David Dennington, Author
David was educated in England where he grew up. After living in the Bahamas, Bermuda and Florida, he settled in Virginia. He attended the Writer's Center in Bethesda for more than ten years, where he studied screenplay and novel writing. After writing many screenplays on the subject of the British Airship Programme, he wrote: The Airshipmen The Ghost of Captain Hinchliffe The Airshipmen Trilogy. |
"A gripping story masterfully told, the book reverberates in the reader's mind long after it is over."
Steven Bauer, Hollow Tree Press. "Written on an epic scale—a fine tribute to those who risked everything." Jeffrey Keeten, Goodreads Top Book Reviewer. "This is a big story, layered and cinematic. One that I did not want to end" Edith Schorah, Editor. |
"This is definitely a book I'll be sharing, once I've read it a couple more times."
Goodreads Reviewer. "I must mention the quality of the writing. I couldn't wish for better plot evolution and follow through. Multiple plots and intrigues abound. In critical thinking, this author has presented an epic historical fiction which compels us to learn more about an era many of us had never heard about! Kudos to this author. An incredible work!" Amazon Reviewer. |
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Interview with BBC Radio
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Interview with the Airship Heritage Trust
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The Airshipmen
a tale of love, betrayal & political intrigue.
Based on a True Story
This is an epic love story about the men who flew the great airships during the Golden Age. After a tragic accident aboard the R38/ZR-2 in 1921, American Lou Remington, falls in love with his English nurse and joins the British Airship Program - a morass of infighting and political intrigue - where two teams are set against each other, one to fly to Canada, the other to Egypt and India. Only one team will survive this deadly competition.
The R38/ZR-2 tragedy hangs over the novel like a black cloud and the question becomes not if one of the ships will crash and burn, but when, and who will live and who will die. More About The Airshipmen This historical novel, set during the age of innovation in travel, fashion and style, spans two continents and tells of two giant airships and two great loves. It is also the story of the British Airship Program, with intrigue and infighting at the highest levels, seen through the eyes of two men and the women they adore: The heroic American, Lou Remington, survivor of the tragic Anglo/American Airship R38/ZR-2 accident of 1921, and his English nurse; and the charismatic Brigadier General, Lord Thomson of Cardington and his exotic Romanian princess. Thomson sets up the program as a high-stakes competition, pitting two teams against each other, one from the private sector, the other from government. Each team must design and build their own massive airship, modeled as ocean liners of the sky. The government ship, Cardington R101, in all its titanic splendor, becomes the symbol of the British Empire. But is she too bloated and too vainglorious to stay afloat? Throughout the hoopla, the private ship, Howden R100, grows silently in her shed, like her team led by Barnes Wallis and Nevil Shute, mostly ignored and unsung, but ready to perform her awesome, terrifying task. Lou Remington's mission: To keep the peace between the warring parties and help prevent another national tragedy during the airships’ required intercontinental voyages to Canada and India. But the misguided passions that drive Thomson threaten to hinder Lou’s goals and forever change the lives of all those involved, foreshadowing the demise of the British Empire. The Airshipmen is a gripping and suspenseful story of love and redemption. It simmers with every human foible: ambition, greed, deceit, spinelessness, devotion, duty, loyalty, and pure evil, boiling over into tragedy and murder. An extraordinary blend of real and fictitious characters leave the reader uplifted, fulfilled and pining for the awesome, larger-than-life people they have grown to love and admire. |
Cardington R101 at the tower 1929
Cardington R101 over Bedford 1929
Howden R100 over York Minster after launching 1929
Cardington R101 over London 1930
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the ghost of captain hinchliffe a novel
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VIDEO: THE GHOST OF CAPTAIN HINCHLIFFE
BASED ON A TRUE STORY Millie Hinchliffe lives a near-perfect existence, tucked away with her loving fighter-pilot husband in their picture-postcard cottage in the glorious English countryside. As a mother, artist, classical pianist and avid gardener, Millie has it all. But when ‘Hinch’ goes missing with a beautiful heiress over the Atlantic in a bid to set a flying record, her world is shaken to the core. Heartbroken and facing ruin, she questions the validity of messages she receives from the ‘other side’— messages that her husband is desperate to help her. In this suspenseful tale of unconditional love, loss and wild adventure, Hinch charges Millie with an extraordinary mission: Put a stop to the British Airship Program and prevent another national tragedy! Elsie Mackay and Captain Hinchliffe Elsie Mackay, said to be the richest woman in Britain, has a great ambition. She aims to be the first woman to fly the Atlantic from east to west. She seeks out the pilot, said to be the best in the world, Captain Hinchliffe, a WW1 fighter pilot, who had been shot down by a German Gotha during a night raid. He had been badly injured, losing an eye, but miraculously landed his warplane in the canopy of a tree in Nieppe Wood. Even with only one eye, Hinchliffe is a superb pilot, licensed to fly most planes. Millie, his wife, has complete confidence in just about anything her husband sets out to do, including his long distance flights to Egypt and India. Elsie Mackay witnessed many women attempting the Atlantic flight. One of them was Ruth Elder who had failed in a Stinson 'Detroiter', ditching in the sea off the Azores. Elder and her co-pilot, George Halderman, were lucky enough to be picked up by a passing ship. Elsie decided to use the same type of plane for her own attempt. The plane was shipped for assembly from Detroit to Brooklands, near Weybridge, in Surrey, an auto track which was also an airfield. As soon as the plane arrived, Elsie and Hinchliffe set to work assembling and preparing it for testing. |
Daily Enterprise Newspaper March 15th - two days after Elsie and Hinchliffe leave Cranwell
Elsie Mackay's Stinson Detroiter
'Endeavour'
March 15th headline in the
American Evening Express.
Still no word.
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"Riveting, Spine-tingling."
Daily Mirror Journalist, David Wright
" There were heartbreaking moments that made me cry."
Amazon Reviewer
"Millie Hinchliffe and Elsie Mackay are so vividly portrayed they still haunt me."
Jeffrey Keeten, Goodreads
Top Book Reviewer.
Daily Mirror Journalist, David Wright
" There were heartbreaking moments that made me cry."
Amazon Reviewer
"Millie Hinchliffe and Elsie Mackay are so vividly portrayed they still haunt me."
Jeffrey Keeten, Goodreads
Top Book Reviewer.
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