Ted “Jet” Morgan (Bob Steele) returns home from World War I. When he gets off the train in his small, western town, he’s met by Si “Old Timer” Haller (George “Gabby” Hayes). Si explains that Ted’s aunt is dead and his uncle was run out of town for being a drunk. Alice, “the girl next door” who Ted hoped to marry, married someone else. Si invites Ted to stay with him. Ted agrees and things start to look up when he meets Si’s niece, June (Nancy Drexel).
Meanwhile, a gang of outlaws led by Ken Kincade (Harry Semel) hijack a mail plane and steal the payroll that it was carrying. Ted is not nicknamed Jet for nothing. He not only know how to ride a horse but he’s good with planes too. With the help of Si and the local sheriff (William Dyer), he aims to stop those turn of the century skyjackers before they can force another unexpected landing.
Though the film takes place after World War I and features Bob Steele flying a plane and Gabby Hayes driving the same car he drove in Rainbow Valley, this is definitely a western. Before he proves himself as a pilot, Ted has to prove himself as a horseman and the movie ends with a traditional western gunfight. The postwar setting does still bring some unexpected elements to the story. Ted’s lonely arrival in his hometown reflects what it was like for many veterans returning home from Europe. At first, Ted doesn’t feel like he has a place in his old town but he soon gets a chance to prove to both himself and the townspeople that he belongs.
Bob Steele and Gabby Hayes are good heroes. Robert N. Bradbury, who was also Steele’s father, was one of the best of the B-western directors. For fans of the genre, this film is a definite treat.