The R38 /ZR-2 Story - Final Flight

In this video we tell the story of the design of a new class of airship - the Admirality A class, and it's designation of the R38. We explore it's trial flights, and also the final flight. It's a tragic tale which spans both sides of the Atlantic due to it's planned sale to the United States as the newly designated ZR-2.

[johndavies]

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

[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.

[iancanty]

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!

[jsa-z]

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

[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.

[realrcpofficial]

my name is owen and i am a big fan of airships

[jayoneill]

Because they built around one hundred airships during WW1 only the Germans had the experience and technical knowledge to build postwar airships. The British and Americans tried but with little success.