The film is based on the biography of Valeri Chkalov (1904 - 1938), a Russian pilot, who set several long distance flight records. Chkalov and his co-pilots Baidukov and Belyakov together had accomplished several non-stop long-distance flights. In June of 1937 Chkalov set the world record, covering 12000 kilometers in 63 hours of non-stop flight from Moscow to Vancouver, Washington, flying over the North Pole.

Workers from the aviation factory near Prague set up a racing club for young people that will take part in the international sailing competition for Czechoslovakia.

Pinky Scariano, Allan Ross, and Frankie Davis all join the Army Air Forces with hopes of becoming pilots. In training, they meet and become pals with Bobby Grills and Irving Miller, and the five struggle through the rigid training and grueling tests involved in becoming pilots. Not all of them succeed, and tragedy awaits for some.