By mid-1929 the ship's structure was nearly complete and its gasbags were inflated. Following inflation of the gasbags, the outer covering of linen fabric painted with aluminium aircraft dope was put in place, and it was completed at the beginning of November. Lift and trim trials were carried out on 11 November: empty weight was and gasbag volume was , giving a standard gross lift of and so a disposable lift of . Deducting for the service load (crew, stores and ballast) this meant the weight available for fuel and payload was .