The answer is Swedish farmer Haakan Wiukander and firefighter Stefan Samberg rocking up to the Croydon Aviation Centre at last weekend’s Steam & Air Festival with a story doused in the audacity of true hobbyists.
This story began nearly a century ago with a de Havilland DH.80A Puss Moth, a British three-seater monoplane used in wartime as a communication and reconnaissance unit.
Due to Sweden’s neutrality in the conflict, there is a vast array of planes left either by the great powers of the war or by, as Mr Wiukander put it, "German pilots a little tired of management" — leaving over 700 planes scattered around the country.
This particular plane was sitting in a barn in Sweden until 2016 when the duo found it, restored it, and then refurbished it for the purpose of flying the kangaroo route, from London to Sydney continuously.
Geopolitics got in the way however, as Mr Wiukander said the route was hampered by the inability to fly over the Middle East due to the conflicts in the region.
Although he acknowledged it was a "crazy idea", Mr Wiukander, even in his 80s, still carries a daredevil spirit he held from his youth, having only started flying planes after retiring from his previous hobby of racing vintage cars around Europe.
With the route somewhat hampered, the duo loaded up the plane on a shipping container to be transported Down Under, with the plan to fly it around New Zealand last year.
Global issues once again got in the way as the container was diverted from the Suez Canal due to the Red Sea crisis — where the Houthis began to attack and disrupt logistics around the region.
The container ended up taking the long way around through the Panama Canal, where it was reloaded on to a ship on the West Coast of the United States and "disappeared".
For 12 months, Mr Wiukander and Mr Samberg waited, borrowing another plane for a previous visit to New Zealand, before finding out it had suddenly arrived at its intended destination — meaning another trip for the Swedish pair down under.
Clearly Mr Wiukander was not particularly fussed by the diversion despite the oldest functional plane in Sweden going off-radar for 12 months.
"S... happens," he laughed, clearly not too upset by the need to leave Sweden during the coldest month at the place.
After the plane was picked up by their friends the duo travelled around New Zealand taking it to the Croydon Aviation centre which Mr Wiukander was very fond of.
"This is the 13th time [for me], and the eighth time [for Mr Samberg].
"Every year we come here, we stay overnight, it’s a nice place to be. It’s the Mecca for old planes," he said.
The next step on their journey is a leg down to the Stewart Island, before packing up and heading back to Sweden, reunited with their plane.
