Back To Reality: Fiddling Tour Ends

Editorial Staff

Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 12:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

AVweb's "Fiddling Around America" tour concluded, covering approximately 3,000 nautical miles and 28.5 hours of flying in a Herpa DC-3.
Pilot Dan Gryder viewed the tour as a crucial form of aviation community outreach, traveling through the Midwest and Southeast.
Gryder expressed concern that the escalating costs of flying and maintaining vintage aircraft will significantly reduce future opportunities for the public to experience historic planes, despite his commitment to keeping the DC-3 operational.

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AVweb‘s Fiddling Around America tour wrapped up at Dan Gryder’s home base in Griffin, Ga. after about 3,000 nautical miles and 28.5 hours of flying time on a trip that took the Herpa DC-3 as far north as the upper peninsula of Michigan, as far west as Watertown, S.D. and through the Southeast. Gryder said the trip was outreach from the aviation community in a way that is fading fast from the aeronautical scene. He said the cost of flying and maintaining vintage aircraft will make it prohibitive and while he expects to keep the DC-3 in the air for the foreseeable future, the opportunities to see and touch historic aircraft will diminish.