Supersonic Saints: Thrilling Stories from LDS Pilots

by John Bytheway (compiler)

Riveting and faith-promoting, Supersonic Saints is a collection of more than 15 true stories of LDS pilots who felt the hand of the Lord in their lives when they needed it most. Many of these pilots are still active in the United States Armed Forces. All of them are alive and active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Genres: Nonfiction, Lds, Religion, Military Fiction, History, Inspirational, Church

177 pages, Hardcover

First published May 17, 2007

About the author

John Bytheway (born October 1962) is an American author and academic, who is well known as a comic motivational speaker for youth within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Born in Salt Lake City, Bytheway attended the University of Utah and Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, receiving a Master's Degree in Religious Education. He also served as a missionary for the LDS Church in the Philippines.

Bytheway is a religious studies instructor at BYU, currently focusing on the Book of Mormon. He also serves on the Aaronic Priesthood/Young Women Writing Committee for the LDS Church. Bytheway and his wife Kimberly have six children.

Reviews

[Book2Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

For any young man, or woman, who wants to learn to fly an airplane, in particular a supersonic airplane, here are the stories of those who did. They are told by each pilot. Some from the Vietnam War and some from more current conflicts. The stories are exciting and suspenseful, and I can imagine many YA and adults too enjoying these. Tales of rescues, close calls, and miracles.

[Mckell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a real nail-bitter. While I was reading this it was absolutely impossible to put down. John Bytheway did an excellent job compiling these thrilling stories. I love the way the stories relate into religious principles that people of any age can apply to their daily lives. I enjoyed having my faith strengthened through these uplifting stories. These stories put you in the pilots shoes and make you believe you are there too. The life threatening experiences these amazing men had, are craftily related to the Mormon religion. I enjoyed connecting emotionally and spiritually with these uplifting stories

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stories from pilots whose experiences of God’s blessings range from combat to training to search-and-rescue missions, these inspirational accounts include some acts of heroism and bravery, and all of them include gratitude to a loving Heavenly Father who was mindful of them in their hours of need.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book for pilots and those who love pilots. :-) I know one of the pilot/authors in this book and it is a really inspirational book. I like to read about men that are able to be righteous while serving their country in the military.

[Emilee · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband loved this book, one of only six books I could actually get him to read. It was a great compilation of stories showing how men were brought closer to Heavenly Father through their experiences as pilots. I would recommend it to all of my friends.

[Jileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. A little too Air-Force-technological-speak on a few accounts. I did find many of the Vietnam experiences intriguing.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of exciting stories about the dangers of flight. I found a couple of them fairly preachy, but they were all enjoyable.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspiring stories of LDS pilots. It was a good book to me. The real fans, were my husband and son. They both were fascinated by the stories about flying.

[Abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is important to note that this is not a book WRITTEN by John Bytheway, but rather a collection of stories from other people, COMPILED by him. John Bytheway is actually a pretty talented and entertaining author. He also loves planes. So while the individual stories in here are not written amazingly well (IMO), I think he likes them because they are about planes. It's not the worst book ever, but I would personally re-title it "Mildly Interesting Short Stories from LDS Pilots."

Actually, the stories themselves were surely exciting when they happened. It's just that didn't translate when the pilots (aka non-writers) put them on paper.

HOWEVER - if you are an airplane fanatic, or a pilot yourself, you may really love this book. Part of my problem was that many of the terms and vocabularly were unfamiliar to me, so I kept zoning out while reading. It's sort of like when someone talks to me about a football game. No matter how excited they are about it, I can't help staring at the wall and waiting for the boredom to finally end. If football is NOT boring to you, imagine something else. Like talking to a mathematics major explaining the latest breakthough in advanced calculus. While they are really excited and passionate about it, you're probably thinking to yourself, "I have no idea what he is talking about. Also, this is really boring. Can I leave now?"

So here is a test for whether you may like this book. Can you correctly identify the following terms/airplane parts/flying jargon?: "Push it up", "blast off in a full afterburner", "lost wingman", "wingtip separation", "aniti collision light", "blade anttenna", "air to ground gunnery", and "trachometer". If those phrases sound familiar/interesting to you, you may very well like this book much, much more than I did.

[Jeremy Wiser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Supersonic Saints is a non-fiction book about mormon pilots and their stories. It doesn't have any main characters because it is a book with lots of short stories about LDS pilots and their near-death experiences. It describes them losing friends, nearly crashing, leaps of faith, crazy officers that trained them and other stories like that. It is interesting to learn about events happening to all of these ordinary people with ordinary jobs and lives. It talks about each pilot and what job they have and where they live.

No movie was made about this book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories about real people and there unreal life experiences. It describes the setting of what is going on around the pilots during their story very well. It's one biggest weakness is that it is all stories about LDS pilots and some readers may not like that. If I could change something it would be to get more combat stories into the book. I would recommend this to LDS members or anyone who likes non-fiction pilot's stories.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've met at least two of these pilots who contributed a story to this book. The most recent was Gil Bertleson, the SR-71 Blackbird pilot. There is a retired Blackbird at the Hill Air force Base Museum and what a beautiful piece of work that is! It's incredible to pair that with the stories that I've personally heard him tell and the story that is in this book. Fun book for airplane nerds like my Dad and I!

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my little boy's book. He got it cause it has a jet on the cover :-). It is a compilation of stories, Mormon pilots (so far all have been American) who had close calls and miracles happen while flying for the military. I read him a chapter each night before going to bed. It has been enjoyable.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hijacked this book from my husband to read when I was in between books. Because it is a compilation of short stories, it was perfect to pick up and read whenever! A group of LDS pilots tell their flight stories, mostly during war times and relate it to the gospel. Some authors were better story-tellers than others. But it's a great read for anyone who loves flying.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy reading, was able to finish it in a few hours. A number of personal experiences of LDS pilots, mostly consisting of Vietnam war stories but some in the modern era, ie the SR-71 and Space Shuttle. Most of them deal with weather issues. A couple of them brought a tear to my eye, overall a good short read.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book; It has some fascinating stories with a great morale to each story. Each story isn't too long, and the book as a whole is a pretty quick read. It really gives interesting perspectives into flight, history, and the gospel-- Since I like all three, I really enjoyed this book!

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good accounts from LDS pilots throughout several decades of aviation. I enjoyed the book's overview of each aircraft discussed and the highlights of the aviator's career. More detail in several areas would be nice, especially for non-aviators.

[Ang · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only reason I gave it three stars was because I am not passionate about military life and fighter planes. I like to learn about them, just not my passion. Cool stories--definitely a must read for christian military buffs.

[Karie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. If you enjoy airplanes and personal stories of faith, mostly during battle, you will love this book. I felt that it further strengthened my gratitude for those who serve our country and the priceless personal faith building experiences were inspiring.

[Tamdaqueenhotmail.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

True stories from lds pilots. I liked it because the doctrine wasn't over powering but settle enough to know that these men had faith in a supreme being and thanked him for accomplishments or survival.

[Austin Skousen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great! There are amazing war stories from fighter pilots.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the funnest books I have ever read. It is very uplifting to read the stories of these pilots.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw Craig reading this and picked it up...... now I have to hurry and finish it as my Dad wants to read it.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me even more thankful for those who put there life on the line for the freedoms I enjoy. My thanks go out to them!!!!

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess the story about my friend is in the 2nd book... not this one... but this was a very interesting read!
The HR library does have a copy of this now... you should check it out!

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listenend to this book on CD, and thought it was great, very entertaining and cool stores

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband love this book! It must be the involvement we have with airplanes. I thought the stories told were very exciting though.

[Dirkathena]

It's a good, inspiring book. It's nice to know the Lord takes care of us in all situations we may be in.

[Cary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not into supersonic planes but a few of the stories were miraculous.

[Rozalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book for my husband for Christmas. It's a quick read, but fun and inspiring.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were very interesting stories of LDS pilots.