Warplane Workshop: Season 3, Episode 1

3 - 1: The D-Day Spitfire

Putting viewers in the cockpit of the planes that wrote history, the third series of Warplane Workshop traverses the globe to find rare aircraft and meet the people who are saving them. From the USA to New Zealand, and from the landing grounds of Normandy to the killing fields of Arnhem, its stars include two iconic Spitfires and the First World War biplane that made the first landing on an aircraft carrier at sea. We jump into action with American, French and Dutch parachutists recreating one of World War II's most daring operations aboard a transport plane that's still scarred by bullet holes from the real raid. And we meet some of the veterans who braved the lethal skies over the D-Day beaches 80 years ago. The opening episode follows a Spitfire that made history in 1944 by becoming the first Allied plane to land in liberated France. MK912 is rebuilt by engineers at Biggin Hill, and it's a tense mission for the test pilot assigned to conduct its first flight...