Spitfire: The People’s Plane BBC World Service

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

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

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

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.

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.

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