Spitfire pilot Jeffrey Quill picked by astronaut Tim Peake

Great Lives

BBC

History, Society & Culture, Documentary

4.2 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 12 January 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"It was brilliant to read some of the old techniques the Spitfire test pilots were using, and in some respects test pilot flying isn't that different today, but we don't have to do everything by notebook and pencil and stopwatch." Tim Peake

Jeffrey Quill was born in 1913, and flew the Spitfire prototype in 1936. Tim Peake was born in 1972 and was launched into space exactly ten years ago, on December 15 2015. Joining him in studio is the aviation historian Dr Victoria Taylor. The story of Jeffrey Quill's inspiring life includes archive of Raymond Baxter and Quill himself.

This is series 67 of Great Lives and future programmes focus on Joan Rivers, Marcus Agrippa, and Johnny Green, road manager with The Clash.

Presented by Matthew Parris and produced in Bristol by Miles Warde

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts.
0:05.7	Hello, you're about to listen to a BBC podcast, and I'm Ed Gamble, host of another BBC podcast, The Traitors Uncloaked.
0:12.7	But my show is available only on BBC Sounds, just like Ellis and John's Saturday bonus episodes,
0:18.2	The Pop Top Ten podcast with Scott Mills and Rylan, and comedy specials
0:22.2	from the likes of Harriet Kemsley, Susie Ruffle and Rommashranganathan.
0:25.9	However, and maybe I'm biased, it's really all about the traitors uncoaked.
0:30.3	So for a whole bunch of exclusive scoops and podcasts, listen only on BBC Sounds.
0:47.8	The sound of one of the most distinctive planes ever made, the supermarine Spitfire.
0:51.9	More than 20,000 of these beautiful aircraft were made,
0:55.3	and they played a key role in defending Britain during the last World War. The Spitfire is not, however, our subject today, but one of its test pilots is,
1:02.3	and I'm delighted to say that he's been nominated by an astronaut. He's with me here now,
1:07.8	so tell us your name and tell us the name of the pilot that you've picked.
1:12.5	Well, my name is Tim Peake. I'm a British astronaut. And the name that I've picked for today is Geoffrey Quill.
1:19.4	A kindred spirit in many respects, I think when I read his book Spitfire a Test Pilot story,
1:24.7	and my wife gave me his book in 2002, as I was applying myself for test pilot school,
1:30.5	I was just so taken by the story and his life and the matter-of-fact way that he went about
1:37.4	his business. But, you know, Geoffrey was born in Littlehampton, I think, which is not far,
1:43.0	just a stone's show from Chichester, where I grew up.
1:46.2	And so when I was reading again about his life story, I could really relate to all the places he was flying from and the experiences he was having.
1:53.9	Do you think there are other parallels between his life and yours?
1:58.2	Well, certainly as a test pilot, yes, and it was brilliant to read some of the old techniques
2:03.3	they were using.
	...

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