- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: Grub Street; First Edition edition (30 May 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1904943071
- ISBN-13: 978-1904943075
- Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 17.6 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
554,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #20 in Books > History > World History > World War II 1939-1945 > Weapons > Hurricane
- #100 in Books > History > Military History > World War II > Battle of Britain
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
One of Peter Vacher's great passions in life is restoring Rolls-Royce motor cars. In March 1982 he was travelling in India on research when quite by chance in the grounds of a northern university he stumbled on the rusting remnants of an aircraft. It was a British plane, but unrecognisable. Peter was intrigued. Initially thinking it was a Spitfire, he managed to get the serial number from which he obtained confirmation that it was in fact a Mark I Hurricane, R4118, which had flown in the Battle of Britain! For years he did nothing but the fantastic idea of bringing it back to England and seeing it fly again stayed at the back of his mind. In 1996 he decided to act and made an offer to buy the remains. In 1997 the offer was accepted. There then followed six years of wrangling, committees, red tape, Indian Air Force involvement, and much patient lobbying before in 2002 Peter was given 24 hours to remove the plane. Then the truly difficult process began of restoration - a worldwide search for parts, careful reconstruction, flight testing, and finally, finally airborne again. Along the way he re-united three auspicious veterans - Peter Thompson, Bunny Currant and Bob Foster - with R4118, men who had flown her during the war. This is truly an amazing story, a dream come true, documented in words and pictures as it happened. History Channel involvement. Video, film under negotiation; TV coverage of R4118 in flight guaranteed; Massive newspaper, magazine coverage guaranteed
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent documentary and very entertaining.,
By
This review is from: Hurricane R4118: The Extraordinary Story of the Discovery and Restoration of a Great Battle of Britain Survivor (Hardcover)
A superb book and I for one are very grateful to Peter Vacher for writing this up and more importantly for doing the restoration. Peter Thompson flew this aircraft, he was my father in law, so it is particularly poignant. That aside, it is compelling reading, very amsuing but also a very good documentary of what was done.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book and I was privelegd to meet the authour,
By
This review is from: Hurricane R4118: The Extraordinary Story of the Discovery and Restoration of a Great Battle of Britain Survivor (Hardcover)
Realy respect what this gentelman has done, to restore and get in the air a MK 1 Huricane is a remarkable feat, and must have been done at huge expense. Caps off!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Restoring a historic aircraft,
By Michael T Kennedy - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Hurricane R4118: The Extraordinary Story of the Discovery and Restoration of a Great Battle of Britain Survivor (Hardcover)
This is a story of persistence and frustration that finally resulted in the opportunity to restore a historic aircraft. The Hurricane had considerably more to do with the winning of the Battle of Britain than did its more glamourous partner, the Spitfire. The author recounts his own error on describing a derelict aircraft he had happened across in India as a Spitfire. The person he showed the photograph to quickly corrected his error.
Near the end of the war, Britain had sent a number of crated airplanes to India to assist in what was feared would be a serious battle with the Japanese. These planes were veterans, in some cases, of the Battle of Britain. They had been used heavily in battle. Sixty five years later, during the restoration of R 4118, bullet holes would be found in the wing fuel tanks, covered all those years by the self-sealing compound. As it happened, the planes arrived too late for the battle and some were used for the education of ground engineering students for the new India Air Force. By the time Peter Vacher happened upon the Hurricane R 4118, it had been lying on the ground, in pieces, unprotected for 40 years. Eventually, he decided to try to restore it. That meant getting it back to England and the story of his struggles with Indian bureaucracy takes half the book. He finally wrested it from ignorant and paranoid functionaries but, after six years of struggles with the Indian authorities, he was given 24 hours to crate it and ship it home ! In spite of all, it made it home and the restoration began. I have visited the RAF museum at Duxford and toured the restoration facilities there. I envy anyone who lives close enough to one of these sites to participate. I would happily do the scut work of stripping and sanding and cleaning to be able to be around such a project. The second half of the book gives the reader the feel of how it is done and how much the participants enjoy it. Some of the members of the team were Australian airline pilots who spent their crew rest periods, after flying 747s from Sydney to London, happily working on the Hurricane. The author was able to find several men, some now in their 90s, who had flown R 4118 in the Battle. He acquired many anecdotes from them that add to the color in the story. They were able to see it finished and flying. Others were already gone but family members were there to represent them. This is a lovely book and does a great job of telling the story of one restoration with all of the troubles and tribulations. It was an added thrill that the plane had participated heavily in the battle. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The find of an important aircraft!,
By Aces High - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Hurricane R4118: The Extraordinary Story of the Discovery and Restoration of a Great Battle of Britain Survivor (Hardcover)
This is a great story of a mans desire to gain posession of this "Hawker Hurricane #R4118" fighter. It makes for a very interesting read to follow along the frustrating path he must take to aquire this rare plane. The book details the pilots who flew this exact plane and their missions during the Battle of Britain era. It also covers the incredible restoration of this fighter back to flying status, with plenty of color photos throughout. A great book for anyone interested in WWII aircraft or restoration. I really enjoyed it!
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