Pilot Magazine

[sammypilot]

I would venture to say that "PILOT" is read by many amongst the GA fraternity as it a quick way of finding out what is happening in aviation. Sad therefore that it is tending to lose it's way somewhat. I got my June edition this week and there seemed to a lot more advertising than usual. A quick check showed that, including that front and back covers, the magazine consisted of 110 pages. No less than 56 of those pages were taken up entirely by advertisements and many other pages included advertisments at least in part. In one instance 8 pages were devoted to a product called Arthroplex which helped people deal with rheumatism and other ailments. I am not sure what place such a product sales pitch has in an aviation magazine unless it reflects the fact that a fair number of older pilots are Senior Citizens.

To accommodate all this advertising undoubtedly something has to give. It is many years since "From the Notams" appeared which was an unfortunate ommission as it was a quick reference to anything you may have missed. Similarly the feature which brought you up to date with helpful websites has also disappeared. In the June edition I refer to Safety Matters was reduced to two pages describing two accidents and four incidents. It would be nice to think that this was reflective of greater safety but probably not. Finally "Airfields" didn't even get a look in.

The editor tells me that they need the advertising to make the magazine viable but you also need readers and if the magazine doesn't suit their needs, they stop buying it.

[airpolice]

The magazine has indeed lost direction.

[A and C]

The eight pages of advertisement in the centre of pilot just reflects the age of the GA pilot community ............. Sadly I am rapidly heading for old git status and I don't see a lot of young people entering to replace me.

Oh if you think powered flying is bad take a look around a gliding club !

['Chuffer' Dandridge]

Pilot Magazine has been rubbish ever since it was sold to the Archant Group.

[ChampChump]

And all the free landing vouchers are dated for October 2011....

[Floppy Link]

The French Property News mag from the same publisher had the same massive arthritis cure ad in it.

[neilgeddes]

It gets harder to justify subscribing to a paper magazine. Pilot offer a digital only version at http://www.pilotweb.aero/digital (http://www.pilotweb.aero/digital) which is cheaper.

[VT10]

Been poor for a long time and getting worse...

Articles more suited to car magazines than a flying mag...
Journalists who seem to know little of their subject...
And little about aviation...

[Dave Gittins]

Although I still subscribe to Pilot, I get more pleasure out of the American "Flying," which I also subscribe to.

I have read every issue of Flying (apart from the one that came today) but the last 3 Pilots are still in their plastic wrappers awaiting a rainy day.

[AlexDeltaCharlie]

I was considering posting about this- all those adverts for hire purchase Aston Martins and arthritis remedies weren't helping to quell my growing suspicions that I'm not old or rich enough to enjoy GA as a long-term hobby post PPL. Not to mention a comment in one of this month's articles about a sandwich and coffee for "just over six quid" at the featured airfield. That's an hour at work after college for some of us 17 year old wannabe-types.

This summer I've got some savings set aside, and I'm now faced with the choice between my original plan- a handful of hours in a tatty 152/PA28- or the increasingly tempting idea of buying a tired classic Mini and a decent spares budget, and having dozens if not hundreds of hours of fun restoring it with my Dad. Dad being somebody whose involvement in my hobbies were previously confined to waiting patiently for countless hours in the airfield car park to pick me up as I faffed around with tech logs and payments having spent a month's wages on myself in two hours.

Car insurance is needlessly expensive for a sensible person of my age, but it'd still be less of a dent in my finances each month then 90 minutes of flying In fact I'd still have money left over for tax, MOTs and plenty of fuel.

Sorry for the cynicism, But I can't help think that 'Pilot' is actually quite a fair representation of GA as I see it. I think GA does have a difficult task in attracting younger people though- I've yet to come across a young wannabe pilot who isn't set on anything other than commercial training and shiny automated jets, so those who could afford a flying hobby (or perhaps more accurately, those whose parents can), I suspect are often taken straight in by the integrated schools. Outside of the wannabe pilot circles, I suspect the average young person that could be a potential GA hobbyist just simply isn't aware of its existence- most airfield with a flying club are in the middle of nowhere after all, and GA rarely makes an appearance in the mainstream media unless there's a fatal accident of course.

I think there's a reason for young people not taking up hobby flying- the costs are simply extraordinary to most ordinary families, and the value for money just isn't there. I've had friends my age who have expressed an interest in learning to fly having listened to my exploits, and do you know what? For all the thrill of the first solo, the satisfaction of a neat landing or a successful PFL, I'd never reccomend it to any of them. £170 for an hour. Sixty minutes in a musty, slab sided, common or garden trainer. When the weather's right of course.

As much as I never thought I'd say this, I can really empathise with all those who learn to fly and then never set foot in a cockpit again.

My £0.02

ADC

[muffin]

Pilot Magazine has been rubbish ever since it was sold to the Archant Group

I'll second that. I never bother to read the thing now, whereas I subscribed to the original James Gilbert version for many years

['Chuffer' Dandridge]

I subscribed to the original James Gilbert version for many years

You and me both. I had every issue from 1978 to 1990 (when I got married and ran out of spare cash!). Every issue read from cover to cover, written by contributors who knew their stuff (including me :E )

The US 'Flying' mag is my choice now. UK GA mags have lost the plot:ugh:

[The Fenland Flyer]

AlexDeltaCharlie get yourself a flight in a microlight, you'll find it much more fun and cheaper than the spamcans, plus a better social side as well.

Why was your Dad waiting in the car park, wasn't he welcome in the club?

[Dave Gittins]

And with my subscription to "Flying" which without overseas P & P would be about 20 bucks a year for 12 issues, I also get the online version delivered to download every month.

[riverrock83]

I've got a subscription to Flyer and the LAA monthly magazines, which don't seem too bad with adverts. My wife was advised to go towards Flyer as a birthday present. I've been enjoying both of them, although as being newly into flying I don't know how they compare to previous publications. I also have gotten into the habit of mentally blocking out pretty much all adverts that I see in all media so I've no real idea how bad they are.

Maybe someone with better forum knowledge than me could start a poll on the UK's favourite GA mags? "Classic Aircraft" anyone?

[peterh337]

I think all printed mags are having a hard time.

It's getting awfully hard to deliver value given the amount of free content that is already on the web - especially the stuff produced by keen enthusiasts, some of which is of good quality, and far too frank to ever appear in a printed publication that carries adverts.

And, with some exceptions, people who produce free material are strongly despised by those who make a living producing printed material...

In my business (electronics) we get a pile of trade mags. They are much worse that any UK aviation mags. Virtually zero content in most cases. The "articles" are all advertorials, appear alongside adverts from the company.

But some are not too bad, in the case of specialised stuff. The other day I read a nice educational piece of LVDT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_variable_differential_transformer)s. Maybe the UK mags could try that formula. I guess the challenge would be to find somebody from Garmin UK willing and able to string enough words together to produce an article from the pilot's POV.

[maxred]

I would second that. The tinterweb thingy, whilst giving marvellous opportunity in some markets, is crippling the traditional providers of news, and altering entirely, the way we get our news.

Also I noted that the past few editions of Pilot, have been wrapped in cellophane, making the 5 minutes in John Menzies, perusal, a thing of the past. Certainly for looking at Pilot - see Flypast now.

Actually browsing was a good thing, in that, if an article I liked was in the mag, I would buy it. If I can't see inside I would not.

I think also forums like this do provide a wealth of information, that gives better value than buying a mag. Playboy and Penthouse can vouch for that.:sad:

[AndoniP]

it's become so bad that i cancelled my subscription, and they still keep sending me copies...

[jaycee46]

For those suggesting the electronic version, it would be tricky taking the laptop / iPad into the lavvy without raising suspicions of evil doings. A mag is much handier when going for the three 'S' s! :ooh:

I have to agree with the views expressed, 'Pilot' mag is going downhill fast, and I for one will be unlikely to renew my subscription. When the - mainly irrelavent - adverts make up more than half of the mag, it has gone too far! :(

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

'Pilot' magazine is indeed very different now to the James Gilbert publication. But the world of GA is very different as well, as is the world generally.

I subscribed to 'Pilot' from the late '70s when I started flying, until shortly after it went to Archent. I was also a contributer; James seemd to like my stuff. He was outspoken and opinionated (which I liked) and was also a bit of an autocrat, and he protected his writers (the CAA once contacted him for my contact details when they wanted to discuss something I'd written about - he told them to take a running jump. They had to trace me through their records which the lazy s*ds should have done in the first place).

We will never see again the likes of Gilbert's 'Pilot'. Some of it he wouldn't get away with today, and much of it wouldn't be to the sanitised and bland taste of many of today's mag readers.

[Shropshire Lad]

I'm not sure about Pilot contributions currently but several years ago I was thinking exactly the same and stopped buying a lot of the aviation magazines in general as I thought the articles were not really up to scratch and weren't talking about what I wanted to see. Following a discussion with my wife (of all people - she noticed a reduced spend in WH Smiths and was curious why!!) she basically said "Well if you think you can do better write something yourself"!

So I did.

It was rejected outright by Pilot but I enjoyed the writing so much I (eventually) got several articles published on historic aviation and got paid along the way (and the odd one that wasn't but I'll not say which publisher that was...).

I'm not sure whether Pilot currently takes unsolicited contributions (I'm guessing from the articles they may use writers from their other magazines??)

[Katamarino]

I had a "Flying Adventure" published in Pilot a few years ago. More recently I submitted another article, and they didn't even bother to acknowledge my submission (this is since the new Editor, Philip Whiteman, took over). I have since un-subscribed for the same reasons many people mention here. The US magazines are far better quality.

[thing]

Our club subscribes to the popular ones which are ripped apart each month for the free landing chits and then slung in the corner.

[Thud105]

As good as Pilot was under Gilbert, it should be remembered that he had no competition. Anyone can win a one horse race - all you have to do is finish.
As SSD observed, it is a very different world these days.
I'm also a little surprised by all the support for Flying, as I imagine it has little of interest to UK GA pilots. I also take it, and although Goyer isn't as bad as McClellan, its still unusual for the mag to flight test aircraft worth less than a couple of million. I have the last two issues in front of me - the covers are the Phenom and Piaggio Avanti. I doubt that many of the posters who profess support for Flying are likely to ever fly such machines. As least the GA mags tend to test aircraft that the average reader might actually fly.
Just my two cents worth.

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

it should be remembered that he had no competition. Anyone can win a one horse race - all you have to do is finish.

I think 'Pilot's main competition before 'Flyer' came along was the US mag 'Flying'. The latter has always been more aimed at turbocharged IFR, whereas 'Pilot' was more oriented to the grass roots aviator (though of course both did cater for both ends of the spectrum as well).

As for 'winning the race', I think 'Pilot's success was that it just a very good mag, competition or no. You can't slate it for not having competition if it's intrinsically done to a high standard (and Gilbert's 'Pilot' was).

[Thud105]

Agreed - it was an excellent mag, but having no competition certainly helped, especially in the ad dept. Example - say Gilbert's Pilot had slagged off the latest Piper. Piper would still have placed an ad with the mag, because there was nowhere else (in the UK) to place it. I remember (I was living in the UK then) that he really got the hump when GASIL and GasCo started running ads - he even mentioned it in his editorials.

[Noah Zark.]

I have subscribed to Pilot since it was 'Pilot and Light Aeroplane', which, if memory serves me correctly goes back to the late sixties-ish. (Please don't pillory me if I am half a decade out. 'Tis only a roughtimation!)
Unfortunately, I have to agree with the opinions being expressed here, and increasingly, it seems that it might fall victim to the Annual Zark Towers Pecuniary Review, come next subscription time!

[robinsonFlyer]

I can echo the comments made so far, and here is my 2p worth too....

I've been reading Pilot magazine for a good few years now, but stopped buying it last year - as a helicopter enthusiast/pilot, I found that the magazine concentrates far too much on fixed wing. Many months can go by without a mention of helicoptering news/articles. I feel like i'm in a minority - like when I goto a restaurant and there is only 1 vegetarian 'option' to chose - erm, there is no choice when there is only 1 dish!

I did buy this months issue as it features an article on the new Cabri G2 helicopter with the front cover headline of "Robinson beater?" but the article does very little to compare the 2 machines directly. At the end of it, he mentions that an R44 owner should seriously consider it.... erm, what about an R22 owner?

I think the number of adverts in the recent issues, together with the non-aviation adverts in this months issue (such as the fancy car leasing, arthiritis cures, etc..) are signs that I won't be subscribing again, perhaps flicking through it at WHSmiths and occassionally buying it if there is something helicopterish in it!

Likewise with 'Flyer' magazine too... not even a single helicoptering thing in it this month, so it stayed on the shelf!

Cheers
David

[mary meagher]

Magazines ain't what they used to be....one of the reasons is PPRuNe! we get our fix and then some on flying gossip and advice without having to shell out, and we get to answer back (mods permitting)....

As for selling your airplane, I tried various listing services, couldn't bring myself to shell out the money for a reasonable ad when everybody else's ads looked so juicy.....so I sent a poster by snail to all likely flying clubs, and lo, it worked!

The only other excuse for reading the flying mags used to be to read about the accidents, and thereby learn from other people's mistakes... well, that's on the net as well. Newspapers are feeling the pinch badly. Nobody reads the Oxford Mail any more....

[Monocock]

Pilot is going downhill, for sure. But it was going downhill even quicker with that pompous buffoon Bloom at the helm. Sorry, but he was a numpty.

[abgd]

I tend to enjoy History of Flight, Aviation, Space Exploration | AirSpaceMag.com (http://www.airspacemag.com) - though it's even rarer that there's anything there I'm likely to get to fly.

[Dave Gittins]

I don't always want to read solely grass roots stuff and I find Martha really entertaining. She should publish a book of her articles. A bit like a Dick Walker book I once had which was just 100 superb articles from Angling Times.

Agree there is a lot of hot IFR stuff in Flying but the two previous issues featured the 172 (still relevant after all these years) and the Cirrus. There are also interesting and informative pieces from Peter Garrison.

Pilot and the rest of the UK stuff are just staid with the same story told every month, just change the name of the featured airport.

[gasax]

I bought my first copy of Pilot in 1983 (still have it somewhere!). I then bought it pretty much every month until 'that Bloom' character became editor. Over the last 6 or 7 years I have never bought a copy - inspite of browsing hundreds of airport magazine racks!

I disposed of my magazine stock a few years ago - it was very noticeable that I had at least two and sometimes many more 'flight tests' 'trip reports' 'destinations' amongst those old magazines. It was equally obvious how the general quality of the writing and particularly the accuracy of information dropped off over time (could n't help but check what I was throwing out!).

Now I get the LAA mag and do not buy any flying magazines - apart from the occasional Flying - where the writing is still more important than anything else. If printed magazines are to survive that is the only thing which will swing it. Advertising helps particularly in the short term - but people only buy what attracts them and what they value and that means the UK flying magazines probably have little future as they are.

[FANS]

To be fair, it's tough selling a magazine when there's so much free stuff around - Pprune has some great technical information and some very informed contributors, amongst a lot more drivel!

Why not state ten articles you'd like to see in a magazine, as it's probably very difficult to fill it each month!

[airpolice]

I suspect that there is room for a monthly article from each of three types of pilots; a new ppl holder, a seasoned pilot and an instructor.

The nine writers could be recruited from rotary, microlight and spam-can drivers. With a georgraphical and age spread to mix things up.

Each contributor need only write once every three months, although it would make sense to have some stuff in the safe for rainy days.

So, nine pilots who can write, and a magazine prepared to give three pages per issue to real world flying stories.

All the stories would be current, more of a "what I did this month" than the "I learned about flying from that" kind of thing. People would realise what is happening in their own neck of the woods and we may find that there is more to do than we currently get involved in.

I'm sure that a great many readers would align themselves with a magazine that seemed to be more about real stuff than with what is becoming a Transair catalogue with a price tag.

Should this format prove to be popular, it could be expanded to have the nine of them contribute each month and there would be three stories, one from each stage of the experience spectrum, per discipline, each month.

That would surely have something for everyone.

[rats404]

Sounds great to me. I used to like the practical flying tips (a la Alan Bramson), flight tests of unusual aircraft, especially oldish types, and buyers guides to aircraft (not DVDs and watches, for pete's sake).

[mary meagher]

Story goes: Pilot magazine sent one of their top tester writers to fly in the newest motor glider at Booker, round about l985 or so.

Admired all the equipment, the instruments, the excellent vis through the generous canopy. They took off and flew a few maneuvers, and then the demo pilot turned off the engine......

Story has it that the top test writer completely lost his cool at that point! First time he was ever airborne when the PIC shut down the donkey; he really didn't like it at all and couldn't quite grasp it was NOT an emergency, but normal practice.

I'm a little sad that your plan for the great new magazine does not include those of us that have no engine at all....and yet do vast cross country flights, cluttering up your airspace!

[thing]

Sailplane and Gliding covers our needs well enough Mary. I understand the need for something for powered pilots that isn't 99% ads and 1% trillion dollar dream machines.

What about calling it 'Wreck Monthly: The Magazine For The Club Heap Renter', with inside stories of how to start that 2500 hr Lycosaurus that throws a fit if it's not clap cold; or 'How To Fly IFR Safely when your Vac Pump and Turn Coordinator go Tits At The Same Time. Again.'

[Unblonde]

For those with an iPad, try Loop - it is free and, apart from being large to download each copy, actually rather good. You have to get past the annoying interface quirks (basically, scroll left and right moves between sections, up and down within sections) but the writing is good and the topics interesting.

Gives you a good idea of the post-magazine age that will use digital a bit more effectively (including the adds!!)

Alex

[Sir Niall Dementia]

I subscribed to Pilot from 1978, bought two aeroplanes through the small ads and gave up buying it when Nick Bloom took over, I just found there wasn't room in my reading for his ego. I always enjoyed anything by Bob Grimstead, but found super pilot Blooms articles too full of him and not enough about flying, in fact one instructor I know who loaned an aircraft to Pilot for a test said he didn't recognise the flight Bloom wrote about!

Some of the best ever articles were by Brian Lecomber, who really should pick up his typewriter again, and all of the tests by Branson. Stephen Wilkinson's letter from America was superb as was his series on building a Falco (he is sometimes found on PPRUNE as StepWilk) Bernard Chabbert's letter from france was a great example of true love of aviation, and even Peter Underhill who I had many a personal run in with and who in daily life I shared a mutual contempt with wrote passionate and fascinating articles.

Pilot also had useful technical items in the James Allen days, articles on how VOR, ADF and DME worked explained them to me far better than any text book and made understanding them for ATPL exams far easier.

These days if I buy a GA mag its' flyer, and the LAA mag arrives and is devoured with great pleasure.

Shame about Pilot, it was the first and for a long time the best, now its' a bit of a sad old dear with too much make-up and too many memories of past conquests.

SND

[hoodie]

Some of the best ever articles were by Brian Lecomber, who really should pick up his typewriter again

Brain L writes for Flyer, and has done for some time - excellent articles, as you say.

Also fully agree about Bernard Chabbert's articles - when they were in Pilot, I used to turn to those first.

[soaringhigh650]

Outside of the wannabe pilot circles, I suspect the average young person that could be a potential GA hobbyist just simply isn't aware of its existence- most airfield with a flying club are in the middle of nowhere after all, and GA rarely makes an appearance in the mainstream media unless there's a fatal accident of course.


You're right there. Young people with money live near the center of town. If your airports near town are so overpriced such that there is no GA operation based there, your only option is to go to the middle of nowhere. And that's where the older guys with money live.

[L'aviateur]

I also have no sympathy for the magazines, they really do need to improve the quality of articles.
I find that the trip reports focus heavily on the 'how the experience felt' and about the airfields, but really doesn't go into enough background about the planning and operational aspect of the flight. As a lesser experienced pilot, I enjoy some of the US magazine articles which go into quite a lot of depth, talking about the planning, procedures and approaches. They seem to be designed to be more intellectual, and less a few photos and how the coffee tasted.

I just hope that the magazines are listening...

[peterh337]

I find that the trip reports focus heavily on the 'how the experience felt' and about the airfields, but really doesn't go into enough background about the planning and operational aspect of the flight.

That is why I started writing up detailed ones (http://www.peter2000.co.uk/aviation/). A printed mag just cannot run that sort of material. They seem to believe, maybe correctly (I really don't know) that most readers thumb through it in 10 minutes and then throw it away.

[L'aviateur]

I have to admit Peter, I've always found your trip reports very good, and have learn't a lot from them.

[IanPZ]

So I am sure you will all tell me why I am wrong, but as someone who is just learning to fly, I tried flyer and pilot, read some online stuff, and ended up subscribing to Pilot.

Whilst there are some articles that don't grab me, overall I really like it. I think the articles are well-written, if not quite up to the standard of more professional publications. Admittedly there is little technical content, which is a shame, and I would like more features, rather than the snippets about "warbirds" etc, but it really is quite good.

Moreover, its definitely improved in the last year. I think it started getting better at about the same time it merged with "Today;s Pilot".

All that said, there is room for a more technical magazine, and definitely room for something about self-building...although I suppose that is the LAA magazine which I don't get as I am not a member.

By comparison, other magazines I have read/subcribed to

Motorbike magazines. Nearly all written by people who can't string two words together, and are only interested in going 200mph. The only one that was better was Motorcycle Sport and Leisure, but I gave up after a while anyway.

Kitcar magazines. Way too technical most of the time

Sailing magazines. Split into three camps. Intelligent ones (yachting monthly and PBO), speed freaks (yachts and yachting) and "You don't have enough money to read this magazine, let alone sail (yachting world).

There was an electronic flying magazine that ran for a few months, put together by a 16 year old, which I was amazed with the quality, given his age. However, I suspect GCSE and A levels took over, and he doesn't do it anymore.

Oh yes, and one final mention...have you read the BMAA mag recently....it has got so much better, its a reason to become a member all by itself!

[J.A.F.O.]

I've been a Pilot reader for nearly thirty years and a subscriber for much of that.

I cancelled my subscription last month.

I've been an occasional FLYER reader for some time - Mr Lecomber's writing is as sublime and entertaining as his flying - and will probably now subscribe, I find much more to read about there and think that the standard of articles just keeps getting better as those of its only rival nosedive for the dirt - in my opinion the point at which Pilot merged with Today's Pilot was the point at which the death rattle stopped and there were no further signs of life from dear old Pilot mag.

[abgd]

Perhaps the only thing that the magazines currently do which I really enjoy and don't find much in other places, is the 'worst-day' or 'I learned about flying from that' type articles.

[hoodie]

abgd, Flyer repeat their 'Worst Day' articles online (http://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=57).

[abgd]

Yes, but not always the 'answers'. This month would be a good example of when nobody got it right!

[n5296s]

It must be really hard to produce an aviation magazine every month - there just isn't that much to write about. I subscribe to Flying ($12/yr!) and also get the AOPA mag - they make a nice 30 minute distraction when I get home from work. I generally pick up one of the UK mags when I'm there, and sometimes the French ones also. But what do you write? Comparing with a car mag, there are always new cars coming out, and zillions of classic cars to write about. How often does a new aircraft appear on the market? People are still salivating over the SR20/22, which is now 15 years old. You can guarantee that around NOvember there'll be an article about winter flying, then icing in December, getting current again after a long break in March, density altitude in July (not in the UK of course!), and so on.

There's actually a lot going on in the GA world in the US right now - lots of new gadgets (iPad etc), the change to ADS-B, unleaded fuel... but it tends to happen at a glacial pace for a monthly magazine.

The UK is even harder - much smaller community, totally unsupportive environment.

Flying isn't THAT bad. The emphasis on turbine aircraft is a bit annoying, but it's just like the car mags writing about Ferraris - it's interesting even if you can't afford one. Peter Garrison is good. The unspeakable Dick Karl ("poor me, I can't afford a jet") remains as unspeakable as ever, but you don't HAVE to read his stuff.

Just my 2p...

[Richard Westnot]

Pilot has been going downhill for years.

I always enjoyed reading the Alan Branson Flight test reports. Nobody near his mark seemed to be able to replace his or others style.

Concur with what others have said, its full of advertising with glossy flyers.

And give up with placing any classified there. Whilst they apologise in the first month of getting the ad wrong and offering half price.:confused:
They carry on subsequent months with the identical c/u :ugh:

[BroomstickPilot]

Hi Guys,

I have just read through three pages of posts on the subject of 'Pilot' and how it compares with various other magazines, including sailing and motoring magazines, and NOBODY has even mentioned AOPA's magazine.

Now I haven't flown for several years (for a succession of reasons including pressure of work, medical and financial ones) and so finally resigned my membership of AOPA about a year ago. If I should eventually manage to resume flying (unlikely) then I shall definitely resume membership of AOPA.

However, certainly up until the time I left AOPA, their magazine was vastly better than anything else on the market, especially for the UK pilot, but nobody here even mentions it. This is especially surprising bearing in mind that a student pilot joining AOPA gets the magazine free for a year.

Is this because AOPA's magazine has declined in quality so precipitately in the last year that doesn't even merit a mention, (very hard to believe,) or is it because AOPA's membership is now in decline at a time when GA needs AOPA more than ever it did and hence nobody here is receiving their magazine?

BP.

[S-Works]

As contributing editor of AOPA magazine I would like to think that the magazine goes from strength to strength. Pat Malone the editor works very hard to commission a wide variety of articles that are relevant to the GA membership of AOPA.

I have have both written and commissioned a very eclectic range of articles for the magazine over the years and am always interested in submissions.

[cockney steve]

further to "LOOP"....On it's introduction, it was free,
The adverts actually subsidise almostANY magazine and Loop was no exception. Then they introduced a Rotary mag.(Blades?) And an executive jet mag........... Suddenly, the miniscule UK GA scene had a proliferation of titles which all needed unique copy. Added to this, Loop became Subscription. I, and I suspect a lot of others simply decided the interest and entertainment -value wasn't there.

I did get a once-a year free copy of the PFA/LAA publication and consider that as a part if LAA membership,it would be excellent value.

I don't even read Loop online with any regularity, never buy any Aviation mags. but via the "Aviatrix" Blog, found PPrune and recently. the other GA site where several well -known PPrune names reside.

The editorial of any publication is vital to it's survival, Advertisers want a targeted market for their outlay and this will only happen if that audience is sufficiently motivated to put their hand in their pocket.

Going by current form, there are several titles which cannot survive.

[AdamFrisch]

Flying - I enjoy it. Long gone are the days when Gordon Baxter wrote poetic and wistful columns and it's become a little bit more corporate now. I miss really good writing in it. I understand why they have to have drool-worthy PC12's or Learjet 60XR's on every cover, but it would be nice to see a little more affordable fare once in awhile. Just re-test/fly older aircraft. They either swing from Super Cubs on the cover as one extreme, or to the other and fly a G650. It's like the middle never gets mentioned. But that's a small gripe.

AOPA Pilot - actually a pretty good magazine. I have no complaints, except it gets a little too caught up in AOPA itself at times. Little more flying and less selling.

EAA Sport Aviatior - pretty good, but obviously geared towards homebuilts more. Can get a bit warbird heavy at times.

Plane & Pilot - always a little thin on material, but I enjoy reading about Brian Cox's various ferry flights all over the world.

Flyer and Pilot - I don't subscribe, but buy them every time I get to the UK, which is pretty often. I used to like Today's Pilot a lot, because it felt like a modern flying magazine. It was also a lot better and cleaner designed. My main gripe with the current ones are just how hideously designed and laid out they are. Real student paper errors frequently occur - images that have been uprezzed and get jagged because they've been snatched on the net somewhere, or placements of ads that are not up to scratch etc - just adds to feel of cheapness.


Generally:

A criticism of most magazines, but it's a personal one, is that they're too warbird heavy at times. Im not very interested in reading the 1200th article about how cool the Spitfire is, to be honest. But a I realise this is me - I'm utterly disinterested in military flying and fighters etc. I'm sure they're fun, but my dream was never to fly an F18.

I also really miss a news/new product spread in the beginning where all the latest proposed designs/rumours of new aircraft etc get shown. A bit like all the car magazines have where they show spy photos, or design studies, or concept cars etc. That'd be cool. Today's Pilot had that and that's why I always liked that magazine.

I'd like to read more trip reports with planning etc, or extreme flying. I'd like to read about long ferry flights, flying in bad weather against all odds, stuff like that. "Across the Andes in a Cri-Cri" or something. Stories that add a sense of adventure and even some danger. Or just odd types. Not just a trip report to Cannes in a club PA28 where half the article waxes lyrically about the food in so and so village restaurant.

[JW411]

Strangely enough, I was called yesterday afternoon by Pilot magazine to remind me that my subscription is due for renewal after the March issue. I told the chap on the other end of the phone that I would not be renewing as I found the magazine had become rather boring. He thanked me very much, apologised for disturbing me and rang off.

I got the impression that this was far from the first time that he had heard the "boring" comment.

[dont overfil]

Strangely enough, I was called yesterday afternoon by Pilot magazine to remind me that my subscription is due for renewal after the March issue.

You are lucky. I had decided not to renew but did not get a call. £37.99 straight out of the bank account. They have promised they will refund £34 in 28 days as the March issue is "in the system."

D.O.

[Squadronbrat]

'Bloom'ing cheek!

You are lucky. I had decided not to renew but did not get a call. £37.99 straight out of the bank account. They have promised they will refund £34 in 28 days as the March issue is "in the system."

[fwjc]

You can get LOOP and its fellow magazines downloadable through a free app for the iPad. It's a bit gadgety to read but there are usually some interesting articles in there, and nothing to complain about cos it's free!

I liked the AOPA magazine a long time ago when I had a subscription, but the problem is that it costs so much to be a member / subscribe; along with all the other organisations that could be considered it just got too much.

I do read the LAA magazine which is usually reasonable value for money, imo.

[Flyingmac]

my dream was never to fly an F18.



Did you really mean to say that?

[AdamFrisch]

Did you really mean to say that?

Yes, I do. Never drooled after fighters. I dreamed about Pilatus Porters landing on Mt Everest and Beavers in Alaska. Would I say no to a little F18 ride? Of course not!

Didn't want to be in band either - and that's positively weird if you're a male who's ever lived through the ages of 17-45!!

:}

[Flyingmac]

Would I say no to a little F18 ride? Of course not!


That's Not what you said in the quote.:=

[AdamFrisch]

?

I said I didn't dream of flying them, and I didn't. That doesn't mean I would accept a ride if one was offered.:)

[Flyingmac]

You actually said that you dreamt of never flying them.

"It was never my dream to" would have been accurate.

Anyway, sorry for the pedantry. A product of boredom due to weeks of having a perfectly servicable aircraft and a waterlogged runway.:)

[AdamFrisch]

Oh, I get it now. Well, English is my second language, so I'll blame that!:ok:

[tommoutrie]

yeah I dream about beavers too...

[Steve6443]

yeah I dream about beavers too...

har har har har....... :D:D:D:D:D

[cockney steve]

#62 - #67
my dream was never to fly an F18.

my dream was never, to fly an F18.

there, the magic comma's fixed it. :}

IIRC, someone uses a tagline that shows the dramatic sense-difference a comma can make,

Also there's the Capitalisation one...with ackniwledgement to the regular user,:-

The difference between "helping your uncle jack off a horse"
and, " Helping your Uncle Jack off a horse."

[FleetFlyer]

Actually, that comma makes no change to the sense of the sentence whatsoever.

Sorry for the pedantry. I guess the miserable weather is also getting to me.

[phantom2430uk]

so dream flying or not, back to the thread, what did people think of the latest issue with the Eclipse on the front?

[wsmempson]

Adam, it's a common syntax error;


my dream was never to fly an F18

doesn't mean the same as

It was never my dream to fly an F18

Pesky language, English (as opposed to American English)...:O

[Fantome]

Downunder we have a poet of rarest talent , Les Murray, who recently rightly got most toey with our national daily paper's Saturday review section for printing one of his poetic masterpieces without faultless proofing. Hence the absence of a comma or two put Les in a stew.

There is no better way to start the day than with some sublime verse, however short the selection. Unless like Pablo Casals you pick up your violin and play a daily rendering of the same piece of Bach as the sun emerges once more in all his glory. The busy old fool. (Donne) Only a masochist turns on the confounded wireless or idiot box.

On the subject of flying magazines, I too lament the passing of the peerless names that enlivened the aeronautical press in days of yore.

There was the irrepressible Chris Wren with his 'Wrenderings' and 'Wroundabout' in THE AEROPLANE. A superb caricaturist and columnist whose drollery shone like the morning star. ( And whom, incidently, I had the privilege of flying from Alice Springs to Victoria River Downs once upon a time, sitting up there in the sunny wheelhouse hearing tales you scarce can believe.)

No longer do we savour the similar humour of the various editors and staff of FLIGHT and FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL who made 'Straight and Level' the first page turned to. (Mike Ramsden in this context was a wordsmith without peer.) The same journal published outstanding reviews of aircraft of all types and sizes by Hugh Field, Cliff Barnett and others.

FLYING in the US of A had talented idiosyncratic contributors such as Gordon Baxter, Len Morgan and further back that doyen, that flying man of letters, Gill Robb Wilson.

It mightn't be a bad thing if anyone today aspiring to write compellingly in these fields first undertook an exhaustive study of those that Richard Bach sought to immortalise in his essay "The Pleasure of their Company".



A piece extracted from Wiki about Gill Robb Wilson -



Drawing upon his extensive experience in aviation and good standing in Trenton, New Jersey, Gill Robb Wilson became Director of Aeronautics for the State of New Jersey in 1930. As such, he shared in oversight of the Lakehurst landing field and participated as a member of the Inquiry Board (appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce) related to the crash of the zeppelin Hindenburg. He saw a need and imagined the possibilities for aviation in America. Crucial to those possibilities was the Civil Air Patrol. He promoted and fostered that dream, becoming the first director of the Civil Air Patrol. In 1939 he became the very first member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) which is now the world's largest General Aviation Association with approximately 400,000 members. He also served as the editor of AOPA's first publication. He witnessed the test of the atomic bomb on Bikini Island. It is likely after effects of this event contributed to illness that later led to his death.


Combining his love of aviation and skill with the pen, Gill Robb Wilson was an early editor of Flying Magazine. In the Second World War he was a correspondent for the Herald Tribune. Wilson was also the author of a book of poetry, which included some pieces on First World War aviation, and the autobiographical work, I Walked with Giants, Vantage Press, 1968.