The outer cover was also giving cause for concern.
An inspection on 20 January 1930 by Michael Rope and J. W. W. Dyer, head of the Fabric Section at Cardington, revealed serious deterioration of the fabric on the top of the airship in areas where rainwater had accumulated, and a decision was made to add reinforcement bands along the whole length of the envelope.
Further tests undertaken by Rope had shown that its strength had deteriorated alarmingly.
The original specified strength for the cover was a breaking strain of 700 lb per foot run (10 kN/m): the actual strength of samples was at best 85 lb (1.24 kN/m).
The calculated load at a speed of 76 mph (122 km/h) was 143 lb per foot run (2.09 kN/m).
 A further inspection of the cover on 2 June found many small tears had developed.
 An immediate decision was taken to replace the pre-doped cover with a new cover which would be doped after fitting.
This would take place following the flights which had been planned for June with the purpose of displaying R.101 to the public at the Hendon Air Show; for these flights the cover would be further reinforced.
Confirmation of the poor state of the cover came on the morning of 23 June, when R.101 was walked out of the shed.
It had been at the mast for less than an hour in a moderate wind when an alarming rippling movement was observed and shortly afterwards, a 140 ft (43 m) tear appeared on the right-hand side of the airship.
 It was decided to repair this at the mast and to add more strengthening bands.
This was done by the end of the day but the next day a second, shorter, split occurred.
This was dealt with in the same way, and it was decided that if the reinforcing bands were added to the repaired area the scheduled appearance at the RAF pageant at Hendon could be made.

R.101 made three flights in June, totalling 29 hours 34 minutes duration.
 On 26 June a short proving flight was made, the controls – no longer servo-operated – being described as "powerful and fully adequate".
 At the end of this flight, the R.101 was found to be "flying heavy" and two tons of fuel oil had to be jettisoned in order to lighten the airship for mooring.
This was initially attributed to changes in air temperature during the flight.
 On the following two days, R.101 made two flights, the first to take part in the rehearsal for the RAF display at Hendon and the second to take place in the display itself.
 These flights revealed a problem with lift, considerable jettisoning of ballast being necessary.
During this time Lt.
Cmd.
Atherstone was replaced by Capt.
G.F. Meager, who was normally the 1st Officer on R.100.
Captain Meager was "alarmed" by the heaviness of R.101, as after 10 hours of flight R.100 would have been considerably light due to fuel consumption.
Meager observed that it was the first time he had "the wind up" in an airship.
Meager had dropped a ton of ballast, and in order to weigh off the R.101 for mooring, Flight Lieutenant Irwin was required to dump 10 tons of water and fuel oil.
An inspection of the gasbags revealed a large number of holes, a result of the letting out-of the gasbags which allowed them to foul projections on the girders of the framework.
When the gas bag restraints were loosened to allow more gas capacity (R.101B) it came to the attention of Dr. Eckener.
His concern was conveyed to Willy von Meister, the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei representative in America, who was visiting Luftschiffbau Zeppelin at Lake Constance.
Dr. Eckener was concerned that the gas bags would be holed by wearing upon the structure and loss of gas would occur.
Willy von Meister stopped on his way back to America to visit his mother and met with Lord Thompson to convey Dr. Eckener's offer of technical help.
Lord Thompson listened cordially then thanked von Meister and informed him that padding was being installed and British designers felt that would suffice.

Concern was also raised over the possibility of loss of gas through the valves, which were of an innovative design by Michael Rope.
 Airship valves are intended primarily to vent gas automatic
The outer cover was also giving cause for concern. An inspection on 20 January 1930 by Michael Rope and J. W. W. Dyer, head of the Fabric Section at Cardington, revealed serious deterioration of the fabric on the top of the airship in areas where rainwater had accumulated, and a decision was made to add reinforcement bands along the whole length of the envelope. Further tests undertaken by Rope had shown that its strength had deteriorated alarmingly. The original specified strength for the cover was a breaking strain of 700 lb per foot run (10 kN/m): the actual strength of samples was at best 85 lb (1.24 kN/m). The calculated load at a speed of 76 mph (122 km/h) was 143 lb per foot run (2.09 kN/m).  A further inspection of the cover on 2 June found many small tears had developed.  An immediate decision was taken to replace the pre-doped cover with a new cover which would be doped after fitting. This would take place following the flights which had been planned for June with the purpose of displaying R.101 to the public at the Hendon Air Show; for these flights the cover would be further reinforced. Confirmation of the poor state of the cover came on the morning of 23 June, when R.101 was walked out of the shed. It had been at the mast for less than an hour in a moderate wind when an alarming rippling movement was observed and shortly afterwards, a 140 ft (43 m) tear appeared on the right-hand side of the airship.  It was decided to repair this at the mast and to add more strengthening bands. This was done by the end of the day but the next day a second, shorter, split occurred. This was dealt with in the same way, and it was decided that if the reinforcing bands were added to the repaired area the scheduled appearance at the RAF pageant at Hendon could be made.
R.101 made three flights in June, totalling 29 hours 34 minutes duration.  On 26 June a short proving flight was made, the controls – no longer servo-operated – being described as "powerful and fully adequate".  At the end of this flight, the R.101 was found to be "flying heavy" and two tons of fuel oil had to be jettisoned in order to lighten the airship for mooring. This was initially attributed to changes in air temperature during the flight.  On the following two days, R.101 made two flights, the first to take part in the rehearsal for the RAF display at Hendon and the second to take place in the display itself.  These flights revealed a problem with lift, considerable jettisoning of ballast being necessary. During this time Lt. Cmd. Atherstone was replaced by Capt. G.F. Meager, who was normally the 1st Officer on R.100. Captain Meager was "alarmed" by the heaviness of R.101, as after 10 hours of flight R.100 would have been considerably light due to fuel consumption. Meager observed that it was the first time he had "the wind up" in an airship. Meager had dropped a ton of ballast, and in order to weigh off the R.101 for mooring, Flight Lieutenant Irwin was required to dump 10 tons of water and fuel oil. An inspection of the gasbags revealed a large number of holes, a result of the letting out-of the gasbags which allowed them to foul projections on the girders of the framework. When the gas bag restraints were loosened to allow more gas capacity (R.101B) it came to the attention of Dr. Eckener. His concern was conveyed to Willy von Meister, the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei representative in America, who was visiting Luftschiffbau Zeppelin at Lake Constance. Dr. Eckener was concerned that the gas bags would be holed by wearing upon the structure and loss of gas would occur. Willy von Meister stopped on his way back to America to visit his mother and met with Lord Thompson to convey Dr. Eckener's offer of technical help. Lord Thompson listened cordially then thanked von Meister and informed him that padding was being installed and British designers felt that would suffice. 
Concern was also raised over the possibility of loss of gas through the valves, which were of an innovative design by Michael Rope.  Airship valves are intended primarily to vent gas automatic
R101