11 episodes
Spitfire: The People’s Plane BBC World Service
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- History
Before a plane could save a country, the people had to build it. This is the story of a beautiful and deadly icon of resistance, built and flown against extraordinary odds.
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Scramble
15th September 1940 was the moment the Germans chose to drive the Spitfire from the battlefield. The people on the ground, guiding the Spitfires - spotters, plotters and fitters- will play a vital role in a day that changed the course of World War Two.
Presenter: Tuppence Middleton
Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight
Editors: Chris Ledgard and Kirsten Lass -
Teenage pilots
How does it feel to fly the plane that won the war? Two Spitfire pilots - one 18 year old from the Battle of Britain, one from today’s
RAF - compare their experiences of unparalleled ecstasy and paralysing fear.
Presenter: Tuppence Middleton
Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight
Editors: Chris Ledgard and Kirsten Lass -
Faster and higher
It wasn’t just Spitfire production that needed to escape the bombs; the designers of the plane also need to find a safe place to improve the Spitfire to deal with Germany’s latest fighter developments.
Presenter: Tuppence Middleton
Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight
Editors: Chris Ledgard and Kirsten Lass -
New planes, new rules
Ramping up Spitfire production requires another new factory. Bigger, better, full of cutting-edge machinery and the best workers in the business. But it’s a catastrophe – one that nearly costs Britain dearly.
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The Shilling factor
As brilliant as the Spitfire is, it has one major flaw. Take her into a steep dive and fuel can’t reach the engine. A solution is urgently needed. That’s a job for the fastest woman in Britain: champion motorcycle racer and pioneering engineer, Beatrice Shilling.
Presenter: Tuppence Middleton
Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight
Editors: Chris Ledgard and Kirsten Lass
The audio for this programme was updated on 16 June 2020. -
Women take control
The new Spitfires need to be flown to RAF bases desperate for reinforcements. That’s the job of the ATA Girls - the female flyers of World War Two, some of the first women in Britain to receive the same wages as their male counterparts.
Presenter: Tuppence Middleton
Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight
Editors: Chris Ledgard and Kirsten Lass