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For the subway cars see R38 (New York City Subway car), or London Underground R Stock. The R38 is a New York City Subway car class (model It was built in 1966&ndash67 for the IND and BMT lines The R38, R47, R49, and R59 Stock cars were built for the District Line in 1938 1949 1952 and 1959
"ZR-2" redirects here. For the GM S-Series ZR2, see RPO ZR2. The RPO ZR2 was a special off-road/suspension package offered by General Motors primarily on their 4x4 2nd Generation S-Series line

The R38 was a British rigid airship that was built for the US Navy as the ZR-2. Terminology In some countries airships are also known as dirigibles from the French (fr ''diriger'' to direct plus -ible) meaning "directable" It was at the time the world's largest airship.

Contents

History

The R38/ZR-2 making its first flight trial on 23 June 1921. Photo courtesy of the US Naval Historical Center.
The R38/ZR-2 making its first flight trial on 23 June 1921. Photo courtesy of the US Naval Historical Center.

The R38 was built at Cardington, Bedfordshire by Short Brothers. Cardington is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire in England, best known in connection with the Cardington airship works founded by Short Brothers Short Brothers plc is a British Aerospace company usually referred to simply as Shorts, that is now based in Belfast, Northern Ireland The original design was for a North Sea scouting ship and this led to a requirement for high speed, high altitude capability to escape from fighter aircraft and long duration. The North Sea is a marginal, Epeiric sea of the Atlantic Ocean on the European Continental shelf. All of this had to be fitted within the dimensions of the construction shed which led to inevitable conflicts in design. As a result, two of the power cars were moved up to the sides of the structure to save height, the number of gas bags was reduced from 16 to 14 and there were fewer girder rings around the envelope. The contract was placed on 31 January 1918 but then cancelled on 31 January 1919 as a peacetime economy measure. Events 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The intended program for R38 sister ships, R39, R40 and R41 was canceled too.

The United States Navy had decided that it wanted to add rigid airships to its fleet and originally intended to get some German Zeppelins as part of the wartime reparations but these were deliberately destroyed by their crews in 1919. A Zeppelin is a type of Rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century based on designs he had outlined An order was placed with the Zeppelin company for a new craft (to be paid for by the Germans) and to go with it they planned to build one in the United States. With the news that the R38 had been cancelled the possibility of buying it was investigated. An agreement was reached in October 1919 for purchase at $2,000,000 and work on the airship recommenced. Changes included a requirement for mast mooring gear, which added a ton to the bows which was then balanced by ballast at the rear. This modification along with the weight savings in the design made a craft that was weak longitudinally. The Germans had made lightweight high altitude Zeppelins towards the end of the war and part of one of these, the L70, had been recovered from the North Sea after it was shot down in August 1918. However it was not realised that the manoeverability of these Zeppelins was deliberately restricted, especially in the rate and tightness of turn, due to the lightweight structure.

The R38/ZR-2 leaving its hangar for trials. Photo courtesy of the US Naval Historical Center.
The R38/ZR-2 leaving its hangar for trials. Photo courtesy of the US Naval Historical Center.

The R38 made its first flight on 23 June 1921. Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar After some modifications to the rudder and elevators, a second test flight flew on 17 July to Howden, East Riding of Yorkshire for airworthiness and acceptance trials. Events 180 - Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians Howden is a small Market town and Civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Some testing of the re-balanced control surfaces was performed on this flight which resulted in severe pitching. When in the shed at Howden, examination of the structure revealed damage to several of the girders. These were replaced and others were strengthened but there were increasing doubts being expressed about the design including some by Air Commodore E. M. Maitland, the very experienced commander of the Howden base. Air Commodore ( Air Cdre in the RAF, AIRCDRE in the RNZAF and RAAF, A/C in the former RCAF) is a rank in Air Commodore Edward Maitland Maitland CMG DSO AFC FRGS ( 21 February 1880 &ndash 24 August

While in the shed the opportunity had also been taken to paint the American insignia on the covering. Following a spell of bad weather the airship was finally walked out on 23 August and in the early morning took off for her fourth flight which had an intended destination of Pulham Market, Norfolk where she could be moored to a mast, a facility lacking at Howden. Events 79 - Mount Vesuvius begins stirring on the feast day of Vulcan the Roman god of fire Pulham Market and its sister village Pulham St Mary are situated approximately 9 miles (14 Norfolk (ˈnɔrfək is a low-lying county in East Anglia, England, United Kingdom. In the event mooring proved impossible because of low cloud and so the airship returned out to sea with the intention of running some high speed tests and then returning to Howden. The speed runs proved successful and as there was still daylight left it was decided to try some low altitude rudder tests to simulate the effects of the rough weather that could be expected on the Atlantic crossing. At 17:37 15 degrees of rudder was applied over the city of Hull. Kingston upon Hull ( almost invariably referred Eye witnesses reported seeing creases down the envelope and then both ends drooped. This was followed by a fire in the bow and then a large explosion which broke windows over a large area. The airship had failed structurally and fell into the shallow waters of the Humber estuary. The Humber is a large tidal Estuary on the east coast of northern England Sixteen of the 17 Americans and 28 of the 32 Britons in the crew were killed. The only American to survive was Rigger Norman C. Walker. [1]

Rescuers scramble across the wreckage of British R-38/USN ZR-2, 24 August 1921.
Rescuers scramble across the wreckage of British R-38/USN ZR-2, 24 August 1921. Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar 's General Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in the Second Battle of the Bagradas River Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar

The Committee of Enquiry that was convened to investigate the disaster concluded that no allowance had been made for aerodynamic stresses in the design and that while no loads had been placed on the structure during testing that would not have been met in normal use, the effects of the manoeuvres made had weakened the hull. No blame was attached to anyone, this was not part of the committee's remit.

Specifications

Data from {name of first source}

General characteristics

Performance

Notes

  1. ^ Douglas H. Sunbeam was a Marque registered by John Marston Co Ltd of Wolverhampton, England, in 1888 V12 redirects here For the V12 Training program see V-12 Navy College Training Program. In Aviation, V-speeds or Velocity-speeds are standard terms used to define Airspeeds important or useful to the operation of Aircraft, such In Aeronautics, a ceiling is the maximum Density altitude an aircraft can reach under a set of conditions Robinson,, and Charles L. Keller. "Up Ship!": U. S. Navy Rigid Airships 1919-1935. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1982, page 220, note 36

References

External links

See also

Related development

Terminology In some countries airships are also known as dirigibles from the French (fr ''diriger'' to direct plus -ible) meaning "directable" Accidents of significant historical importance 1919 American Wingfoot Air Express. This is a list of Airships of the United States Navy Rigid Airships (ZR-1 ''Shenandoah'' - 1923-25 (crashed List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll is a list of major Disasters (excluding acts of War) which occurred in the United Kingdom (including territory A Zeppelin is a type of Rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century based on designs he had outlined WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
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