<p>These distinctive landmarks are the original Airship sheds made most famous for their use by the R100 and R101 airships in the 1920’s and 30’s.
The No1 Shed (left) was originally built in 1915 by Short Brothers for their R-31 and R-32 airships. In April 1919 the site was nationalised and became the Royal Airship Workshops, then between 1924 and 1926 Shed 1 was extended to allow construction of the R101.
The No2 Shed (right) was originally built at RNAS Pulham in Norfolk, but was moved to Cardington and reassembled in 1928 for the R100.
After the crash of the R101 on 5th October 1930, all airship work ceased but it wasn’t long before the site was used for building much needed Barrage Balloons. Between 1943 and 1967 it was the home of the weather balloons for the RAF Meteorological research unit. The Met Office MRU remains on site today, with its own tethered whether balloon.
In the late 60’s the sheds became popular as film sets, initially with scenes for ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ and ‘Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines’ being filmed here, but in 1977 ‘Star Wars’ arrived, using both sheds for various scenes including the ‘Rebel Base’ at ‘Yavin’. More recently, various ‘Batman’ films have been shot here and the sheds remain in use by Warner Brothers, although they are also used for TV and music videos.
No2 Shed is also used by the Building Research Establishment as a Fire Research Station inculding a whole building test facility.
Finally, the sheds are now back in use for their original purpose as the No1 Shed is now the home of the ‘Airlander 10’, a Hybird Airship which began flight trials in August 2016.
Cardington Airfield, Bedfordshire UK.
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6th August 2017
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/65001151@N03">Alan Wilson</a> from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, UK
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajw1970/36430366255/">Cardington Airship Sheds. 6-8-2017</a>