After flying a desk in Washington for the first months of the war, Col. 'Pappy' Hartley, a decorated fighter ace of the First World War, arrives in England. He also happens to be one of Gen. Savage's most revered flight instructors from his training days. With the formation of a new bomb group needing an experienced commander, Savage is only too pleased to recommend Pappy as a candidate for the job. Full of freewheeling fighter pilot blood coursing through his veins, Pappy chafes at the regimentation of bomber duty. Blinded by his admiration for his mentor, Savage wrestles with the growing realization that Pappy is not cut from the right cloth, but is he too late to prevent a calamity?