The movie is based on the 1964 novel Nebeští jezdci by Czech World War II RAF and Soviet Air Force air gunner Richard Husmann, writing as Filip Jánský. Part of the inspiration for the novel was the story of František "Frankie" Truhlář, a member of Guinea Pig Club, No. 311 Squadron RAF gunner and later No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF pilot. In 1969 Hodder & Stoughton published an English translation of the book as Riders in the Sky.