The efforts of test pilot John Mitchell to make a better life for his wife Mary and their two children seem doomed to failure and he blames himself. At the Conway Aero-Manufacturing Company of Wolverhampton, Mitchell is to take the company's new rocket-propulsion transport plane up for tests, fully loaded and carrying two important passengers - Ministry official Crabtree and buyer's representative Ashmore. Mitchell learns from his boss, Reg Conway, that if Ashmore does not recommend the plane, the company will be out of business and Mitchell out of a job, since the plane is not even insured as the firm's entire capital is tied up in the plane. Aloft, an engine catches fire and the passengers and other crew bail out, but Mitchell refuses to obey orders to jettison the plane in the Irish Sea.

An innocent man is released from prison after 12 years and tracks down the witnesses who lied about him in court.

When Percy Brand, a habitual confidence trickster, keeps being sent down, he goes to great lengths to ensure that his son Colin, does not find out about his criminal past. But when Colin becomes an assistant to the Judge, who is about to try Percy for his latest escapade, Percy and his gang have to come up with a plan, to stop them meeting in court.