Spitfire: The People’s Plane

<p>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.</p><p>Presenter: Tuppence Middleton Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight Editors: Chris Ledgard and Kirsten Lass</p>

<p>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.</p><p>Presenter: Tuppence Middleton Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight Editors: Chris Ledgard and Kirsten Lass</p>

<p>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.</p><p>Presenter: Tuppence Middleton Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight Editors: Chris Ledgard and Kirsten Lass</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p><p>Presenter: Tuppence Middleton Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight Editors: Chris Ledgard and Kirsten Lass</p><p>The audio for this programme was updated on 16 June 2020.</p>

<p>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.</p><p>Presenter: Tuppence Middleton Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight Editors: Chris Ledgard and Kirsten Lass</p>

<p>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.</p><p>Presenter: Tuppence Middleton Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight Editors: Chris Ledgard and Kirsten Lass</p>

<p>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.</p><p>Presenter: Tuppence Middleton Producers: Alasdair Cross and Emily Knight Editors: Chris Ledgard and Kirsten Lass</p>