Although the studio was filling a niche, Norman was also motivated by the state of race relations at the time and wanted to make a positive impact.

[4] At the train station in Mayport, Florida, Paymaster Blair Kimball (Boise De Legge) arrives a day early.

Dr. A. G. Maynard (Sam Jordan), the local dentist and Constable Jed Splivins (Lions Daniels) greet him, as pilot Finley Tucker (Harold Platts) looks on.

Captain Billy Stokes (Laurence Criner), a World War I fighter pilot, known as "The Flying Ace" because of his downing of seven enemy aircraft in France, returns home to resume his former job as a railroad detective.

With principal photography in Jacksonville, Florida, The Flying Ace was an example of producer Norman's "home talent" films, in which he would travel to various towns with stock footage and a basic script.

Norman cast J. Laurence Criner, a veteran of Harlem's prestigious all-black theater troupe the Lafayette Players, in the leading role of Captain Billy Stokes, a black pilot who fought in France during World War I.

[12] Megan Pugh writes, in an essay for the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in 2010, "While it’s impossible to measure the influence The Flying Ace had on its viewers, it is reasonable to assume that audiences found its lead character inspirational.

Its first public screening in decades took place in July 2010, at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, where a restored print of The Flying Ace was shown at the Castro Theatre.