Karachi Mast

Karachi Shed

A site was located outside Karachi and in 1927 the construction of an airship mast, hydrogen plant and hanger began. The Mast followed the same basic designs as the Cardington mast, with the same height and construction method. The only exception was that the base of the mast contained buildings followed along the baseline in an octagonal shape. The airship base also contained a hydrogen plant in order that the ships can be regassed at the mast.

The gasometers contained enough gas to refill the R101, at a capacity of 5.5 million cft of gas. A airship shed was erected which was larger than the original Cardington sheds and of a simpler design. This was decreed that the slanting side areas were not needed as it was not to be a constructional shed, and the sides of the hangers at Cardington contained a lot of the offices and storage space during construction of a ship.

The shed was also designed with the future in mind as it was 850ft long , 170ft high and 180ft wide. This would have fitted the new R102 class ship which was designed to be some 803ft long. Construction of the facility cost some £ 93,000 in 1928 ( £3,500,000 - 2002 prices).

The Shed and mast, although never used by an airship remained erected until well after India's independence from Britain, and later territory tansferred to Pakistan. The shed was later dismantled and the steel was used for bridges and other smaller buildings along the vast Pakistan Railways. As with some of the other proposed sites, the Karachi site is the location of the International Airport today.