Croydon, Croydon Aerodrome, Graf Zeppelin, London, Pulham

The R.33 Airship and its sister ship were virtual copies of a Graf Zeppelin that had been brought down by anti-aircraft fire in 1916. This huge craft with a length of 633 ft and a diameter of 78 ft is seen here approaching the mooring mast at Croydon during July 1921. In 1921 the conference of Empire heads of Government was being held in London and so it was considered an ideal opportunity to demonstrate how airships could link the countries of the Empire. The R.33 was engaged in trails all over the country from its base at Pulham in Norfolk and so a wooden mooring mast of 140 ft high was built at Croydon, it was used only twice before it was removed in September 1921 as it had been built on private land without permission.Armstrong Whitworth R33 Airship G-FAAG moving towards the docking tower at Croydon Aerodrome. *** Local Caption *** 4science - Academic / Education - 25/02/2010