Bob (Three Star) is depicted as doing acrobatics at the beginning of the film in a 1929 Travel Air D4000 "Speedwing", registration NC406N. As of 2023 it is still registered with the FAA as airworthy. This plane can also be seen in the serial The Mystery Squadron (1933), the feature film The Lost Squadron (1932) and many others.
Wexley's black plane is a Stearman C3R "Business Speedster". First flown in 1927, only 179 of all variants were made.
American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films (1931-40) lists Edward McWade as Pilot Saunders, but in the film itself McWade plays Clement Williams, the important plane passenger, and Pilot Saunders is played by up-and-coming young actor Bill Elliott (later known as Wild Bill Elliott).
The airplane used at the beginning of the film is a 1928 Ford Tri-Motor, model 4-AT-D, registration NC5578. It could carry 12 passengers. Note the wicker seats used to save weight. After being sold many times, this plane was exported to the Shell Oil Company in Ecuador in 1945, fate unknown.
Much of the aerial photography by Elmer Dyer would be re-used in Fly Away Baby (1937) and Fugitive in the Sky (1936).