engineer guy", who has a YouTube channel. I loved this book. It was presented as a story, rather than a documentary and so you wanted to read through to the end and find out "whodunnit".

[Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook a while back. Very interesting story narrated by the author who has an amazing voice (As heard from his youtube channel "The Engineer Guy"). The details of manufacture and the struggle between political spectacle and engineer efficiency/detail makes it a gripping listen. Makes you dream of flying high in the sky in a steampunk/industrial dirigible.

[Mick Bordet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the almost-narrative approach to the subject, based on personal journals as well as fully-documented research. The appendices were particularly interesting and I would happily have had another few official documents of this nature in the book. All that was missing was a few photos, but there are plenty of other sources for those so not really an issue.

[Mark Hermes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author did an amazing job telling this story. Hammock recreates the thrills and perils of airships and Britain's pursuit of commercial air travel with stunning detail. Felt like reading a lost piece of history that has no business being lost.

[Robbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting history of the downfall of airships, left me wondering if they might have had a much more significant heyday if things had played out differently. Also fascinating to learn how these were even built in a time period before modern materials and electronics were available.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of how things can wind up going tragically wrong with some interesting historical context.

[Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully writen

A most engaging read spoiled only by his discounting of the DH Comet in favour of the B707 at the close. I thoroughly recommend this book.

[Vibin JK]

Boring and Dry . Not much of a story, more like a manual.