Rescue Pilot Cheating the Sea
Rescue Pilot Cheating the Sea by Jerry Grayson, published by Bloomsbury USA on September 29, 2015, is a first edition memoir that chronicles the extraordinary career of one of the youngest helicopter pilots to serve in the Royal Navy. At just seventeen, Grayson embarked on a path that would see him become the most decorated peacetime naval pilot in history by the age of twenty-five. The book offers an inside look at the thrilling and often perilous world of Search and Rescue operations, detailing Grayson’s experiences in high-stakes situations, including dramatic rescues from the sea and the infamous Fastnet Yacht Race of 1979.
Readers will find a narrative that blends humor and poignancy as Grayson shares his adventures and the camaraderie among the men and women in his field. The memoir highlights the challenges faced by rescue pilots, emphasizing the urgency and skill required in life-and-death scenarios. With a focus on military aviation and personal memoirs, this 240-page account presents a vivid portrayal of a life dedicated to saving others, making it a significant contribution to the genres of biography and personal memoir.
Official synopsis Publisher
Jerry Grayson is an ordinary man who chose an extraordinary career. At age seventeen, he became the youngest helicopter pilot to ever serve in the Royal Navy. By age twenty-five, he was the most decorated peacetime naval pilot in history.
For the Navy’s Search and Rescue pilots, getting to work is both an adventure and an ordeal. Whether rescuing a wounded fighter pilot who has ditched in the sea, saving desperate survivors from a sinking ship, or picking up a grievously ill crewman from the deck of a nuclear-armed submarine that is playing a cat-and-mouse game with the Soviet navy, Jerry Grayson has lived a life of unparalleled excitement and adventure.
His finest hour came during the infamous Fastnet Yacht Race of 1979, in which twenty-five yachts were lost. When a catastrophic storm enveloped the competitors, he and his crew pushed their Wessex helicopter to its absolute limit and put their own lives at risk, flying into hurricane-force winds to winch shipwrecked sailors from heaving tempestuous seas. An investiture at Buckingham Palace with Her Majesty the Queen was the result.
Being a rescue pilot is a fast-paced career because there is no choice. Lives are at stake and pilots must move and think fast. Jerry Grayson’s inside view of this heroic service is as inspirational as it is celebratory. Excitingly told, frequently funny, but also very poignant, Jerry’s story is not an account of just one man’s deeds, it is a salute to all the men and women he worked with who were able to turn tragedies into triumphs.
Foreword by HRH the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm.
Publisher
Topics
FAQ
What is “Rescue Pilot Cheating the Sea” about?
Who is the author of “Rescue Pilot Cheating the Sea”?
When was “Rescue Pilot Cheating the Sea” published?
What is the ISBN for “Rescue Pilot Cheating the Sea”?
What are the book details (language, pages, edition)?
