Saturday, January 03, 2026
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The R101 Airship Crash
In the early morning of October 5th, 1930, the British dirigible airship R101 crashed in northern France, killing 48 of its 54 crewmen and passengers. The horrific accident made international headlines and predated the better-known Hindenburg disaster by nearly seven years.
(Notice the delightful number of steps you have to climb.)
To clarify: it’s easy to get confused, but the term “dirigible” is just the French name for
an airship, and Zeppelin was a German company that made airships (like: the Kleenex or Band-Aid of the airship world). But the proper term, as generic and boring as it sounds, is “airship.”
The R101 was supposed to match the sturdy luxury of a high-end ocean liner. But to allow for those essential refinements, everything else could only have the thinnest veneer of opulence because it needed to weigh as little as possible. One person described touching the ceiling and it feeling “like a piece of stage scenery." All the walls were actually fabric. The pillars in the lounge were made from balsa [wood] covered with metal. Tables were also balsa and the chairs were made of the lightest cane. So it was kind of an illusion, the solidity of the ship.
The R101 Airship Crash
(Notice the delightful number of steps you have to climb.)
To clarify: it’s easy to get confused, but the term “dirigible” is just the French name for
an airship, and Zeppelin was a German company that made airships (like: the Kleenex or Band-Aid of the airship world). But the proper term, as generic and boring as it sounds, is “airship.”
(Notice the elegantly precarious way to board.)
The R101 was supposed to match the sturdy luxury of a high-end ocean liner. But to allow for those essential refinements, everything else could only have the thinnest veneer of opulence because it needed to weigh as little as possible. One person described touching the ceiling and it feeling “like a piece of stage scenery." All the walls were actually fabric. The pillars in the lounge were made from balsa [wood] covered with metal. Tables were also balsa and the chairs were made of the lightest cane. So it was kind of an illusion, the solidity of the ship.
Friday, January 02, 2026
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