R101 DISASTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 236, 6 October 1930, Page 9

RlOl DISASTER.

POSSIBLE CAUSE. DIPPING BELOW CLOUDS. TO ASCERTAIN POSITION. FORMER PILOT'S THEORY. A theory as to the cause of the disaster which befell the airship RlOl was advanced this morning by Mr. R. B. Gibb, formerly Lieutenant-Commander, R.N., and a shipmate of several of the victims, including Flight-Lieutenant H. C. Irwin and Lieutenant-Commander N. G. Atherstone. Mr. Gibb retired from the Air Service owing to ill-health, and is now with an Auckland firm of architects. He is one of the few rigid-airship pilots in the southern hemisphere. Owing to the absence of evidence, said Mr. Gibb, it was difficult to say what happened, but it was very apparent that the RlOl was flying in very thick weather. It appeared to him that the airship endeavoured to get under the clouds to make certain of her position, and, in the course of a dip, crashed into a hill. When flying low in bumpy weather, the behaviour of an airship was analagous to that of a ship at sea as it pitched, rose and fell. On occasions it took as big a descent as 800 feet to bring an airship out of a downward "dunt." On a ship of such immense proportions as the RlOl, the nose had only to be down a few degrees for the tail to be several hundred feet higher. Setback to Airships. The disaster would be a decided setback to airship development, but feelings would be assuaged if it could be proved that an error of judgment was responsible for the disaster and there was no defect in the construction of the vessel. In the case of the R3B, which came down in the Humber River in August, 1921, the airship was too light, and she broke in half. Mr. Gibb has reason to remember that disaster, as he escaped from being on the R3S by being on leave, and lost all his shipmates. He was, however, associated with the salvage party, of whom Rear-Admiral R. Byrd, then Lieutenant-Commander, was one. Mr. Gibb was well acquainted with Major G. H. Scott, who was in charge of the RlOl's expedition, and LieutenantCommander W. H. Watt, formerly of New Zealand and Karachi. He was first lieutenant on the R2l, when the latter was conducting mooring experiments at Pulham, and was associated with him during the time he was in New Zealand. Captain G. M. Meager, first lieutenant on the RIOO, was also in the Dominion for a period, and up till a few years ago he, Lieutenant-Commander Watt and Mr. Gibb were the only airship officers in New Zealand. Mr. Gibb recalled the visit to New Zealand in 1927 of Group-Captain P. F. M. Feliowes, D.5.0., Flight-Lieutenant S. Nixon, R.A.F., and Mr. M. A. Giblett (meteorological expert and one of those who has lost his life) for the purpose of discussing airship development with the Government. was partly, as a result of that visit that an offer was made to Lieutenant-Commander Watt, and he was induced to return to England. As far as Mr. Gibbs could gather, the intention of the British Government was to obtain data as to the possible development of airships with experimental craft such as RIOO and RlOl, and later to increase their capacity and size and run them out to various parts of the Empire, including Australia and New Zealand. Based on present performances, it would take an airship 10 days to make the journey between England and the Dominion. Australia apparently had agreed to erect mooring masts for airships, and it was understood that a site had been tentatively fixed for one in New Zealand.

Finest Pilots Killed. Mr. Gibb said that when* the R3S crashed it took Britain's finest pilots, with the exception of Major Scott, and now a similar position obtained. Of the original airship service, established early in the war, practically 95 per cent of the men had been killed. The service was inaugurated with small airships and craft of the rigid type. At that time the non-rigid types were used for chasing submarines and locating mines. Raids by German Zeppelins then began, and they proved a thorn in the side of Admiral Jellicoe. It was principally at the latter's instigation that rigid airships were designed to counter the German craft, and it was intended to bring them /into use at the Battle of Jutland. It was in that connection, said Mr. Gibb, that the Admiralty drafted naval officers to the Royal Naval Air Force, as the handling of airships demanded knowledge of navigation and the handling of ships. Then came the invention of mooringmasts, which made airships reasonably serviceable for commercial purposes, as they eliminated landing parties, numbering as many as 600. In passing, Mr. Gibb mentioned that Major Scott was responsible for the designing of the masthead fitting. He considered that nest to Dr. Eckener, the German, Major Scott was the most brilliant airship pilot the world had seen. Although many valuable men had been lost in the RlOl disaster, the death of Major Scott was the greatest loss.

Ship That Started to Break Up. Mr. Gibb was navigating officer of the R27, an experimental Shuttelang rigidtype of airship, wh'ich commenced to break up over her landing ground at Howden, Yorkshire, in 1927. Manufactured as the result of information received from spies, its structure was clued together, and did not contain a single nail. "The R27 started to break her"back in the same way as the R38," said Mr. Gibb. "Luckily enough, the trouble developed over the landing ground. When we saw the girders splintering all round us, we telephoned the control car, and shut off the entrine3. That took the strain off the ship, and we managed to land her. She never flew again, and no other craft of her type was brought out. We were actually flying north to go and work with the Grand Fleet when the trouble developed."