If you’ve read any of my Cordell Logan mystery novels, you’ll know that Logan flies an old, cantankerous, four-seat Cessna 172 Skyhawk. Ditto in Logan’s latest adventure, Deep Fury, set for release Dec. 17. The plane, nicknamed the Ruptured Duck, has unreliable radios, hail-dimpled wings, and a faded orange, yellow and white color scheme that practically screams 1970’s, which makes sense, considering that’s when the Duck first took wing from Cessna’s factory in Wichita, Kansas. Readers will occasionally ask me, is the Duck modeled after a real airplane?

It is. Loosely.

My father-in-law, Don, a lifelong pilot and long-time owner of a pressurized Cessna 210 Centurion, acquired tail number N3566E, a 1978 Cessna 172, in a business deal several years ago. Both my brother-in-law, David, and sister-in-law, Barbara, learned to fly piloting 66-Echo, after which Dave became part-owner of a Cessna 182 Skylane and Barb decided being an active pilot wasn’t her cup of tea. In any case, Don telephoned me one day and said, “I have this 172 and no real use for it. Would you be interested in getting back into flying? All you’d have to do is pay for maintenance and gas.”

I’d earned my private pilot’s certificate shortly after graduating from college, but hadn’t flown as pilot in command for several years. My career as a newspaper reporter, along with raising a family, had left little free time, let alone disposable income, for such pursuits. But by the time Don called me with his amazing proposition, I’d transitioned from daily newspapers to earning a healthy living writing movies, my kids were older, and we’d moved from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. As it happens, this little coastal resort town is one of the most beautiful places in the world to live, let alone fly. So, when he asked if I was interested in having unlimited use of an airplane without needing to rent or buy one, I didn’t think twice before responding.

“Absolutely.”

I caught a commercial flight to Colorado Springs, where 66-Echo was based, and together Don and I flew the plane back to California. I was rusty. Piloting a plane is not like riding a bike. Some things you remember. Some things you don’t. Much practice is involved. After I got home, I logged about 10 hours in the air with my flight instructor, Terry Harris, before she deemed me safe to fly on my own. The first time I climbed into the right seat and took off alone in that little Cessna felt like I’d been reborn.

Much as I loved flying 66-Echo, after two years and 140 hours of logged flight time, I decided it was time to stop taking advantage of my father-in-law’s generosity and buy my own airplane. Months of research and perusing the internet went by before I found the perfect bird for my budget and purposes, based at a small airfield outside Fort Worth, Texas: N8209W, a 1965 Piper Cherokee 180C. The airplane had been well-maintained and was equipped with the basic avionics I was looking for. More significantly, it met what I figured would be my useful load requirements.

“Useful load” is an aviation term that conveys how much weight a given aircraft can carry in gas, oil, passengers and luggage. Many four-seat planes simply don’t have enough horsepower to carry full fuel and four reasonably sized human beings. I wanted a plane that could because, I figured, “Hey, who wouldn’t want to come fly with me?”

Plenty of people, as it turned out.

News flash: many folks are terrified of small airplanes. They hear about crashes on the news and decline, even after you try to explain to them that the only reason they hear about said crashes is because they’re so relatively rare. Regardless, far be it from me to begrudge people their phobias. We all have our apprehensions. Personally speaking, I’m not fond of alligators or most monkeys. They can’t be trusted. But I digress…

Asking a person I don’t know especially well if they’d like to go flying can prove awkward. Some people openly admit their anxiety and politely decline. Others will say how fun it sounds—”I’m definitely interested in going!”–then find any number of excuses not to go. I make a rule to stop asking usually after the second invitation, not because I’m offended, but because I don’t want to make anyone feel forced into doing something they’re apprehensive about. Sadly, they don’t know what they’re missing.

I flew that Piper Cherokee for more than 15 years before deciding it was time to find something a bit more modern. In 2022, I got a great deal on a first-generation Cirrus that was for sale in Ohio. Sleek and stylish, it doesn’t carry nearly as much weight as my old Cherokee, but it can get two adults (and their dog) where they want to go in comfort and a whole lot faster.

As for N3566E, the Cessna 172 that inspired Cordell Logan’s Ruptured Duck, the last time I checked, it was living its best life with a new owner in rural San Diego County. I wish them both nothing but fair winds and blue skies.