Imagine pulling violent, high-G turns in a dogfight miles above the earth, the kind of maneuvers that make seasoned pilots black out, while flying without any legs. That was the documented reality of Douglas Bader, one of Britain's most famous fighter aces of the Second World War, and this episode explores a man who defied insurmountable physical odds while being abrasive, polarizing, and deeply controversial.

We trace Bader from a turbulent childhood and a violent rugby career to the 1931 crash in a Bristol Bulldog that cost him both legs, his chillingly casual logbook entry of bad show, and his fight back into the RAF when war broke out. We break down the physiology of how amputation gave him a built-in biological G-suit, his leadership of the shattered Canadian pilots of 242 Squadron, the Big Wing controversy that helped oust Dowding and ...