On Apr 22, 9:24*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?

Cessna 210. Cessnas are very common. The
210 is a fairly high performance model, but not
elaborate. They're out of production, still being
flown by many, and affordable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_210

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?

A 1500ft strip will work. Could be grass or paved.
Only certified people can work on them. (called an
A & P... airframe and powerplant) Some owners
will receive the training to do it themselves.
http://www.avjobs.com/careers/detail.asp?RecID=95

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?

While I'm not familiar with Love Field, but anyone who is
regularly flying a 6 person plane with fairly high
performance will/should be able to land within
Class B airspace and that includes the big airports.
This pilot would most certainly hold a rating for
IFR (instrument flight rating), and have a Private
Pilot Certificate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspace_class

Would someone
who flies into Dallas often have hangar space rented at an airport?

Not unless they left it there overnight on a
regular basis. Even jets just park on the
tarmac if they don't have extended stays.

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

Depends on how fast you go and the weather.

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? *

About 60 hours at 150 bucks/hr if using the
flight school's plane. Buy your own plane up
front (100grand) and amortize the payments is
another way to go if you're committed.

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?

Yes, tons of records. Before his flight he
would call "DUATS" (direct user access
terminal service) and give them his plane
numbers, make and flight plan. This is to obtain
weather, and other notices to airmen. In the event
of an incident this provides proof that you exercised
the due diligence of a pilot as required by the
FAA before operating an aircraft.

There are also sites such as:
http://flightaware.com/ which track
airplane flights.

Either that the wife could find out about
herself or that the police could find while investigating a crime.

The FAA is highly regulated, however a person
could easily commit a crime an get away with it
as you described. Think...multiple social security
numbers, multiple identities, and beating facial
recognition. It can be done.

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

Good luck!

---
Mark IV