The Secret History of the Harrier Jump Jet

The Harrier Jump Jet shouldn't have existed - and yet it became one of the most extraordinary aircraft ever built. Conceived in a climate of Cold War panic, perfected by engineers who refused to accept the word "impossible", and flown by pilots who learned to master a machine that could bite as easily as it could fly, the Harrier rewrote the rules of air combat. The Secret History of the Harrier Jump Jet is the full story of that transformation. Fast-paced, vivid, and fully illustrated in colour throughout, it reveals how a scruffy British prototype became a global legend, winning over sceptics from Whitehall to Washington and proving its worth in the most demanding conditions imaginable. Did you know: A Harrier's hovering downwash can tear roof tiles off buildings. The US Marine Corps believed the Harrier so vital that they produced their own upgraded version when nobody else would fund it. The aircraft's unique engine could surge, stall or melt asphalt if a pilot made the wrong move at the wrong moment. More than a history, this is an inside look at a machine that defied expectation at every turn. It profiles the engineers who improvised with whatever they had, the politicians who nearly killed the project more than once, and the pilots who wrestled the Harrier into the sky and learned how to fight with it. Packed with colour, pace and insight, this book uncovers the quiet scandals, surprising alliances and sheer bloody-minded determination that turned an eccentric British experiment into one of the most influential combat aircraft of the modern age.