Jump Jet. The Secret History of the Harrier

Victory in the Falklands War made the Harrier’s name as a world-beating British icon, as capable of giving the enemy a bloody nose as it was of thrilling the crowds at airshows with displays of aerial ballet. Its failure seemed inconceivable.

But that’s not the real story of the Harrier.

From its inception, it faced an uncertain future. Designed to survive a nuclear war, it barely survived government cuts. And in an era of big, supersonic, super fighters, the little jump jet was too often dismissed as a novelty.

The Harrier’s designer, Ralph Hooper, knew that the naysayers were as wrong as the digital data that said his little jump jet couldn’t work. He held no truck with computers. Hooper’s masterpiece was born of instinct and feel. And, from day one, was nurtured by American confidence in his unique creation.

Rich with revelatory detail, Jump Jet tells the inspiring story of the Harrier’s unlikely triumph, but also reveals for the first time the inside story of Ralph Hooper’s revolutionary design for the Harrier’s successor. And uncovers how Hooper, discarded at home by the company whose reputation he helped cement, was called on by the Americans to save their own, troubled jump jet.

This is the real story of a British flying legend, and of the man who made it.