R36 (airship)
| R36 | |
|---|---|
| Role | Passenger airship |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Beardmore |
| First flight | 1 April 1921 |
| Retired | June 1926 |
| Primary user | Air Ministry |
| Produced | 1921 delivered |
| Number built | 1 |
| Developed from | R33 class airship |
R36 was a British airship designed during World War I, but not completed until after the war. When she first flew in 1921, it was not in her originally intended role as a patrol aircraft for the Royal Navy, but as an airliner, the first airship to carry a civil registration (G-FAAF).
The design was produced by the new Airship Design Department, work commencing in November 1917. She was a lengthened version of the R33 class. These had been influenced by the design of the German Zeppelin LZ 76 that had been forced to land in England. The LZ 96, which was forced down at Bourbonne-les-Bains in June 1917, provided yet more input into the design. The R36, along with a second ship the R37 were to be a stretched version of the R33, getting more lift by adding another 33 feet (10 m) gas bag. Two of her five engines were German Maybach engines, recovered from the downed LZ 113.
Construction began before the end of the war, but the design was altered to include accommodation for 50 passengers. This was more than twice the number carried by the two German airships LZ 120 Bodensee and LZ 121 Nordstern built for passenger carrying.
Unlike the R33 class, the control car was not suspended below the hull but directly attached to it, and formed the forward section of the elongated passenger compartment. The engines were housed in five engine cars, one pair (containing the Maybach engines) either side of the hull forward of the control car, a second pair either side of the passenger compartment and the fifth on the centreline in front of the tail surfaces. Unlike previous British airship designs, the fins and horizontal stabilisers were cantilevered structures, with no external bracing.
R36 was launched for her maiden flight on 1 April 1921 from the Beardmore works at Inchinnan near Glasgow. Late the following day she flew on to RNAS Pulham in Norfolk.
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