Rosemary, with a colourful aviation background had lived in the USA for fifteen years, and having returned to Sydney, Australia, to live permanently, found it difficult to find her old aviation buddies. So she searched RSVP-Australia for people who mentioned aviation in their profiles, with the aim to find pen-pals and old friends, but not for dates. Rosie noticed the photo of a man wearing a headset that looked as if he was sitting in a aeroplane. Off went her initial contact and emails were exchanged, then photos, flying backgrounds, matters of common interest like International Toastmasters, dogs and learned David lived in Melbourne and owned a Cessna 172. David had been flying for a similar number of years, so both were old-timers in the industry, and even knew people in common. The email-friendship was regular, informative, supportive and David's proposed flight across the Nullarbor was discussed. He had flown across it on three previous occasions, and this new trip was planned for April 2007. Difficulties presented themselves with aircraft availability making April no longer viable. A new time slot was mentioned but David needed to find a co-pilot for company and to share the 50 (approx.) flying hours. Just as a passing email comment he asked Rosie if she was interested in this flight to start in September. By coincidence she had hoped to visit Shark Bay, West Australia, on September 25, 2007, so asked could that be a detour, north of Perth. It was agreed and planning took off in great detail. Rosie booked a flight from Sydney to Melbourne for September 20, 2007, which just happened to be the anniversary of her first contact with David. One full year of emails only, no phone calls, so at Melbourne Airport at 10.15am David will meet Rosie and they will hear each other's voices for the first time, their first meeting. During the lengthy flight planning, controlled by refuelling stops and overnight accommodation bookings, David mentioned he would like to meet some old friends at a small place called Serpentine. He suggested that Rosie find nearby accommodation. She found Mandurah, West Australia and wondered why this place name seemed familiar. Rosemary's reason to travel to the Shark Bay area for September 25, 2007, was that it was the twentieth anniversary of her only son's disappearance off the cliffs, in a boating mishap, never found. Grant was hitch-hiking on a 40ft timber boat, Corsair, with the brother of a friend of his, plus another person, neither had met previously. The boat was boarded in Mandurah. Rosemary had read of Mandurah in the Coroner's Report on Grant Arnold's disappearance. The boat appeared to be smashed onto the rocks at the base of the towering cliff-face off Dirk Hartog Island, Shark Bay. Mystery surrounds this boating trip and its apparent ending. There was only one survivor; the brother of Grant's friend also disappeared, no trace. So many coincidences give Rosie the opportunity to investigate both the beginning and end of her son's last known days. David has also experienced tragedy in his life, so was quick to understand her need for this pilgrimage. After many years in the industry, both Rosie and David are actively involved with their own aviation businesses. As the owner/operator of Image Aircraft, an aircraft hire business, David works out of Essendon airport with his Cessna 172, VH-IDT. Rosemary operates "Chapel in the Sky", conducting unique helicopter weddings above Sydney Harbour in a 7-seater Bell Long Ranger, in her capacity as Civil Marriage Celebrant. Details of these operations can be found in Links to the various websites, and other websites give greater detail to aviation experience of both these pilots. Trust this gives you answers to some questions, and further information can be obtained by using our email links. This blind date was soon recognised as a possible 'world's longest', for the longest was reported in the USA Boston Globe, February 15, 2006: Mashantucket, Conn. 'A Massachusetts pair spent more than 30 hours together in an attempt to set a world record for the longest blind date.' David and Rosie will spend 15 days in each other's company, with a total flying time of nearly 50 hours, over some of Australia's remotest areas. Hope you enjoy following this adventure, with its developing friendship, the tension of difficult weather conditions, long hours of flying in a small aircraft cockpit, coping with heat, dust, flies, wild life at small dirt airstrips (Emus attack planes) and the unexpected. What a way to really get to know somebody!