World's Longest Aircraft

The Scotsman (Opinion, Edinburgh, Scotland, April 21) – The longest aircraft in the world, the giant Airlander 10, is due to resume test flights following a damaging “heavy landing” last August. The sensitivity over such unfamiliar maneuvers characteristic to airships has echoes of a forthcoming book about one of Airlander’s most famous antecedent – the R.101 – which was destroyed by fire after crashing in France in 1930. “Fatal Flight – The True Story of Britain’s Last Great Airship” by U. of I. engineering professor Bill Hammack relates in vivid detail the extreme care needed to handle R.101.