skin. The third deck consisted of a gallery running around the dining room and 14 two-berth cabins. Operational history First flights R100 made its maiden flight in the morning of 16 December 1929. After departing Howden at 07:53, it flew slowly to York then set course for the Royal Airship Works at Cardington, Bedfordshire, running on five engines since one of the engines had to be shut down because of a cracked water jacket, and completing the mooring process at 13:40. A second flight was made the next day, with the intention of making a flight to London, but shortly after slipping the mast, a strip of fabric became detached from the lower fin, and the flight was limited to a cruise around Bedfordshire to test control response, lasting 6hr 29 min. The following day, R100 was taken from the mast to No.2 shed at Cardington and work on modifying the wiring holding the cover in place begun: this took until 11 January 1930. During a test on 16 January 1930, R100 achieved a speed of . At speed, a problem with the outer covering became apparent: it tended to ripple and flap excessively in the form of a standing wave. During a fourth flight on 20 January, cine film was taken of this phenomenon, which occurred because of the large areas of unsupported fabric; it is also visible in some photographs. A further short flight was made on 20 January before an endurance flight, starting at 09:38 on 27 January when R100 slipped the mast at Cardington and ending at 15:26 on 29 January after more than 53 hours in the air. Following this flight, it was returned to the shed for work on the cover to be carried out. At the same time, the original reconditioned Condor IIIA engines were replaced by six new Condor IIIBs and some weight was eliminated by reducing the amount of passenger accommodation. The work was complete by the end of April, but on 24 April it was caught by a gust while being walked out of the shed, damaging the tail surfaces. The wind prevented it being replaced in the shed, so it was moored to the mast. It was not possible to return it to the shed for repairs until the morning of 27 April. Repairs took longer than expected, and R100 remained in the shed until 21 May, when it