Warbird Workshop

The engineering team at the Biggin HIll Heritage Hangar begin the rebuild of RAF Spitfire MJ772, a war veteran fighter that saw action in the skies over the D Day beaches and the battle to liberate Europe. The ambitious restoration begins with the left wing, torn off in a crash landing in a field in Kent after an engine failure. Chief engineer Franca Tambascia and his young team must replace the main spars and repair damaged metalwork twisted and buckled in the accident.

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.

A team of engineers fight to return a veteran Westland Wessex helicopter to the skies - 30 years after its last flight.

Aircraft restoration expert Mark Masters and his son James rebuild a 1943 US Army Aeronca Defender liaison plane for its German owner.

Members of the Lincoln Aero Club discover a war hero in their rural hangar.? Golf Oscar Romeo was used as an artillery spotter plane by the US Army in North Africa and at the siege of Monte Cassino in Italy.Engineer Rob Stephens takes on the massive task of stripping 1980s fabric and paintwork off the plane and restoring it to its military markings at his workshop in the Fens. There's a deadline to meet - the owners want to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day with an ambitious flight across the English Channel.Restoration specialist Ken Riordan begins the painstaking task of hand-stitching new fabric onto the Cub's wood and aluminium skeleton but then Rob spots a problem with two vital components that help hold on the wings.The deadline is looming – and then the weather springs one last surprise on the team…

Businessman Steve Hartley has dedicated his fortune to a quest for speed. He already owns a McLaren Formula 1 car and two helicopters. But his latest project leaves both standing.? His L39 jet is a Cold War-era plane rescued from the corner of a hangar in the Baltic States.At St Athan in Wales, engineer John Sparks and his team of ex-Navy and RAF? engineers begin the task of reassembling the Czech-built jet from nine parts delivered by lorry. In a hangar that was once one of the most secret places in NATO, dedicated to servicing the RAF's front line jets, British engineers must begin puzzling out the workings of an Eastern Bloc plane that they once regarded as the enemy.The first engine run goes well... then the team hit a major hurdle.? An ejection seat is found to be unusable and Steve must launch a worldwide search for a replacement. In a real-life story with some of the ingredients of a thriller, his quest comes up with an unusual solution...buying another jet.? But will his first plane ever take to the air?

With no plans to guide them, an elite team of expert engineers re-create a unique two-seater version of the legendary Hawker Hurricane fighter.There's a last-minute hitch when the mighty Rolls Royce Merlin engine fails to fire but the team finally make the plane that - with the Spitfire - fought and won the Battle of Britain airworthy in time of a tense test flight.In time for the 80th anniversary of the battle, the Hurricane returns to the wartime airfield at Biggin Hill in Kent where it starts work as a passenger plane flying adrenaline junkies anxious for a taste of what Churchill's The Few experienced.

The epic battle to rebuild The Waterbird, the Royal Navy's first seaplane.In 1911 Waterbird made history by taking off from Lake Windermere using a revolutionary float that inspired the design of every successful seaplane built over the following century. The Waterbird was championed by Winston Churchill who saw it as a war-winning weapon against the Kaiser's Germany.Filmed over 12 years and beset by financial problems, the labour intensive project tests veteran engineer Gerry Cooper as each component has to be cut from wood by hand before, eventually, the Waterbird is ready to fly.

A Sea King rescue helicopter had a long RAF career safeguarding the UK's coasts. But before it can return to the skies a new engine must be installed, then the giant rotor blades and a 1970s computer system also needs reviving.The team of military veterans working on the project in Chard, Somerset are determined to put the Sea King back in the air – and with a woman in the pilot's seat. Businessman Andrew Whitehead believes the six-ton chopper should be used to encourage more women to fly and his passion project's aim is to put his partner Jane at the controls. After a test flight and an emotional reunion with former crew members, Jane gets to try the captain's seat for size on a hair-raising flight in the restored historic helicopter.

On a wartime bomber base in Lincolnshire, veteran engineer Gerry Cooper rebuilds two pre-war biplanes with glorious histories; the US Navy N3N biplane was rescued in ruins after a career as a crop sprayer in Arizona, and the Morane Saulnier 315 flew with the French Air Force but crashed on a beach in Devon.