Ronnie Clarke, an Australian airline pilot, learns that John Pascoe has crashed in the remote Tasmanian bush trying to fly help to a sick girl and is lying with a fractured skull. Ronnie decides to try and fly a doctor there despite the dangerous conditions, since he has always admired John ever since he taught Ronnie to fly. By the time Ronnie reaches John, he has become close to the heart of the man, the secrets of his adventurous life and the two heartbreaks he has suffered.