Jonathan is sick and tired of the boring life in his seagull clan. He rather experiments with new, always more daring flying techniques. Since he doesn't fit in, the elders expel him from the clan. So he sets out to discover the world beyond the horizon in a quest for wisdom.

One summer in Cook, Nebraska, a group of part-time pilots decide to recreate a 1920s-style "barnstorming" flying tour. Calling themselves the "Great Flying Circus," they travel the American Midwest giving rides for three dollars and talking to the small-town characters they encounter. During their travels they meet an old man who is convinced that tornadoes are being generated because the astronauts landed on the moon, and a small boy who is willing to spend an entire day washing the planes for a few minutes of flying. Along the way, the men rediscover small-town America.