Rescue Pilot
Cheating the Sea
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3 Months Free
£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
Rescue Pilot
Narrated by:
David Thorpe
Buy Now for £13.99
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Narrated by:
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David Thorpe
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By:
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Jerry Grayson
Jerry Grayson is an ordinary man who chose an extraordinary career. At age 17 he became the youngest helicopter pilot to ever serve in the Royal Navy. By age 25 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 25 yachts were lost. When a catastrophic storm enveloped the competitors he and his crew pushed their Wessex helicopter to its absolute limits 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.
Includes a Foreword by HRH The Duke of York, Prince Andrew, Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm.©2015 Jerry Grayson (P)2026 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
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Critic reviews
Interesting to read a different viewpoint of that tragic Fastnet Race. Grayson's recollection is moving: it reads like a roll-call of terror.
Grayson's intimate reminiscence unlocks the secrets to a rich life.
His stories are riveting, astounding and sometimes hilarious... Readers can take vicarious pride in those with the skill and passion to risk their lives for strangers in trouble.
Through the frequently funny accounts of each rescue, Jerry gives an understanding of how it's often the teamwork and mateship that results in another life saved while pitting a large helicopter against the power of the seas.
Fascinating
Such a great look into life in the Fleet Air Arm and no holds barred with so many funny stories.
I wanted (but never did) to join the Army Air Corp to fly rotary, never thought about the FAA and now I wished I looked at both harder!
Love the rivalry between the FAA and RAF in the book and the story about getting into the air during a storm that destroyed hangers just to ensure the RAF didn't get all the credit for a rescue!
Jerry (Ace) if you read the review I just want you to know I followed the TV series Treasure Hunt avidly and Keith and Mike were heroes to me!
at one point you mentioned starting a helicopter company in Cornwall and at that point I said Castle Air? to myself not knowing and then you started to say a friend and I said Keith Thompson again to myself!
No idea you were behind a company I follow with interest and no idea you were behind such big films.
if you only download one book this month....this is the one.
Riveting is the only word I'd use!!!
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