Fatal Flight

The True Story of Britain's Last Great Airship

De: Bill Hammack

Narrado por: 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 50, 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. Set against the backdrop of the British Empire at the height of its power in the early 20th century, Fatal Flight portrays an extraordinary age in technology, fueled by humankind's obsession with flight.

©2017 William S. Hammack (P)2017 William S. Hammack

A great story of the people more than the airship

I really appreciate the time spent developing the characters behind the story. thus was much more interesting than talking about just the ship itself. and oh, what characters!

I would have liked to hear a little more about the fatal flight itself - it seemed to come rather quickly in the book.

The ending explains a few things, and contains one very ironic item I did not know.

Written and read by someone truly passionate

If you like historic books about flight, this is a solid recommendation for me. Written and read by Bill Hammack, of YouTube fame, it details the first and last voyage of R-101 which was the pinnacle and the turning point for the British airship industry.

Before The Hindenburg

Good read and narration. History of the British venture in to a Zeppelin like odyssey.

A fascinating story well narrated by the author.

I enjoyed the detail and perfect narration of Fatal Flight. It did, however, make me want to never fly in an airship.

A Cautionary Tale

A well researched tale of why it's necessary to not rush research, design, development of technologies, especially when they're responsible for human lives. Proper diligence must be done at all times to discover and remedy any engineering issues regardless of who's ego is on the line.