Before the United States formally entered the Second World War, a group of American pilots resigned their commissions, signed contracts with a private company, and flew Curtiss P-40 fighters over Burma and China under Chinese Air Force colors. Officially the American Volunteer Group, they became known as the Flying Tigers for the sharp-toothed nose art painted on their planes. The film traces how the unit formed under General Claire Lee Chennault, a retired US Air Corps officer turned advisor to Chiang Kai-shek, and how it scored a string of victories against Japanese bombers and fighters at a time when Allied forces elsewhere in Asia were losing badly. Archival footage, period photographs, and expert commentary cover the group's outnumbered dogfights, its makeshift airfields, and its disbandment shortly after Pearl Harbor when its pilots and planes were absorbed into the regular US military. The result is a detailed account of a small volunteer force that gave America and China a rare early win against Japan.