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In hangars and machine shops the length and breadth of Britain a brave bunch of engineers and aviators are battling to keep the UK's most historic warplanes in the air. From Spitfires to C47 paratroop planes, Cold War jets to helicopters, the skies of 2020 are home to a growing fleet of antique warbirds – 20th century military aircraft rebuilt or even recreated from scratch.Now Warbird Workshop is climbing into the cockpit with the pilots and professional engineers committed to returning planes that fought and won wars to the skies. We'll watch as vintage engines are coaxed back into life and restorers puzzle out the problems presented by aircraft designed before their grand dads were born.And we'll capture the nostalgia and the drama of first test flights as iconic fighters like the Spitfire soar into the sky again after rebuilds that can take decades.
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.
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