Author - David Dennington

"My heart rate as the tragedy unfolded was escalating and the detail before, during and after the crash was gripping.  The characters were intriguing.
Terrific!"  
David Wright, Former journalist with the Daily Mirror

Cardington R101 at Tower

The Airshipmen
a novel
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.

PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 18th 2015 AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON & CREATESPACE.

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David talks about The Airshipmen

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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’s 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.

Howden R100 Over York Minster after launching 1929

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, 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.
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​Lou’s crewmen appreciated Charlotte’s beautiful figure and the long legs that her prim nurse’s uniform could not conceal. She leaned in closely to Lou’s face, pulling the thread tight, drawing the wound together. When she spoke, he felt her warm, sweet breath on his face. He breathed in her lingering perfume.
  "That scent is heavenly. And my God, so is she!" he thought.  
The distraction helped dull the pain and fill the terrible void in his gut. “Beautiful perfume,” he mumbled, closing his eyes, then becoming immediately annoyed with himself. 
    “Je Reviens,” she said softly.
    “Je Reviens,” he repeated.
​Charlotte looked at Lou for the first time. She hadn’t been listening to their banter. “Is that your name—Lucky?” she asked.
    “No, it’s Lou Remington.”
    “Lucky Lou!” Charlotte said.
    "Those closest to me call me ‘Remy.’ ” 
                                                                                                                    The Airshipmen

Cardington R101 over London 1929