Thanks everyone.

The airplane we need for the story is a pilotless drone, a fictional
airplane, capable of carrying a few hundred pound payload long
distances -- think in terms of drones used by the DoD now.

The principal author will model it after some of the existing high
performance gliders, that will both save him from working at making
his airplane unique and will make it more believable -- don't you hate
stories that contain technical errors?

I loved one of the (God I hope it was) typos, where Larry asked if the
airplane should be "a certified aircraft or will something excremental
do".

Thanks again, you've offered the insights and verification I hope for.