Spitfire Ace
First Of The Few
Not just a celebration of the iconic emblem of the Battle of Britain, Spitfire Ace, also has an element of reality TV.
While the famous fighter plane takes centre stage, the program also tests modern-day pilots in WWII conditions as four young aviators compete for a nine-hour training course in a rare two-seater Spitfire.
Nine hours of operational training is all a Battle of Britain pilot would have received before he faced the might of Hitler's dreaded Luftwaffe.
This glorious four-part series features dramatic footage of the mother of all aerial battles, but the real stars are the veteran pilots and their heroic accounts are compelling.
The modern-day pilots are instructed by Brian O'Brian, a dashing figure with flowing hair and a spotted cravat, and Carolyn Grace, who owns the two-seater training Spitfire.
Carolyn has her own poignant story and she is the only woman in the world qualified to pilot the fighter. "Learning to fly the Spitfire after other planes is like comparing a VW Beetle to a Formula One car," she says. "It is hard to handle and a major responsibility to fly."
The plane itself claimed the first Spitfire "kill" over the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. It made 176 operational sorties but always managed to avoid serious damage.
The four young volunteers (John Sweet, Ben Westoby-Brooks, David Mallon and Christian Baker) are first put through their paces in a Tiger Moth - the plane used for preliminary training by the Battle of Britain pilots.
The two strongest pilots then get the chance to fulfil every young boy's dream - to fly a Spitfire for themselves. The 21st-century Spitfire class is then narrowed down to just one pilot who goes on to learn how to fly a Spitfire in combat - quite a prize.
Documentary Subtitles CC PG
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Spitfire Ace
Dogfight
In part two of this thrilling four-part series about the most iconic symbol of the Battle of Britain, the number of modern-day pilots vying for a chance to have nine hours combat training in a vintage Spitfire has been halved.
Tonight, just two of the modern-day pilots will go through to learn the dos and don'ts of learning to fly a Spitfire in combat.
They will also find out more about the challenge that faced the RAF in the summer of 1940.
Veterans discuss the fighter pilot's life - on duty from three in the morning 'til ten at night; facing the enemy having never before fired their guns; how silk scarves saved lives; what it was like to be fighting one minute and chasing girls the next; and the crushing pain of watching best friends dying day after day.
As the two remaining young pilots undergo three hours training in basic Spitfire operation they face the rigours of g-force and blacking out, before one pilot is finally chosen to complete the full nine hours of advanced operational training.
The successful pilot will get the chance to fulfil every young boy's dream - to fly a Spitfire for themselves and master some of the aerobatic manoeuvers that made the Spitfire such a legend.
Documentary Subtitles CC G
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Spitfire Ace
Command And Control
The best of the four young pilots competing to learn to fly a Spitfire in combat has been chosen.
The successful pilot, who goes through the same training that Battle of Britain pilots underwent, learns navigation on a trip to Britain's south coast, scene of much of the fiercest fighting in 1940.
Part three of this thrilling four-part series, Spitfire Ace, also looks at the remarkable command and control systems put in place during the Battle of Britain to even up the odds against Hitler's dreaded Luftwaffe.
It emerges that contrary to popular stereotypes, Britain was highly organised and led by ruthless professionals who used technology to the full.
Such attributes are usually associated with the Germans, but the Luftwaffe, led by a romantic amateur, failed almost completely to understand the realities of the battle and instead relied on a 'warrior hero' ethos, throwing away all their advantages.
But the British made their own tactical errors too, and the successful pilot finds out for himself the dangers of flying a Spitfire in close formation.
Manchester's David Mallon is the successful modern-day pilot chosen to complete the same operational training given to Battle of Britain pilots. As well as learning essential navigational skills, he must also grasp the death-defying aerobatics that saved many veteran WWII pilots.
Documentary Subtitles CC G
