Whilst Brian Shul may have taken a tad of literary licence, it may be to attempt company with such a machine. The photographs are also his, and I believe the stories are all, very, true.
He was unfortunate enough to be shot down over Vietnam, suffering considerably to survive. His A7 might not have treated him as fairly as the Sled would years later, but perhaps such things are necessary in order to give us mortals a glance at a time and place we might all wish were ours.
I was fortunate to meet the man at Reno some years back. I treasure my copy of Sled Driver. I lament that such machines, men, and stories are few, and our 21st century promises little in the way of such story telling.