Jump Jet

The story of visionary British engineer Ralph Hooper who against the odds – and against rivals like NASA and US aviation giants – to build the iconic Harrier jump jet, for decades the world’s only successful vertical take-off and landing combat aircraft. In the teeth of powerful opposition back home, Hooper’s ingenuity, bloody-mindedness and insight then went on to rescue the biggest defence programme in history – the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. This is an underdog story celebrating an unappreciated British genius by a writer who knows the story better than anyone else in the world.