Hotshot Charlie's plane, with its cargo of gold bullion, is hijacked by the Dragon Lady's operatives while en route to Japan. Terry Lee and Chopstick Joe deduce that the gold could only be disposed of it the Portuguese colony of Macao and Terry flies there to attempt to recover the precious cargo.
Terry and Hotshot investigate when a cargo of rice bound for a United Nations relief effort is hijacked and the American representative who is to certify the cargo is abducted. They suspect that one of Chopstick Joe's shadier pilots has a hand in both the theft and the kidnapping and behind both crimes is the nefarious Dragon Lady.
A beautiful crook helps murder a French diplomat and steals his passport. Pursued by the police, she hides the document in Hotshot's trench-coat. She then tries to retrieve it before the co-pilot discovers he's the unwitting bearer.
Terry and Hotshot get mixed up in a museum robbery when they allow a honey-voiced Southern belle to hitch a ride in their plane to Tanzan. Upon arriving, they learn that the first mate of a tramp steamer was murdered in the Air Cathay office and Chopstick Joe has been accused of the crime. The only clue is an almost worthless statue of Buddha typically sold to American tourists found in the possession of the dead seaman.
Having lost heavily in a crooked dice game, Chopsticks Joe agrees to provide a dangerous smuggler the services of one of his airplanes and his two top pilots - Terry Lee and Hotshot.
Chopstick Joe agrees to ship a the earthly remains of one of Hong Kong's richest and most mysterious men. The coffin is hijacked from Terry's plane by Dragon Lady's goons and held for ransom, however, when it is revealed that the casket is empty, Air Cathay in general and Chopstick Joe in particular are held responsible.
Terry and Hotshot come the aid of a young Chinese woman who wishes to book passage on an Air Cathay flight on credit. She has come to Tanzan to persuade her fiancée to return to her province, but the young man, an up-and-coming boxer is reluctant to do so because the crooked promoter is holding his winnings due to the contract that he unwittingly signed. When Terry tries to help, the promoter's goons flex their muscles against Terry's face.
Chopstick Joe agrees to fly a disreputable passenger and a small bundle immediately to a distant air field - for a wad of cash. He doesn't count on Terry and Hotshot refusing to fly any more that night, even if he pays their back wages. The desperate passenger's pistol is much more persuasive and soon the pilots, the passenger and the precious bundle are flying deep into the jungle where they are forced down by the Dragon Lady's fighter planes. They discover that their cargo is a young boy - the titular ruler of an embattled Chinese province with three groups of men eager to pay to possess the child - dead or alive.
Hotshot blows his paycheck - and more besides - at Wang Wang's disreputable gambling house. He needs $600 quick so agrees to help the Dragon Lady slip a pair of gamecocks - carrying six large diamonds in their gizzards - from the plane to her house without going through the formalities of bills of lading - or Chopstick Joe's larcenous fingers. Unfortunately for Hotshot, one of Chopstick's cousins stows away on the flight carrying the roosters and throws them overboard, placing Hotshot in danger from not only the crooked gambler but the Dragon Lady, too.
Terry and Hotshot fly a Chinese-American soldier to Tanzan so that he can claim a valuable inheritance. They soon learn that the young man has been abducted by a gang who plane to substitute an impostor with Burma's innocent help and set about rescuing the soldier before he can come to harm.
Terry and Hotshot fly desperately needed typhus serum to a remote Chinese village, but the pretty nurse sent to meet them at the airstrip is abducted and their cargo hijacked. While searching for the nurse and the serum, the pilots stumble into the lair of the Dragon Lady and accuse her of stealing the medicine to sell on the black market; a charge which the beautiful crime lord angrily denies. Keeping the Americans locked in her house, D.L. conducts her own inquiries and is captured by the real crooks who broke into the clinic to steal syringes and other medical equipment.
Terry and Hotshot unknowingly deliver cases of stolen plastic explosives disguised as sausage to a bandit gang hiding in the jungle and are promptly imprisoned. Terry decides to use Hotshot as human shield since his co-pilot believes he dined on the Compound C-3, making him a walking bomb that's ready to explode.
Burma, attempting to earn a job as a reporter, stumbles onto one of the Dragon Lady's schemes and stows away on Terry's plane while fleeing her henchmen. Terry and Hotshot try to help their blonde friend by notifying the authorities of the plot to assassinate a visiting maharajah, but are captured before they can report the plot. Now they must escape the Dragon Lady's gilded prison before the potentate comes to harm.
The boys arrive in Singapore with a cargo consisting of poisonous snakes and a dead body.
The Dragon Lady finds an unexpected dupe to smuggle emeralds into Hong Kong when Martha Witherspoon comes to house and requests her special brand of tea. When D.L. learns that she plans to fly out of Tanzan on Air Cathay, she hides the jewels in the can of tea. Chopstick Joe's curiosity gets the better of him and he discovers the jewels; unfortunately, a jewel thief discovers him discovering the gems and relieves Joe of the emeralds. Now the Dragon Lady is in a murderous mood and its up to Terry and Hotshot to find the gems before D.L. exacts her revenge on their employer.
A crooked businessman hires Terry and Hotshot to fly him to a secret gold mine deep in the jungle. The gold mine is only a ruse; the businessman has buried a cache of gems stolen from a dozen nearby temples and plans to smuggle them out of China - after killing his pilot and co-pilot.
A dying man is the only clue to the rightful owners of a plantation, and a lovely girl claims the estate.