Julian, now doing Year Eleven at a private school, is celebrating his seventeenth birthday. Due to a compromise, he has obtained his fix-wing licence, and is now about to commence his rotary-wing (helicopter) endorsement. His instructor is Arthur Cameron, who quickly realises Julian is a 'natural'. He completes his endorsement training by the end of April despite a potentially fatal crash. In the July holidays, he accompanies his photographer friend to Uluru (Ayers Rock) area as his pilot on an aerial assignment. Whilst there, Julian meets a holidaying American family, the Cliffords, and becomes very attracted to their fifteen year-old daughter, Alison, and she to him. Her father, Matt, is a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps. That night, Julian, Alison and her younger brothers Barry, Colin save a young child missing in the scrub. The following week, Julian reads news reports stating that two of the Clifford boys, Colin & younger brother, Dale, are missing near Mt. Baw Baw in northeast Victoria. He has a hunch as to where they might be, flies into a remote river valley south of the official search area, and explores it on foot for two days. He finds the boys just before the weather gets bad so he can't fly them out. Colin has a bad gash on his leg which becomes septic. When the bad weather, Julian is able to fly them out. Colin is still alive, but very ill. In gratitude, the Clifford family invites Julian to spend his next September/October school holiday break with them in southern California as their honoured guest. His decision to go places his mental health at risk
