BBC – Spitfire Two Seconds to Kill (1976)

Two-part series looking at the development of the Spitfire and its role in WWII.

1.Two Seconds to Kill
Raymond Baxter, a former fighter pilot himself, talks to some of the men who built and flew the plane that played a key part in preventing the invasion of Britain in 1940. We learn how the Spitfire narrowly escaped being called the Shrew and find out about the significance of the elliptical wings. Douglas Bader explains the flying tactics Spitfire pilots used against Messerschmitts and Gordon Mitchell recalls his father Reginald, who designed the plane but died before it went into full-scale production.

2. Forty Years On
In the second of two documentaries looking at the development of the Spitfire and its role in World War II, the programme talks to Battle of Britain pilots and the men and women who built the aircraft and kept them airworthy throughout the war. It includes an extraordinary story from a female member of the ground crew who one day found herself unexpectedly airborne, clinging to the outside of a plane.