On 4/22/2011 6:24 AM, Louann Miller wrote:
I know very little about small planes, and I am trying to gather
information for a piece of fiction. I need a plausible aircraft that
seats six for a character. Not the most expensive luxury thing in the
world, but something moderate and in good condition. What kind of plane
would fit these requirements?

He has a large piece of rural land. It would be great if he can keep the
aircraft there and have a landing strip. What would this involve in the
way of equipment, other people, etc? How big would it have to be?

Flying into Dallas, Texas, where would such a plane land? I assume not
DFW at all. Does Love Field have facilities for this kind of plane or
would it be one of the even smaller airports like Addison? Would someone
who flies into Dallas often have hangar space rented at an airport?

What would be the flight time from the Amarillo area to Dallas and vice
versa?

What would be the investment, time and money, for someone to get this kind
of pilot's license without learning to fly in the military?

And for the plot, I'm thinking about this man telling his wife he went to
town A when he actually flew to town B. Would there be any records to
trace his movements later on? Either that the wife could find out about
herself or that the police could find while investigating a crime.

I hate it when novels get these kinds of details wrong, would appreciate
some advice so I don't make that kind of mistake.

Thanks,

Louann Miller

A Beechcraft Baron, or Piper Malibu would fit the bill. Read the
Wikipedia articles on them to get some more info.

Private air strips are fairly common. A 3500' runway will accomodate a
Malibu easily.

Private traffic is allowed into DFW, but in practice, most private
pilots avoid the largest ("Class B") airports because of the congestion
and often excessive landing fees.
Airnav.com is a good resource. It will give you information about
airports and services provided.

You can compute flight time from the cruise speed of the aircraft and
the distance involved. Add 20 minutes or so at each end for preflight
checks and parking, fueling, delays...

Figure $10,000 in training, more or less, for a private pilot
certificate (not a license, although it is commonly referred to as one).
More for a instrument rating.

If the pilot is flying an instrument flight plan, there are web sites
(flightaware.com is one) that show the radar tracking info. If the pilot
is flying VFR, and not in contact with air traffic control, there is no
record kept.

Thanks for taking the trouble to do the research. I hate it when the
details are wrong too. It ruins the illusion.

Curt