About this season
Documentary following the engineers and aviators who battle to keep the UK's most historic warplanes in the air.
Episodes (6)
1. Spitfire
Aired 5 March 2020 • 60 min
On the legendary Battle of Britain airfield at Biggin Hill, a dedicated team of young engineers fight to restore a Spitfire that fought over Europe in 1944 to flight.
2. Douglas C47
Aired 12 March 2020 • 60 min
A US Army Air Force C47 that dropped paratroopers on D Day is at the centre of one of the UK’s most ambitious warbird rebuilds…but will it be ready to carry the engineering team and its pilot owner to the 75th anniversary celebrations?
3. Westland Wessex
Aired 19 March 2020 • 60 min
A team of engineers fight to return a veteran Westland Wessex helicopter to the skies – 30 years after its last flight – in time for a star appearance at one of the UK’s biggest air shows.
4. Piper Cub
Aired 26 March 2020 • 60 min
A group of amateur pilots find their light plane has a glorious war record – and launch an ambitious project to rebuild the Piper Cub and restore its military markings in time for an epic flight to France to take part in the 75th anniversary of D Day.
5. Aeronca Defender
Aired 2 April 2020 • 60 min
Aircraft restoration expert Mark Masters and his son James rebuild a 1943 US Army Aeronca Defender liaison plane for its German owner. What starts out as a simple repair turns into a major rebuild as work exposes the toll time has taken on its wooden wins.
6. L39 Albatros
Aired 9 April 2020 • 60 min
Following businessman and racing driver Steve Hartley’s quest for speed on board his own warplane. His L39 Cold War era jet was rescued from a hangar in the Baltic States but a team of ex-RAF and Navy engineers must now work out how it works…