R101 Despite the lack of full endurance and speed trials and the fact that a proper investigation of the aerodynamic consequences of the extension had not been fully completed by the N.P.L., a Certificate of Airworthiness was issued on 2 October, the Inspectorate expressing their complete satisfaction with the condition of the R101 and the standards to which the remedial work had been carried out. The actual certificate was handed over to H. C. Irwin, the ship's captain, only on the day of her flight to India. R101 departed from Cardington on the evening of 4 October 1930 for its intended
R101 outer cover flapping, but after an examination of their operation F. W. McWade, the Air Inspectorate Department inspector at Cardington, concluded that their operation was satisfactory and they were not likely to have been the cause of any significant loss of gas. As an experimental aircraft, R101 had been operating under a temporary "Permit to Fly", the responsibility of McWade. On 3 July, bypassing his immediate superior, he wrote a letter to the Director of Aeronautical Inspection, Lieutenant-Colonel H. W. S. Outram, expressing his unwillingness to recommend either an extension to the permit or the granting of the full Certificate