Where was Masters of the Air filmed? Apple TV war drama UK filming locations - and how flight scenes were shot

Masters of the Air, the upcoming Second World Drama series produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, was filmed in the south of England in 2021. The huge project is a successor series to Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

This series explores the Second World War from the perspective of a group of American pilots in the ‘Bloody 100th’ Division, who flew daring and deadly raids over Europe.

Where was Masters of the Air filmed?

The series is mostly set at a Norfolk RAF base which the American Air Force is sharing as a for use as launchpad for bombing raids over Germany and occupied Europe.

However, the series was mostly filmed across the south of England in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Hertfordshire. 

Parts of the series were filmed on location, with the crew temporarily taking over Oxford City Centre, Hemel Hempstead High Street, the village of Bledlow in Buckinghamshire, Trinity Church Square, London, and Abingdon-on-Thames and Didcot Railway Centre in Oxfordshire.

Much of the series, which features dogfights and bombing raids, were necessarily filmed on soundstages. Apple Film Studios in Aylesbury, and Bovingdon Airfield Studios in Hertfordshire.

Some scenes were also filmed at a real former RAF base Dalton Barracks, which has ben an active army base since 1965. The site is now home to 4 regiment of the Royal Logistic Corps, though it is set to close in 2030.

Another location featured in the series is the Grade II listed Newland Park country house and estate in Buckinghamshire. It was reportedly used as the setting for the British base and the landing field for American planes, with a set specially built at the site.

Filming also took place at Mapledurham House, a Grade I listed building in Oxfordshire - this site was previously used in the production of the 1969 Second World War film, The Eagle Has Landed, starring Michael Caine.

How were Masters of the Air flight scenes filmed?

Filming Masters of the Air required a huge team to achieve the lifelike battle scenes features across the series. With an estimated budget of $250 million, it is the third most expensive T series ever by cost per episode, behind The Rings of Power, and Stranger Things.

Two replica B-17s (the Flying Fortress bombers used by Americans in the war) were constructed for the show. Actors filmed their scenes in the cockpit of the replica planes with a huge circular green screen known as ‘The Volume’, surrounding the plane. 

Additionally, the planes were often rigged around 20 feet in the air for filming, with camera crews attached to safety harnesses filming from above the planes. At Abingdon Airfield, the B-17s were lifted over the runway by a crane to film takeoff and landings.

Were real planes used in Masters of the Air?

Whilst much of the series was shot using camera trickery and replicas, some real Second World War era planes were used in the series. P-51 Mustangs, the planes piloted by the Black airmen of the Tuskegee Airmen, were used for filming.