Sierra Sierra, a novel

by John Joss

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688033687
• ISBN13: 9780688033682
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Morrow
• Length: 235 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

For those who love the sky ...

"The wind. Great God, the wind!" Thus begins a novel of two themes of air combat, one against the treacherously beautiful forces of nature, and the other against the equally treacherous but darker forces of man. John Joss weaves these together seamlessly in a timeless story of the beauty, art, and deadliness of flying. Mark Lewis attempts to set world records of distance and altitude in a sailplane on a single flight, beginning from Mount Olympus in Washington and ending at Yuma Arizona. Rare and perfect winds enable this assault. They storm the mountains paralleling the Pacific coast and push his sailplane towards the 60,000 feet altitude Mark strives to achieve, but also threaten to dash him to the earth during the low points of the flight. Against this foreground story is woven the background of Mark's air combat in Vietnam, the meaningless death of his best friend on a mission they flew together late in the war, and his unexpected entanglement with his friend's sister and father afterwards. They bring meaning back into his life: the father, by challenging Mark to attempt the sailplane record, and the sister by challenging him to overcome the blame she assigns him for her brother's death. Two airplanes figure strongly in this story: the Alcor, a powerless, delicate machine tuned exquisitely for the air combat of surfing the upper atmosphere; and the F-4 Phantom II, a brutishly powered machine designed for air combat of the darker kind. Joss writes knowledgably and wonderfully about these machines and their missions, and pilots in either category, powered or un-, will appreciate the authentic details. I testify to the evocative accuracy of the war sequences from my own combat experiences in the Phantom over Vietnam. Tracers streaking past the cockpit, black puffballs trying to knock the airplane out of the air, bone-crunching gs on the pullouts from bombing passes--all of these put me back into the cockpit and made me flinch! Although I have never been in a sailplane, Joss's descriptions of the sights, sounds, and feels of bouncing in those rotators, riding those waves and thermals, and gliding the long, silent glides between them utterly convince me of the authenticity of the writing and the authority of the author in this aspect of flying. First published in 1978, the story is timeless, the writing superb, and the book provides a good read for all who love the sky. I hope there will be a new edition, because this book certainly deserves a second life.

Outstanding on several levels

John Joss does a great job of creating an adventure story centered around an epic soaring flight with a love story, great technical knowledge of soaring, the challenge of combat flying in the Vietnam war and the geography of the magnificent mountains that extend the length of the west coast. His knowledge of the technical side of flight is evident in the "creation" of Sierra Sierra and the challenge of flying it at the edge of the envelope. Joss also captures the magic of flying an unpowered sailplane in a constantly changing sky. Joss is one of the very few authors who understand flying and possess the gift of bringing the magic to the reader. His technical expertise is evident in the numerous books he has written or edited on advanced soaring. He's brings a lot of stick time in powered aircraft . One hopes that he will write more fiction along with his excellent non-fiction works.

THIS DESERVES TO BE A MOTION PICTURE A.S.A.P.!

From personal conversations with the author -- a long-term (many decades long!) personal friend & professional colleague -- it is my understanding that Clint Eastwood once considered making this novel into a motion picture. [Mister Eastwood chose instead to bring Malpaso's expertise to a picture about a hijacked Soviet stealth fighter -- a memorable film, nonetheless, which was better & far more suspenseful than "Play Misty for Me" -- in my humble opinion].The aircraft described in this 'novel' really exists and resides now in the Smithsonian. A mock-up should be used in the film.John Joss and I even considered the pleasant task of casting MEL GIBSON in the starring role, but pleasantries fell apart trying to consider who to play the other two roles.For the aircraft designer = I suggest PAUL NEWMAN, who enjoyed a recent UNLV men's basketball game sitting a few rows ahead of me! [Paul - I continue to enjoy your "Hail Caesar" dressing]!For 'the love interest': Golly, there are so many attractive and thoughtfully pleasing ladies in and out of Hollywood. Maybe we need to film this in Canada? Or in the United Kingdom, perhaps?For pre-production and directorial details: I'd trust Eastwood.Ground scenes & in-cockpit close-ups must be done -- not in a simulator (ala Pierce Brosnan's superb motion picture with some soaring scenes (in the New York State hills -- but, preferrably, at "Skyland North" gliderport [a.k.a. Mountain Valley Airport on your FAA en routes] in Tehachapi, CA -- for purely personal reasons: 'The Raven's Nest' is the best coffee shop of its kind in North America!Technical assistance could be provided by the Soaring Society of America out of Hobbs, New Mexico - Larry Sanderson, President.[Besides I owe Jane and Larry Barrett a 'free lunch' for past favors, while flying 'my' GROB-103 there]!"LET's ROLL!" ;-)