R101 was a British rigid hydrogen airship completed in 1929 by a design team appointed by the Air Ministry, built as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme meant to link Britain to its empire by air. At 731 feet in length, later stretched further, it was for a time the largest flying craft in the world, a record it held until the German Hindenburg surpassed it seven years afterward. R101 crashed in France in October 1930 during the first leg of its maiden overseas voyage toward India, a disaster that killed most of those aboard and effectively ended British rigid airship development.
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