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- (engine drones)

- (wind whistles)

- (string music)

MATT JONES: The more you forget that you're in a machine,

the more they feel like your own wings.

The Spitfire, it's a symbol, an emblem...

A beacon of hope.

For me, the Spitfire is freedom.

REPORTER: British pilot Matt Jones and his team

are trying to set a new world record in a Silver Spitfire.

They hope to fly the World War Two fighter plane

around the world in just four months.

MATT: You know, this aeroplane is responsible in many ways

for the free world we live in.

In World War Two, the Spitfire defended the skies

of the Allied powers from enemy assault.

And what we've always wanted to do

is inspire people through this aircraft.

- I'll never forget this day, ever.

MATT: And to do that, I think we need to do something

that no-one has done before.

For us, our mission is to fly that aeroplane around the world.

Of the 30 countries we're going to it fought in 26 of them.

If I sit back and think about the whole trip, I think it's crazy.

It's a very specialist business.

Things can go wrong very quickly.

- (thudding, rustling)

MATT: More people have landed on the moon or been into space

than will have done what we're going to do.

TIM PEAKE: You must be excited but also nervous.

- There's so much that's gone into it.

I really feel that kind of, that burden of making sure

we complete what we've set out, say we can do.

TIM: What you're looking at here is a vintage,

single-engine World War II fighter.

Now to fly that round the world in VMC,

which is Visual Meteorological Conditions,

so, not going into cloud, you know, not going into icing.

Having to avoid any bad weather.

This is challenging flying.

GROUND CONTROL: And lift-off.

TIM: You can kind of put it all together

when you've seen it from space and you realise the magnitude of,

of what this undertaking is.

The mountain ranges, the fog, the icing.

- (crackling)

You know, over the desert, the temperatures

they're going to experience.

You know, they're gonna have to cover a lot of water as well.

Things will go wrong, there is no doubt about it.

It's a long way to fly, it's a lot of hours in the air.

If you make the wrong choice then it could be catastrophic.

- (engine drones)

MATT: We are just custodians of these aircraft.

We want to pass them on to the next generation.

We want to carry on telling the story

that this aeroplane started telling in the 1940s.

- (uplifting instrumental music)

- (switches click)

MATT: The Spitfire has really always been there in my life

and the truth is, I think, I never really grew up.

To sit here now talking about

the possibility of doing something so spectacular,

fills me with an enormous amount of excitement

and pride at the same time.

BEN UTTLEY: You got family at home?

- Yeah, I've got a girlfriend and two stepsons.

We live together now in Devon.

In that respect this is a bad time to do this.

I should've done it when I was younger

but the opportunity wasn't there then and it is now.

- I want him to go. I know how much it means to him.

I know how important it is to him.

I want him to be himself and fulfil his...his dreams.

MATT: The aircraft we're going to take on this trip: MJ271,

was a defender of freedom, a defender of democracy.

She flew 51 missions during the war

and helped free Europe from Nazi control.

It was a very unusual opportunity that came about for us

to take this aeroplane and actually restore it, not build a new one.

- A lot of projects these days

are built from wreckage dug out of the ground.

In this case, this aeroplane had survived and been in a museum

since it came out of service.

Because of where the aeroplane's going and the length of the legs,

we've added extra fuel tanks...

MATT: Which extends its range from 350 nautical

to nearly a thousand nautical miles.

The restoration route planning, permissions and specialist training.

It's not possible to do this... on your own.

There's no-one else I could have called and said,

"Hey, Steve, shall we do this?" And he immediately said, "Yes."

STEVE: How many people in the world look to the Spitfire

as a symbol of freedom for mankind?

It is something that touches the very soul of man.

MATT: We have a lot of work to do if we're gonna be ready.

We're gonna fly about 130 hours on the trip

and we're gonna be flying over stretches of water

and mountains that are pretty inhospitable.

We need to get back in four months.

After that we run out of logistical help.

Our support aircraft will go back to the people who own it.

STEVE: We've got to get up through Alaska

and we've gotta get over the Bering Straits before the winter sets in,

because if we leave that bit too late

we're gonna get ourselves in trouble.

MATT: We're going to places such as Russia

where the flights are 450 nautical miles

and there is no information about

what the airfield is like at the other end.

We'll get to Japan at probably typhoon season.

There are huge hurdles.

We can't get permissions through China.

The only other option is to go through Hong Kong

but we're being told that's impossible.

Smog in India, fatigue in the latter stages of the trip

could represent real challenges for us.

We need to get back by the end of the year

before the weather in Europe just closes us down completely.

We just won't be able to get home

and then we'll have done it all for nothing.

- (hangar door opening)

MATT: I can't believe it.

After two and a half years of painstaking work,

MJ271 is reborn today with her modern registration:

Golf, India, Romeo, Tango, Yankee.

Or "GIRTY" as we call her.

You know, you see this aeroplane now from a distance

and it just looks exquisite.

And then you get up close and you can see its personality.

You look around and you can feel the people who flew it,

the people who fought in it.

WINSTON CHURCHILL: Never in the field of human conflict

was so much owed by so many to so few.

- (exhales deeply)

Wow.

Knowing what we're about to attempt to set off and do in it,

I'm...I'm really quite overwhelmed.

- (birdsong)

STEVE: We're at Goodwood in the South of England.

And today is the launch day of the longest flight.

- Smithy, I wanna do it. I wanna see all the stuff go in.

But these bits can go now.

It does bring home, you know,

when you go off and do something like this,

there is an adventure, but there is risk as well.

And, like I've said, I've done everything I can

to mitigate that risk.

We need a team, a small number of exceptional individuals.

- I'm ex-Royal Air Force, Battle of Britain memorial flights,

so flown lots of Spitfires over the years.

There's something spiritual, almost magical about this aeroplane.

- Taking this beautiful piece

of British engineering around the world.

The achievement for me is keep the aeroplane flying and keeping it safe

and make sure everybody comes back in one piece.

- Yeah, I've gotta go and just have some water, sit down.

I wanna say goodbye to you guys and then...

Guys, can you stay out for this? Yeah, thanks, mate.

BEN: You know I started filmmaking

to tell inspiring stories.

And this is something that I just couldn't turn down.

- Right, one minute and then chocks out, please.

- No matter what paperwork we've got,

we may find that we're turned away based on somebody having a bad day.

That's gonna be a huge challenge to overcome.

STEVE: You just go and make life work, mate.

You grab it and you make it work.

I've flown helicopters from the North Pole to the South Pole

and various other expeditions.

To be able to take this to the world...

is a really exciting opportunity.

MATT: To be honest, it's the first time since I lived with my parents

that I've ever felt settled in my life.

You know, the adventure is fantastic and I'm sure once we get out on it,

you know, it will be amazing.

My biggest fear is something happening while I'm away

and not being there for them.

- (engine starting)

- So this is erm...from Tom Cruise.

"Here you are after all the meticulous planning

about to embark on a historic adventure of epic proportions.

As you say, pilots' Everest.

And in keeping with the time-borne-honoured

fighter-pilot tradition, I'm shaking your hands

and passing each of you a token of good luck and blue skies.

I'm looking forward to hearing all about it on your safe return home.

God speed, Tom."

- (engine drones)

MATT: Be good to our Spitfire departing to the north.

The journey begins.

- Flying through the Highlands, it excels,

with its scenery that is out of this world.

- We're going to the Faroe Islands first.

- (stirring instrumental music)

- Are there still many of this aircraft in the world?

- There's about 50 flying.

This is... This is probably the most original.

90% incredible, and 10% really bloody hard work.

It's quite pretty here, isn't it?

IAN: Oh, it's amazing. BEN: We've made it.

- In the end. BEN: Where are we?

- Reykjavik! - (laughter)

- Wow. We've started really now. That feels we actually flew.

- It's quite emotional at times - It's hard work.

- I'm very important, you know. This is my job.

I'm the guy who folds the Spitfire cover. All the glory.

Who'd wanna be a pilot when you can do this?

- So we're gonna get airborne at two o'clock

fly for two hours and land at two o'clock.

- Yeah, and be the same age as we were when we took off.

- Yeah! - Fantastic!

- So if we did that every day, we'd never die. We could live forever.

- (laughs)

- This sort of operation was gonna be prone to the weather gods

and at the moment they're not shining on us.

Been speaking to the Met people.

The trouble is this bit of water, which is called the Denmark Strait,

we've got erm...models, computer models that tell us

that there's a lot of cloud and a lot of ice and that's...that's bad.

We're stuck here for two or three days.

MATT: Quite frustrating cos it's still really near

the beginning of the trip and we wanna get moving,

we want to cover some ground.

- Today we're gonna get you boys to Greenland.

MATT: Every part that went into that aeroplane was put into it in this...

in this fight for freedom.

She was designed as a short-range interceptor.

This is completely outside of her design brief.

If she gets too cold and we get any form of icing

then, you know, she'll stop flying.

- On one expedition, I ditched a helicopter

in the sea down in Antarctica.

We knew the water was killing us

so we spent ten hours and we'd bail and bail and bail.

Unconscious by the time they got to it.

- Make sure he turns the oxygen on before he gets in.

- (oxygen hisses)

- Have you got your thermal undies on?

- Yes. - Your gloves with you?

- Yes. - Enjoy.

- (engine drones)

STEVE: This was always gonna be one of the hardest legs

of the whole journey.

IAN: The iceberg's out on our left-wing tip

and there's a massive one

that looked like it was the size of an oil tanker.

MATT: Wow. IAN: We're minus ten now, minus 11.

MATT: Copy that.

- Fascinating part of the world but really inhospitable ground.

By all accounts, there's a...

there's actually a scrapyard near the runway that we're going into,

which I think is a little bit disconcerting.

- Visual with the fields.

Pilatus landing first, Spitfire landing 30 seconds later.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: Golf, Tango, Yankee on ground, two zero.

STEVE: This is a big moment. The first major water crossing.

- It looks nice up there though so I think we need to fuel and...and go.

STEVE: Isn't there one on the southern tip of Greenland?

- But again, we don't wanna be going down there cos that's too far south

to then go back to Reykjavik. - Yeah.

- But wouldn't you be far better off going there,

if it's open and clear and it's... - It gets fog.

- It gets foggy. Too near the coast. - What we need is a guaranteed...

- Cast-iron one. Yeah.

- The only one that is cast-iron is where we're going.

MATT: Yeah. Steve, we need a contingency plan.

There are so few options where we're going if the fog comes in,

we need to be able to go back to Iceland.

If there was information... - Then you'd know.

- Wouldn't be a problem. We could come up with plans.

But the one thing we do know

is that we've got enough fuel to get back there.

- Yeah. And you know that's open. - Yeah.

OK, no fair enough. I...I was just trying to find a solution

that would keep us on this side

of the...of the blue water that we just crossed.

Yeah. Sorry to make you work on a Sunday.

- Ah, no problem. There's not much to do around here anyway.

- (laughter)

IAN: Not much out here, is there? STEVE: Nope.

MATT: Yeah, we're at zero diff so go ahead and open the door.

IAN: Copy that, I'm ready.

- (engine drones)

IAN: It's vast, isn't it? I've never ever seen anything like it.

STEVE: It's a scale you can't get your head around.

IAN: No, I know.

MATT: How does she look? IAN: Yeah, she's fine.

I don't think anybody's done this before, Matt.

MATT: GIRTY is such a special aeroplane.

I'm really, really beginning to fall in love with her.

She's looking after us so well and we're all gaining

such confidence in her, which is so important.

I enjoyed that.

IAN: I've never been across Greenland before.

It's quite scary actually.

Don't know what your survival options are over the top of that.

Pretty remote, I would think.

The weather here is just as you see it, it's absolutely beautiful.

It's a civil American base, so the Yank are here with their military.

- Wow, she's beautiful.

Yeah, we were just in our dorms watching movies

and he came by and he's like, "There's a Spitfire coming in."

I was like, "I wonder if it's the guys

that are taking it round the world." - No way! That's too cool.

- And then, yeah. I read about you the other day.

I just happened to see it. Yeah, that's amazing.

- Did you? - Yeah, yep.

We spend a lot of time here in Kangerlussuaq.

If you make it down there drinks will be on us.

- Well done! - Cheers, guys!

- Welcome, boys! - Cheers, guys!

STEVE: Everyone's saying how huge it is and how amazing it is.

That is all we did.

That tiny little crossing and that is Greenland.

We have seen a fraction of it

and we thought it was the biggest thing imaginable.

MATT: Unbelievable.

GERRY: Morning, Ben.

- Any damage from yesterday's gravel track?

- Nah, nothing to speak of, thankfully.

I think we got away with that one.

There's lots of mental damage, though.

I think we we're all very tired after yesterday.

MATT: So, we're behind schedule.

- (wind whistles)

- The weather doesn't look great, to be honest.

IAN: Yeah, we're stuck in Iqaluit.

As a wise man said, it's much better to be down here

wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here.

And never was a truer word spoken.

MATT: We need to get through Alaska before the 15th of September,

that's the information we've been told.

The seas start freezing, snow starts, and if we get caught in it,

we could be there for seven or eight months,

in which case, you know, we'll have blown it.

- With these planes, particularly the Spitfire,

if you get into cloud you can end up in white-out

and you don't know which way is up.

MATT: There is no automation involved: there is no autopilot.

And modern aircraft aren't necessarily like that.

They make decisions for you, to help you out of situations.

- Why don't we go for it? If we don't like it, come back.

And if we do like it, carry on to the good weather.

- Yeah, that's fine, but I don't think we're gonna get back in here.

Or that would... that would be a worry.

Fuel is a big issue.

You become a flying bomb.

MATT: Landing with that amount of fuel on-board just after take-off

is really dangerous.

BEN: The pilot reports that we're getting,

which are saying there is a gap -

I hope that's true because, you know, as the days are getting on,

the cloud just comes down pretty fast.

Before you know it, we're gonna be getting pushed

towards the ground and it's, er... pretty unforgiving out here.

- (dramatic music)

- (engine starts)

IAN: All right, let's take a deep breath.

So, 135 knots, that's in the glide speed,

gear up, ideally onto land, if not into the water.

If we do go into water, we'll try and make it as close

to land as possible so we don't have to swim far.

Matt, Smithy, are you airborne?

- Er, yeah just airborne. - Copy that.

I'm at low level, the weather is appalling.

Stay off me, stay off me. Standby.

But as you can see, it's dangerous

cos you don't know what you're doing.

- There's no horizon, is there? - No, yeah, it's, you know

it's critically dangerous.

IAN: OK, we're at 300 feet, stay at least level with me,

intention is to go back to the field...

MATT: Yeah, agreed.

IAN: Tower, this is the Spitfire formation,

both aircraft in very poor weather to the southwest of the field.

Matt, don't forget, you've got a very heavy aeroplane,

very heavy tail.

Thanks for that, Smithy, good shout.

AUTOMATED COMMS: Terrain, terrain.

Pull up, pull up, pull up...

MATT: It's...noisy, mate, turn that noise down.

AUTOMATED COMMS: Pull up, terrain, terrain...

- I've made a plan to fly the approach at 120-125 miles an hour.

- Yeah, copy that, we're gear down and about a mile final.

- Copy that.

MATT: Quite frightening. IAN: Had my heart rate up as well.

- You all right? - I'm quite emotional actually.

- Well done.

- That was a little bit too close to the wire for my liking.

- Yeah, I agree. - I think we all wanted to go.

We just need to all of us take a step back and go this is,

Let's get our risk assessment...

- We went based... based on the intel that we had.

MATT: There is a huge amount of risk in what we're doing.

Back in the day they were thinking about their enemies.

Now I have a far greater understanding

of what these veteran pilots think about.

Yeah, it was a fairly focusing moment.

We will do our best not to have any more like that, that's for sure.

- (engine starting up)

IAN: We're doing it day by day and trip by trip.

We were at least three or four days behind the line.

MATT: One day we'll have a flight where we can see our destination.

IAN: We had a good day yesterday. we flew a thousand miles,

three sorties five hours of flying.

(Ben and woman speak French)

(they speak French)

GERRY: It's good. It's nice to feel like we're making progress.

STEVE: We're coming back into civilisation.

We've seen our first road for five days.

Through the Canada sky with the lakes and the rivers everywhere.

Hi, Mike, how are you? It's unbelievable country.

- Just charming. So I'm moving out next week

and you boys are gonna have to find yourself a new PC-12 pilot.

Gerry's doing the 25-hour check on GIRTY.

GERRY: It's been a busy day. Tiny little oil leak we had to fix.

Other than that haven't found anything that I don't like.

- An honour to be here. There's some amazing aeroplanes in this hangar.

She's in good company.

MATT: The UK and America have a very strong bond

and have done for many, many years.

Today we've got an opportunity to put this symbol of freedom,

the Spitfire,

alongside the US symbol of freedom too,

the Statue of Liberty.

And to capture that moment, that's really exciting.

IAN: Bottom line is that we cannot afford to do anything

that's daft or unsafe.

MATT: Engine failure for either of us.

- In the river.

- Canopy is closed. Thumbs up.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL:

IAN:

MATT:

IAN:

STEVE: Two greatest symbols of freedom in the world.

It was just a breath-taking moment.

MATT:

GERRY:

IAN: We're in good shape. We've made up time, we're on the line now.

But I think we all fully understand

we're gonna be behind the line again.

That's just the nature of the beast.

- You guys are blessed.

To be able to do this, get people enjoying it, seeing it.

Just awesome.

You can't help but be totally in awe of something

that has just done so much and accomplished so much in the war.

MATT: Are you building a Spitfire, you...you guys?

- My cousin is. He started it about three, four years ago

and he's been building it totally out of wood

and every piece of metal he's fabricating himself. So...

- And it's gonna be a Mark 9 Spitfire, is it?

- Er... Close. - Close.

- It's gonna look like yours

but it's gonna have a couple of switches that operate everything.

MATT: It makes sense. That's brilliant.

Are you gonna stick around and watch us take off?

- Are you kidding me? - I figured.

- You'll be lucky if I'm not holding onto the tail.

- (engine starting up)

STEVE: There's some serious weather out there.

So we were flying around these fantastic columns

when I noticed the temperature gauge suddenly drop from 80

to less than 40.

- The aeroplane overheats at 120 degrees

and after that, the engine will melt, so you have to shut down.

I can't think of anything it could be,

other than that the gauge has failed.

- Yeah, that's the...

- To the back of the gauge? - Yeah.

BEN: And the solution?

We've been to Walmart.

So the idea, we're then gonna hide this deeper in the wing,

reasonably cool place.

Hoping that we'll then be able

to read the temperature in the aeroplane.

MATT: Every expedition needs help and we need help now.

- We have 20 to 30 war birds here at any given point in time.

We do most of our major maintenance here.

- Whoa! Woo-hoo! That was awesome.

MATT: We've got a problem with our rad temperature gauge

so we're here in Texas, at Dan Friedkin's ranch

and he's offered us some help

in very much the same way that the Americans helped us during the war.

The Spitfire and the Mustang are kindred spirit.

They share the same Merlin engine at their heart.

- Mwah! I'm gonna sell everything and buy a Mustang.

- (laughs)

GERRY: Everybody else is getting a bit of R and R.

I'm getting a bit of... a bit of sweat done.

So now the boys are polishing, which is nice to see, look.

She looks a million dollars.

MATT: When we decided not to paint this one,

it became very apparent very quickly

that we were gonna be able to see all the dings

and scrapes and scratches: dropped tool marks.

And the reality of it is that it's become even more special.

MJ271.

It's a very historical aeroplane

and actually in many ways was the inspiration for the trip.

That aeroplane had 51 combat missions during the war

and some very noticeable pilots.

Michael Giddings who later became

Sir Michael Giddings, Air Marshal in the RAF.

And Flight Sergeant James Hyde

who came to Britain from Trinidad

to fight for the war effort.

He flew top cover in the Battle of Arnhem and ultimately gave his life.

Was shot down somewhere over Holland fighting for our freedom.

The Spitfire means so much to so many people

and I feel the responsibility to remember all of the people

who gave their lives fighting.

And that story is extremely important

and it's that story that we want to continue to be told

so that it passes on from generation to generation.

STEVE: Two fantastic Mustangs

and the Silver Spitfire all flying closely together.

What an experience!

MATT: When the veterans talk about, "You don't get in a Spitfire,

you put it on and it becomes a part of you,"

and it does feel like that.

It does feel like... it's meant to be.

I hope that it will continue telling the story

that it started telling in 1943

and hopefully we will add a little bit to it in this trip.

WOMAN: I was born just after the war.

I might not be here if it hadn't have been for the Spitfires

and Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain.

IAN: OK, I'm in company with a Supermarine Spitfire

past Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz.

We might just have broken the World Record

for the furthest flight in a Spitfire.

Silver Spitfire is the longest flight attempt

to fly around the word.

Hopefully, she will exceed 10,000 kilometres soon

and set a new record for the longest ever flight.

Morning. Smithy.

Yesterday we flew three sorties. Steve flew the first one.

That was frustrating for me, if I'm honest.

MATT: I'll keep an eye on him on this one.

IAN: He's unsighted now. He's unsighted again.

Steve, can you move behind the aircraft, please.

You're unsighted with us again on a collision course.

Yeah, turning away from us and belly-up to us and couldn't see us.

I found that extremely... made me very angry actually.

MATT: Steve is a very positive, very can-do guy,

always keen to push and push.

Aviation doesn't really respect that very well.

That kind of attitude has a history of killing people.

STEVE: But I'm... but I'm prepared to be told.

You know, I'm not saying, "No I don't need to be told what to do."

I'm very happy to be told but I do question.

MATT: He's a very experienced helicopter pilot.

Flying a fixed-wing aeroplane is completely different

and particularly at the speed the Spitfire goes,

with the intricacies that come with flying that aeroplane.

STEVE: You try these things out and you learn

and you get more and more control. - And you make one little mistake...

STEVE: Yeah - One little mistake.

- Yeah. - That any of us could make.

- Yes. - So it's not worth it.

So it's not worth it and I respect that.

- But at the end of the day we're just trying to keep,

keep him safe, keep the aeroplane safe

and make it back in one piece, I guess.

- There's a saying in aviation:

there are old pilots and there are bold pilots,

but there are no old bold pilots.

And the point I was trying to get across to Steve was exactly that.

STEVE: Cool, OK.

- (both laugh)

Yes!

- (gentle piano music)

MAN OVER RADIO: What's going on, on 823?

MAN 2: There's a 1943 Spitfire that came in

and...everyone's out there having a look at it.

- (cheering)

- You have landed at Kelowna International Airport

in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.

I'm the Member of Parliament here.

As you saw, the community was really happy to see it

and thank you very, very much for coming.

It was a unique experience for our community.

I've brought my father's flight log here today.

He was a Lancaster Pilot,

in RCAF with Bomber Command.

And he did two tours of duty in World War II.

- He put a Lancaster into a spin? Yes. Yes, falling maple leaves.

- The sort of slow spin down... - Good grief.

- ..of the formation and... - Was that a procedure

they were taught to do... - No.

- ..or was that something he just... Wow! Saved his life.

- That's why you're here. - That's why I'm here.

- (both chuckle)

MATT: That's what we're here for, what we're doing this for.

This aeroplane stands for so many people like your dad

who were prepared to pay the ultimate sacrifice

for what they believed in and er...

You know, in his case, he made it.

- Which one was he? - That's him.

- He looks dashing. Thank you for that.

- Oh, you're welcome. - That's really good of you.

IAN: GIRTY's just come out of a 50-hour service...

and she's humming.

She really is just... just singing along.

I love flying that aeroplane, I love flying Spitfires.

But GIRTY's becoming very special to all of us

and it's a privilege to be able to fly her.

- (engine drones)

MATT: I bet he enjoyed that.

- (laughter) IAN: I love flying your aeroplane.

I'm much happier when you're in there and I'm in here.

- I'm kind of regretting the decision, to be honest.

- (Ian laughs)

- This is quite an interesting map.

This is the, er...essentially the route that we're taking.

The USA did a deal with Russia

to help the Russians against the Nazis on the Eastern Front.

15,000 aeroplanes flew this route,

this exact route that we're taking the Spitfire.

We're not aware of any Spitfires coming up here

but they've certainly had a number of other types of airframes

that were used in the fight against the Nazis in the '40s.

The Wasps, as they were known by the US flew a lot of these aircraft.

Most of the time they were flying through here,

it would've been very, very cold and very treacherous.

Very brave people.

- This is mad, isn't it? Welcome to Alaska!

Eh, the land of the free, man, it's just crazy up here.

Anything goes up here.

MATT: We're in Alaska now on the edge of Western civilisation.

We really need to take stock before we enter the unknown of Russia.

I wonder how much fear has been expended in this cockpit.

- Yeah.

MATT: Russian runways were the demise

of many Spitfires in World War II.

We have little or no info on their condition now.

STEVE: So Ron's flown this trip through Russia over a hundred times.

Do you know anyone that goes into Markovo that we can ask

the condition of the runway there?

- I don't know of anybody in the west.

You're the only ones I've ever heard of in the last 20 years

that have got into Markovo.

- Hello, mate. So you don't think

you're gonna go anywhere till Sunday, do you, so...

My worry is that if we're there for much longer, it's gonna make it

incredibly difficult to even cross the Bering Strait.

We need to give that some thought.

- When it starts snowing. - Yeah, exactly.

- Before we know it, Matt's gonna go home.

- Yeah, of course, of course.

When we started planning this two and a half years ago,

my life was very different.

Nik and I were together then but we weren't living together.

Since then, we've bought a house

and we have conceived of a child

which is now planned halfway round the trip...

- He's always wanted to be a dad.

He's always wanted children.

He's had a fast track to fatherhood with the boys.

He's like a child in many ways himself.

- Can we not import Nik into Russia?

- They've got good hospitals in Anadyr.

- I tell you what, you two negotiate that with her.

- I think it's just his nature.

He's really encouraging, loving, caring

and he's gonna be the most amazing dad.

- We've got a pretty good idea of when the...

when the baby's gonna be born.

There is a risk that um... that I could miss it.

But I will be ready to go whenever.

I think coming back for the birth

and then leaving again will be even harder.

- (bagpipes playing) - Right, we need to get in.

We need to get in and go. - OK.

- (bagpipes play Scotland The Brave)

- That's a whole new world. I've been... At 45 years I've been,

It's just been look after me... - Scarier than the trip.

- Oh, undoubtedly. (laughs)

STEVE: The weather has been kind to us and we have come all the way

across the fantastic Bering Strait and we are now in Chukotka, Russia.

Quite a lot of brown bears around here so I'm just looking

to keep an eye out as we talk, er... But I think we're looking good.

This is the old town where the military used to live

during the Cold War.

Obviously completely deserted now

but it's on a scale that is unbelievable.

I'm now standing inside the officers' mess

and you can see their beautiful scrolls and the pillars either side,

days from the past.

BEN: Which one's our hotel?

- Matt's room is just here on the end.

We need to get through Russia before the winter set

and it is really setting.

The trees have turned, the leaves have changed colour

and you can feel it in the air and it's really close.

- Where are we? - We are in Evensk.

- In Russia! - R-R-Russia!

- Your name? - Ah, Vadim!

Eh, Vadim's our navigator, he got us, he got us here today.

He's now a Spitfire pilot. - I am not a Spitfire pilot.

- We're eight storeys up,

staying with an old lady.

- Shura, her name is.

- And I think you need just to have a pan around to see...

- What exactly it is. - What exactly it is.

- It is surreal. - It's totally surreal.

I'm enjoying it though.

STEVE: The Russians are fantastic, we love their attitude.

A metal runway. There is no gravel on it whatsoever.

It's like an old World War II runway.

It makes a hell of a rattle as you roll over it.

We're cracking through Russia at this rate.

- For hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of miles here,

there is absolutely nothing.

Just vast wilderness, vast emptiness.

STEVE: We've seen a version of Russia

which is very wild and very free and very big and that was exciting.

- Today was one of the... hardest days of the trip.

Erm... And at one moment,

one of the scariest days of my life.

Then I woke up this morning and had a...a call from Nik who's...

who's pregnant at home with our...with our son...

And, erm...

She was bleeding heavily...

..and was terrified.

(inhales deeply)

(exhales deeply)

And I wasn't there for her and that was awful.

And really scary and I felt...

..utterly terrified and completely useless.

And really selfish.

She's in hospital and I think they're keeping, you know,

good care of her.

So, erm...fingers crossed.

(exhales heavily)

- It's all right, mate. - Thanks, buddy.

- Yeah, so the situation basically is, Nikkolay's gone into hospital,

Matt's desperate to get home, obviously.

The Russian handler won't let us leave Russia.

We paid four weeks ago but the money hasn't arrived in his account.

He's not gonna get us permission to leave Russia

until he's got money in his bank account.

And if we can't leave Russia, Matt is...

Matt's run out of patience. He's gonna make his own way home.

If Matt does that and parks the Spitfire in Russia,

then it's basically end of the trip.

There's no way that Spitfire is staying in Russia

for six weeks on its own. That will be it.

We'll have to freight it, pack it, and take it home.

And if that happens, trip finished.

So I've got an hour to sort this out.

Yeah, I'm trying to get hold of...

When will he tell you?

OK, good. Yeah, please do.

Thanks, cheers. Bye.

OK, so apparently they've... now got a trace of the money

and they think it's actually gonna arrive in Moscow any minute

so it's gone through the final gateway.

STEVE: But nice to be in Japan.

What we've done is come forward with the Pilatus.

We've still got one final leg to do in Russia,

but the weather set in and we needed to get on with the expedition.

Matt needed to get home and Smithy will be coming in with the Spitfire.

- (radio chatter)

- He's coming, he's coming.

- We are in New Chitose Airport, we are waiting Spitfire!

Come! Come, Spitfire! (laughs)

- There he is. - Where?

- Hey, hey, hey.

- Oh! - (radio chatter)

- Hello! - (spectators return greeting)

- Thank you. - Thank you.

- Thank you very much, thank you. - Got it? OK.

- Excellent. - Done.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

Cheers, guys, thank you very much.

IAN: Matt's gone home so I'm gonna fly this down today.

The bad news is that there's a typhoon weather phenomena

in the southern part of Japan which is gonna be a bloody nuisance.

FORECASTER: Typhoon Hagibis is bearing down on Japan

and considered highly dangerous.

People in the region are being asked

to prepare for torrential rain, fierce winds and storm surges.

IAN: 50 miles an hour of wind gusting to 65 miles an hour of wind.

This thing cannot be out in those conditions.

- He's avoiding the weather, what we can see on the radar at the moment.

You can see he's actually descended about 3,000 feet as well,

so he's obviously encountered a bit of cloud,

but I'm not quite sure where... where he's going.

- (sound dips)

- One of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded

has left a trail of destruction across Japan.

19 are confirmed to have died with dozens more still missing.

The scale of this storm has been astonishing,

stretching thousands of kilometres.

- Yeah? - Hello, Peter.

- Yes, safely landed. And I have somebody looking for him.

- (exhales heavily)

I think I've just aged, aged about 20...years.

Know how Smithy feels.

- (ringing tone)

IAN: How's the place?

- That looked like it wasn't much fun.

- Oh, mate, you have no idea.

You have no idea. Anyway, safe on the ground and, erm...

and that's about the size of it, really.

Yeah, I need to calm down a little bit.

- (rain pattering) IAN: So, Japan got it yesterday.

You know, we were extremely lucky.

The reason we hurried to get the aeroplanes to Nagoya

was to get them into a hangar

because everybody was rightly concerned about the typhoon.

You know, we knew we would be vindicated

in moving both aircraft down here and working hard to achieve that.

VOICEMAIL: One saved message.

- Hey, it's Matt. I made it back in time.

Niks is well, we've had a baby boy.

We're pretty tired but I thought you'd like to know.

We've called him Arthur.

It's an unbelievable feeling. I can't believe I'm a dad.

I hope you're all well and look forward to seeing you in Nagoya!

Speak soon, take care, bye!

- (lively music playing)

IAN: Nagoya, about 150 miles southwest of Tokyo.

Yeah, a busy day yesterday, servicing and cleaning aeroplanes

ready for the second-half start.

- (greetings exchanged) MATT: So, we're all back.

- Hello, congratulations! - I'm now a dad.

- Finally grown up. - No, I'm just a dad.

- (both laugh)

MATT: I think it will be really exciting. In part one,

we travelled 12,000 nautical miles

but only went through four or five countries.

We've got 10,000 nautical miles to go as we stand today

but 20-plus countries still to go through.

- (woman talking in Japanese)

- I think what we're gonna see in the next couple of months

will be really interesting and some of the places

that we'll fly over will be fabulous.

IAN: Nagoya tower, good afternoon.

Spitfire formation requests line-up runway, three four.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: I have never seen such a cool aircraft

and I hope your world tour will be successful.

IAN: Let's go flying.

MATT: The adventure is fantastic but it's extremely hard

leaving my family and Arthur, my newborn son, at home,

to come back here and to finish this.

I just need to focus on finishing it safely now.

Looks very familiar that.

So we've just arrived at the Peace Museum.

This was an airfield during World War II.

439 kamikaze pilots left here and never came back.

The idea of taking off and not planning to land just blows my mind.

- This smoke... we're thinking about them.

Make peace for dead men.

- These kids were 19, 20 years old when they were given one-way fuel.

So this is where the pilots slept the night before their missions.

When ultimately, you know, they became pilots

because they loved the idea of being up in the sky and freedom

and that sort of stuff.

The fact in this case that it's twisted

from kind of a really beautiful thing into something so deadly...

..and so final...

..it's quite amazing.

- (engine humming)

IAN: What fuel's he got left?

GERRY: What's your fuel level in the rear now?

MATT: 97.

We set a target of doing it in four months.

Time is slipping, we need to catch up.

# WHITE LIES: Death

IAN: Good afternoon, Spitfire formation.

Currently heading south and then shortly turning right,

Kilo, Echo, Charlie.

# I love the feeling when we lift off...

- Climbing to 8500 feet three zero one one.

# Watching the world so small below

- Airborne west, climbing to 8,000 feet.

# I love the dreaming when I think of...

MATT: We're over the sea. I can see the Pilatus in the distance.

Build-up of clouds around but clear blue sky above us, which is nice.

# I wonder what keeps us so high up...

STEVE: So we're back on the road again,

flying south down towards Okinawa.

- (song continues)

- Kato, you fool! - Ahaaa!

# ..a hold on me

- I have visual with you, I'm just turning towards you.

# Yes, this fear's got a hold on me...

- It's really wonderful.

You are welcome any time here.

# Yes, this fear's got a hold on me...

IAN: When you are visual, I have the lead.

MATT: You have the lead.

# Yes, this fear's got a hold on me... #

- (song fades)

- (low chatter)

MATT: Yeah, good.

That was an experience, wasn't it?

- Pretty cool, wasn't it? Very cool.

- Kept a few jetliners waiting.

- Yeah, they were over the moon to.

A couple of Aussie guys on the radio saying, "Yeah, that was amazing!"

I said to them, "I felt the pressure there, boys, with you watching."

- I mean, the whole thing about Hong Kong

has been impossible from the start.

We're not supposed to actually land here.

It's obviously one of the world's busiest international airports,

so getting here in itself and getting fuel here

is er...is also nigh on impossible.

- Oh, I've broken a nail.

- With the help of these amazing guys they've managed to get these...

these barrels here for us and get them airside and on time.

It's quite remarkable, really. That's Asia for you.

Anything's... Anything's possible.

MATT: We're at a time where Hong Kong is going through

some of its own political challenges.

REPORTER: These demonstrators and the powers that be

may still be deadlocked

but there's no sign of fatigue on this, the pro-democracy side,

and they know that what they are doing

has the approval of most of their fellow Hong Kongers.

MATT: A bit of a danger that a British icon,

particularly one that represents

such a symbol of freedom and democracy

flying in right at this critical moment

between Hong Kong and China,

had a real danger of becoming a bit inflammatory.

It's taken a little bit of shine off the achievement of getting here.

- Hong Kong. Day three. Nice day here.

Still not sure about Da Nang, Vietnam where we're going

but it's better than yesterday so we're gonna brief and have a go.

We have to be out of here by 7:30 this morning, otherwise we can't go.

- And what are you flying? - Spitfire today.

It's a big water crossing. There's not a lot of divert options.

MATT: Smithy rightly is quite nervous. There's a lot of unknowns.

One of us going into the sea we'd hit the water at, you know,

90 miles an hour.

You know the aeroplane would go down at something like two feet a second.

Don't want it to happen to me.

I don't want it to happen for anyone in our team...

And...erm...

Yeah, it's quite frightening.

See you in Vietnam. - You betcha.

And that's not an expression you'll hear every day.

- Clear prop! - (engine starts)

- You ready for taxi? - Yeah, thumbs up.

- OK, Oscar, Yankee, Tango, Hotel, Papa,

and Golf, India, Romeo, Tango, Yankee, we are ready to taxi.

- Smithy with us? - Yep.

- You ready, Smithy? - As I'll ever be.

- Clear for take-off, zero seven right,

Oscar, Yankee, Tango, Hotel, Papa Spitfire in flight.

- You all right back there, Smithy? Is that speed all right for you?

MATT:

IAN:

MATT: There are milestones in this trip,

certainly in my head if not laid down,

and this is a really, really big one.

- So I've got survival beacons and just in case I end up in the jungle,

I've got a SAT phone,

cos parachuting into the jungle's not gonna be much fun.

- (static) - I've got reds on the gear.

I've got both tanks are pumping in rather than auto,

and erm...I'm in auto.

- Good effort. - Well done. Thank you.

- Tidy work there.

MATT: A lot of the time we just sit in fear over the sea

of the engine quitting.

Yeah, that's the most I've enjoyed a flight for a long time.

- It smells beautiful.

Good day today, though, 400.

600 yesterday, 1000, 1800 in the last week.

- I feel a little bit closer to the Spitfire

and just seeing the real one right here is amazing.

Just unbelievable.

- (chatter)

- This is a gift now? We keep this? - Thank you.

- (laughter) - Thank you, very kind.

It's a bit warm today, big Ben.

As you can tell, this is not because I've been standing in the shower.

It's because we're operating in relative heat of...

what did you say, 120 degrees?

- (whirring)

- I could literally wring my overall out at this present moment in time.

We're doing a 25-hour check today. Having a look at the Merlin fingers.

I'll drop the oil filters out, have a look at the oil filters.

It's just the ambient temperature that's a killer, the humidity.

It probably has an effect on take-off performance,

especially if you're at high-altitude airfields.

This is a Rolls-Royce Merlin,

27-litre, two-stage, supercharged V12.

Designed in the late-30s initially

so that we could win what was the Schneider Racing Trophy.

And they set ridiculous speed records with aeroplanes

that looked like they shouldn't fly.

Obviously, the war broke out

and the evolution of the Spitfire was really, really quick.

We don't build anything in the modern day

that can do what this aeroplane does.

There's nothing out there that comes close to these aeroplanes.

A lot of people just love it because it's a beautiful aeroplane.

Got a lot of meaning for a lot of people.

STEVE: We're in Myanmar.

It's been closed for so many years and is open again now.

It's a whole different world.

MATT: Coming into land there,

I was very aware of the importance of the place.

There were lots of Spitfires there during the war.

It's a great example of how many cultures there are

in all the countries that we're flying through.

MATT: He's amazing, really, in his belief

in 10,000, 20,000, 40,000 years of life.

Quite a nice take-away of sort of a mental state

that, erm... would keep us all fairly happy.

IAN: You know, a bit like the underbelly of Europe

everybody knows about D-Day and the invasion of Northern Europe

in order to defeat Hitler but, you know,

the Japanese were, you know, an equally tenacious

and terrible enemy down in this part of the world.

The Spitfires supported the British Army who were instrumental

in repelling the Japanese who were entrenched in Burma.

How young is he?

- 88 years. - 88?

Oh, good for you.

Yeah, so there are three Burmese veterans.

I think they are 88 to 98 years old between them.

And which regiment? Signals?

Signals.

In the British Army or in the...

Beautiful, beautiful men, but their hearts are still young

and they're still happy and very proud,

obviously, very proud men.

Just can't imagine fighting in these...

in these climates.

Just cannot imagine how they do it. A privilege to meet you both.

Thank you very much for everything you did.

Good for you, my friend, good for you.

LACHLAN: What's really nice for me is to actually bring a Spitfire here

and show, for the first time

a real Spitfire back in Burma since the war. It's really special.

It's a real contrast between what you feel here is Zen,

beautiful people,

but, actually, like in so many places

underneath the surface there's some real...

real atrocities still going on.

The anti-Muslim battles that have gone up, up in Rohingya state.

The one thing that is a consistent

is that war is never far from any nation.

The atrocities and the horror and sadness that it brings to countries

is something that unfortunately seems to be common

throughout thousands of years of history,

and one can't help but feel it's gonna be the same going forward.

REPORTER: Air pollution in the north of India

has reached unbearable levels

as schools are closed and flights are delayed.

- Because of industry, a lot of pollution is er...

- I see. Yeah. - Delhi is a very, fully crowded,

overcrowded, in fact.

So because of the vehicle pollution and industry pollution...

- There's a real problem with visibility,

even for people in the city and their breathing...

- Correct. Breathing problems are there.

- So, not a good, not a good place to fly an aeroplane, then?

- No, not a good place to fly aeroplane.

MATT: So, instead what we're looking at

is going from here south to one of these airfields.

LACHLAN: The nature of an expedition is that it's tough.

You can get into this bubble where we're just doing leg to leg

and we're focused, rightly so, on making sure

the aeroplanes are working, that the pilots are not too tired

and we don't slip up

in terms of safety and risk.

And that we're having to deal with countries

that are not geared up, really, for our type of expedition,

so it's a lot of red tape.

IAN: Spitfires are not very easy aeroplanes to land.

I can think of six Spitfire accidents in recent years.

One of which killed the pilot.

As you get more tired as the tour goes on, erm...

incidents and accidents, you know,

are going to be more likely to, you know,

gonna be more likely to happen.

- We're on the tarmac at Nagpur and at last all our permissions

are in place, our fuel is on board

and we're about to start a flight to...Jodhpur.

It's ten to eight in the morning.

- Steve, how do you read? - Reading you fine.

So we are 20 miles out from Jodhpur, good half-hour's flight.

We're coming into slightly desert land now.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: Golf, Tango, Yankee,

prepare to land on my two, three.

- Prepare to land, two, three, with the gear Tango, Yankee.

- (tense music)

- (rattling and juddering)

- It's gone wrong. Something's wrong.

Something's wrong. I've got a problem.

I've got a problem.

- Golf, Tango, Yankee, how do you read?

- (radio chatter)

- Steve, what's going on?

- (siren wails)

- Golf, Tango, Yankee... (continues indistinctly)

..proceeding on to undercarriage, problem with Spitfire.

- Hotel, Papa, copy.

- (chatter in Hindi)

- It was very fortunate. - Very fortunate, yeah.

- Are you...you all right? - Yeah, yeah, OK.

Just a bit of a shock when it came into land

and then it felt like the undercarriage

hadn't come down on this side.

The wing just kept on going down and down and down

and then it started going to the left.

BEN: And what's your reaction?

- I think we were...lucky, to be honest.

Shall I say that again without... (sound dips)

- Yeah. - I think we've been very lucky.

It's just a ready reminder that aviation is dangerous

and that things can happen at any time.

I think he did a good job, given the cards he was dealt.

BEN: Everyone is getting exceptionally tired.

Cumulative fatigue is kind of starting to set in.

We all decided that we need a couple of days off.

- (engine rumbles)

- (horns beeping)

- It's an absolute mad house. - A cacophony of noise and colour.

Everybody's happy and joyful and goofing around, doing their thing.

- We are trying to find something suitable,

suitable attire to go and meet the Maharaja at his palace this evening

and it's turning out to be slightly trickier than we thought.

Is it just a regular drinks party he has that we've been invited...

- Honour. - It's in our honour?

Wow. It's in our honour.

- Smithy's looking good. - (laughter)

- (musical fanfare)

- (low chatter) - Thank you.

- Cheers, thanks for a lovely welcome.

- Cheers. - (glasses clink)

- Funny, when we started the trip, we sort of thought

what we were doing hopefully was special and would move people.

It does seem to have done that.

- Wowzers. I've never seen anything like this in my life.

- Actually, people don't know any more

that Jodhpur was actually the first international airport in India.

and a little tunnel we've created to honour Jodhpur aviation

and the coming of the Silver Spitfire.

We're trying to regenerate the old city and make it more viable,

save it and make it contemporary.

The man in front is the Maharaja of Jodhpur, Maharaja Umaid Singh,

who is the father of Jodhpur aviation.

The man next to him actually, happens to be my great-grandfather.

It's a reminder of our own legacy and it's obviously a tribute

to one of the great adventures of modern times.

There are very few left, so it's great to have you all.

- 10th Squadron, which has its history from RAF days.

It was based at my base and they flew the Spitfires.

So, for us as a base, it's indeed...

It's indeed a privilege for all of us to have the Spitfire here.

MATT: It's a strange place, really in the middle of nowhere

and we're all a bit nervous here because,

literally everywhere you look... there are people with guns.

Every day counts now. We've only got a couple of weeks to get home

or risk getting stuck in Europe.

STEVE: So there's a real sense of starting to get towards home.

LACHLAN: So many of these Emirates have been supporters of the RAF.

They've named and bought Spitfires back in the day.

Seeing the Spitfire coming over in the desert

it just felt like it was back home again.

STEVE: Looks as natural as a camel. - Yeah, it does. It just does.

- I think the next thing is we're gonna be looking

for the ground to start turning green

and know we're back in Europe and it won't be far at all.

- (rhythmic beats)

LACHLAN: Just landed in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Just had the most extraordinarily warm welcome.

They've just laid on, er... everything for us.

IAN: The Crown Prince's two sons

were genuinely excited about coming to see us

and what we were up to.

- I think it means a lot to them that we're here.

- It's an honour to welcome you to Bahrain

and safe, safe travels home.

- It makes such a difference to us when we get such a warm welcome.

IAN: The nations in this area contributed

whatever they could in order to buy Spitfires.

You know, the UK was broke

and we were losing aeroplanes at such a rate,

so we had to build them at such a rate

and we couldn't necessarily afford to.

So the... Lots of people around the world

put their hands deep into their pockets and produced money,

which then paid for the war effort.

- This is a brochure, propaganda flyer.

Spitfires are in fighting.

This shows you, like, drawings of them fighting around the world

and it says here that the countries have donated for these Spitfires.

- Without their generosity we wouldn't have had as many Spitfires

and we wouldn't have won the war.

We've got only two weeks left before we are supposed to get home.

We've got Europe to contend with, in the winter, which could be...

..you know, not disastrous but it could...

it could delay us by weeks, frankly.

Yeah, everybody's dead tired. You're just running out of reserves.

We're all running on empty,

so we do need to bolster up, you know, encourage each other

and just make sure that we remain safe for the last two weeks

and get both aeroplanes and all of us home to Goodwood safely.

MATT: Kuwait and Britain have been friends for many years.

In fact, it's 120 years since we

signed the Anglo-Kuwaiti agreement.

- Just had the feeling of the World War II

and how they were fighting, man. It's like crazy.

No ejection seat, huh? - No ejection seat.

Jump...Jump to the wing and jump? - Jump.

- They supported us through the war.

It's a really special friendship and we're gonna mark that today.

You take your time, to turn, or whatever you wanna do,

and get back to the... - (wind drowns speech)

- We're gonna try to make sure

that you guys are gonna be flying next to our towers

and we're gonna let the F18 come closer to you

and we'll make sure that you have a good picture of it.

IAN : One rolling now.

- (mellow piano music)

IAN:

LT COL HAMAD ALSHAYJI: Awesome, just want to say thank you

and it was a beautiful shot.

IAN: Excellent, my friend.

MATT: Flying GIRTY in North Africa

there's so much history in the Spitfire's theatre.

It's amazing to see her against such iconic backdrops.

- (engine drones)

- We're in Europe. That's quite a moment.

Just so lucky to be able to...

..have this experience, and just in any aeroplane

to see the world from that height is special.

But, you know, over the wing of this thing...

(exhales) Incredible.

I think I did about 25 rolls in the period of today's flight.

STEVE: It's only the first day of winter today.

So, again, just like across Russia, you get you get the feeling

that you're the last one out, turn the lights off.

And the trees were changing colour and you were like, you know,

"Let's get out of here," and you've got the same feeling here.

That the winter's coming. We're just nipping through.

- (piano music)

MATT: Yeah, I think of home a lot. It does focus the mind.

NIKKOLAY: Hello, Arthur! Hello, Arthur!

- When I'm getting into the aeroplane and I feel tired...

it makes me question the decision of whether I should fly or not

and, er...

it normally has the effect of bringing me up

and getting me ready and making me mentally prepared.

Because it has been mind-blowing and it has been frightening.

You know, out of that fear has come a great sense of achievement

on days when we've completed flights that were looking pretty tough.

You know all of that together,

you know, makes you realise how special this is.

I hope I haven't expanded my little mind

to a point where it now needs this.

Cos if that's the case, I'm in deep trouble.

(laughs)

- (engine drones)

- This is my first time I meet a Spitfire.

- Oh, there we go, OK. It's beautiful, isn't it?

- It's a dream come true. - Yeah, oh, that's fantastic.

So here we are, towards the end of the trip. It's nearly over.

And right now I'm just on a boat making my way through Venice.

I really appreciate what it is we've done before we head home.

MATT: We've got some pretty tough weather to consider

and we've got the Alps in front of us,

which are not the easiest things to pass.

So, we really need to be on our best game

for the last week or so of this trip.

This adventure is unbelievable.

- How's it look?

IAN: Yeah, it's pretty misty, mate, but we'll press.

MATT: But now I just need to get home and be a father.

# TH'FIKA: Home

# Cos I long for the winter

# Where it's cold out...

# Do you know how I feel lost?

# But I'm searching, found my way back home

# Found my way back home

# Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh

# Take me home, take me home

# To the place I know, to the place I call

# My home #

MATT: Well, here we are.

Three legs to go over the Alps

and, my God, it's beautiful.

I've flown a Spitfire into Germany before.

But a guy came up to me and said,

"I'm sure people have been coming to you and saying,

'Hey, the Spitfire, this is the saviour of our country.'

But what most people don't realise is,

it was the saviour of our country as well."

How much is the hangar a night?

(man speaks German)

- (laughter)

# TH'FIKA: Home

MATT: We live in a... mostly free world now

and that's what this aeroplane stands for in so many ways.

# Home #

- We're at Lelystad Airport, very close to Amsterdam.

GIRTY, or then known as MJ271,

she had her first restoration here to museum standard,

which is really cool.

And really, she spent more of her life

in this place than anywhere else.

- It's a very exciting moment.

They're all really pleased to see it cos they all remember it.

And, of course, it looks so different now.

MATT: A rightful destination for the last flight

before it goes back to Goodwood.

- Again, back home, back home. - Yeah, exactly, really cool.

BEN: How's it looking, Steve?

We should be taking off in two hours' time

and at the moment it is thick, thick fog.

So right now it's looking a bit difficult,

which would be unbelievably upsetting,

to not be able to finish it now cos everyone's there and waiting for us.

- It really doesn't seem very long ago, does it,

that we were all here on that glorious August day

to bid them farewell and here they are

within a matter of miles of touching back down here again

at lovely Goodwood.

- Woo!

GERRY: Freezing fog is just a terrible thing

for both aeroplanes, actually, but certainly more so for this.

You will crash your aeroplane very quickly if you fly in freezing fog.

STEVE: But this is aviation. It's constantly like this.

So we just have to keep our fingers crossed.

MATT: We set out to do this in four months

and today is our last chance to do that.

This aeroplane means an enormous amount to a lot of people.

It stands for a period of time

when people were prepared to pay the ultimate sacrifice

for something they really believed in

and that was democracy as we know it.

- ..Romeo, Tango, Yankee, on the standby.

the tower requesting start for Goodwood.

MATT: It became this sort of emblem that stood for something incredible

and meant people were standing up for their morals

and were prepared to do anything for that.

I've been cleared to start so I'll do my own call.

I'll see you in the air. - Roger that.

MATT: We live in a free world because of the Spitfire

and hopefully with GIRTY, we've inspired people along the way.

So if this expedition just makes people remember those sacrifices

and those efforts that were made all those years ago,

that in itself is enough.

STEVE: To fly over the Channel and see Calais

and to fly over that stretch of water,

that was the theatre that it became so famous for.

And to fly through that theatre and arrive back at Goodwood

and see the family again is gonna be a very special time.

- Good luck, everybody.

- (engine drones)

MATT: I feel quite emotional, I couldn't stop crying again.

I don't know what's wrong with me,

I need to get away from these aeroplanes

cos every time someone says Spitfire I start blubbing.

So here we are approaching the White Cliffs.

Such an iconic British view

particularly over the wing of a Spitfire.

The guys when they fought during the battle...

you know, this was their sign that they were nearly home

and they'd survived potentially one more mission.

The two really are synonymous with, er...

the great bravery and courage that they all showed

for all of our benefit.

RED ARROWS PILOT:

MATT:

RED ARROWS PILOT:

- (uplifting instrumental music)

- Reds, smoke on, go.

- (laughter)

- Thank you. Cheers, guys.

MATT: We had had one hell of a time.

The team has stayed together and just made it possible.

What a piece of design, what an engine, what an aeroplane.

- (engines roar)

- Oh, my God, look at the crowds!

- Well done, guys! - Well done, guys!

- Finally! Get this on camera!

STEVE: Just fantastic to be home, though.

- To see your wife and your son, just amazing, just amazing.

- He's sleeping through it. - Yeah, I'll remind him of this.

- Oh, it's brilliant, isn't it?

- Seeing Goodwood again, you know, it's been so many months

of different airfields and this is our home airfield.

God, it's been an incredible experience.

Absolutely incredible experience.

- (stirring instrumental music)

# LILY BUDIASA & BENJAMIN HOLLWAY: The Longest Flight

- (Matt speaks to Arthur)

(laughs)

- (song continues)

- We were all very excited to see the Silver Spitfire.

- It's one of my favourites.

- (Michio speaking) I am very happy.

- (song continues)

MAN: Things like this deserve to be in the public eye,

and be seen and appreciated.

- (song continues)

# There's something in the way you move

# There's something in the way you move

# Makes me feel like I'm free #

- (song ends)

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