R101 would generate favourable publicity for the airship programme. The final trial flight of R101 was originally scheduled for 26 September 1930, but high winds delayed the move from the shed until 1 October. That evening, R101 slipped the mast for its only trial flight before setting off for India. This lasted 16 hours 51 minutes and was undertaken under near-ideal weather conditions; because of the failure of the oil cooler in one engine, it was not possible to carry out full speed trials. The flight was curtailed because of the need to prepare the airship for the flight to India.
The Lives of Things without the political context, the book is the kind of read that ensnares you, drawing you into its world and forcing you to see things a particular way—Saramago’s way--while you compulsively turn the pages." BookForum's review finds the political themes of "The Lives of Things" applicable to contemporary politics. Reviewer Michael Thomsen perceives "Things" as being the collection's centerpiece. Within the world of that story, political leaders become more rigid about enforcing a set of meaningless rules as a response to an increasingly chaotic, unreliable world. "The resonance with our own time is almost too much," Thomsen writes. Kirkus Reviews'