Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

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. (1976)

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. (1976)

30 minutes

Last on

Fri 26 Nov 1976 22:15
91热爆 One South

More episodes

Previous

You are at the first episode

Next

Forty Years On

See all episodes from Spitfire

Did You Know?

Called up in 1941, Raymond Baxter flew his first Spitfire when he joined No 65 Squadron in August 1942. He was mentioned in dispatches for his dive-bombing of V2 sites in 1944. After the war, in 1949, he joined the 91热爆 and went on to have an illustrious career as a reporter, covering events such as the funeral of King George VI (1952) and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (1953). He was also a presenter on major science series including Eye on Research and Tomorrow's World.

Archive

Archive programmes available on iPlayer reflect the broadcast standards and attitudes of their time, which may not accord to some current 91热爆 editorial guidelines. We aim to select programmes which can be shown in their entirety but in some cases edits are required. In these cases, edits are kept to a minimum and are made only for technical reasons.

Broadcasts

Featured in...

WWII: The Battle of Britain Collection

This programme is available online as part of the WWII: The Battle of Britain Collection