 Newly-discharged from the RAF after World War II, Jack Ruskin, a blunt no-nonsense Yorkshireman, decides to set up his own airline, Ruskin Air Services. Something of an idealist, Jack is prepared to bend every rule in the book to achieve his goal of flying a Dakota once again. He soon does a deal with Ernie Cade, a notorious spiv who can lay his hands on any item of war surplus - for the right price - and then enlists Peter Witney as co-pilot and Jock McEvoy as maintenance engineer. But his long absences start to put a strain on his relationship with Jennie, his girlfriend.