The series starred Roy Marsden as Jack Ruskin, a pilot demobbed after the end of the Second World War who starts his own air transport business.

The aerial unit was managed by the Aces High Company, who operated two C-47/DC-3 aircraft for the series: "G-AGIV"/'Alice' (former USAAF and Spanish Air Force C-47A G-BHUB, now in the American Air Museum in Britain at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, painted in its original markings as "W7"/43-15509) – which featured a postwar drop-down airliner door – and the famous C-47A G-DAKS, which was previously used by the Royal Aircraft Establishment and had an extended nose originally used to test Ferranti / Marconi radar for the English Electric Lightning.

During production, a Taylorcraft Auster and a North American Harvard, rented from private owners, were also featured—as were shots of grounded/stored Douglas DC-3's in Malta, which were used for the Berlin Airlift scenes in the final episode.

Aces High subsequently moved operations to North Weald airfield in Essex, donating G-BHUB to the IWM and the Constellation to Wroughton, where both remain on display today.

The main Top Gear studios are located at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome, which has also been Aces High's base since moving from North Weald in the early 2000s.