Jack McLaren accompanies Hudson Fysh and Paul McGuiness on their historic 2,170-kilometre trek from Longreach, Queensland to Katherine in the Northern Territory. They are surveying the country for a suitable landing field for what they hope will be an England-to-Australia flight.
Travelling overland in a model T Ford, the trio leave petrol at places where they expect the plane to land, and endure sand storms, boggings, breakdowns, forty-one punctures, three bent axles, and a 112-kilometre walk for help. It is on this journey that Fysh and McGuiness conceive of Australia's first air service.
