Spitfire: The People’s Plane

By BBC World Service

What's Spitfire: The People’s Plane about?

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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Spitfire: The People’s Plane episodes:

07.10.2020
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...
07.03.2020
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...
06.26.2020
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...
06.19.2020
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.
06.12.2020
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...
06.05.2020
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...
05.29.2020
Makeshift wedding
Spitfire production is getting back on track, but the search for locations continues. Out into the surrounding countryside, from brickworks to country manors to empty fields, the dispersal continues. Presenter: Tuppence Middleton Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight Editors: Chris Ledgard and...
05.22.2020
Makeshift factories
Amid the smouldering ruins of the Spitfire factory, a new strategy emerges: instead of building the plane in one factory, it will be built piece by piece in garages, workshops and laundries. Presenter: Tuppence Middleton Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight Editors:...
05.15.2020
Crowdfunding
The struggle against the Nazis has to be fought by ordinary people as much as by the army and air force. Communities across Britain are enlisted to raise funds for Spitfires. Villages, sports clubs, trades unions and churches devise money-making...
05.08.2020
Phoenix
The Spitfire factory was a priority target for German bombers. The workers endured raid after raid. If vital Spitfires are going to continue to be built, then a plan is desperately needed. Presenter: Tuppence Middleton Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight Editors:...
05.05.2020
Introducing Spitfire: The People’s Plane
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.

What's Spitfire: The People’s Plane about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Spitfire: The People’s Plane episodes:

Scramble

Teenage pilots

Faster and higher

New planes, new rules

The Shilling factor

Women take control

Makeshift wedding

Makeshift factories

Crowdfunding

Phoenix

Introducing Spitfire: The People’s Plane