Originally Posted by
El Bunto
I'd say you need to determine your target market:
1. Aviation enthusiasts: you'll need to produce something new and original. Interviews with participants / weeks in the archives / field-work.
2. History enthusiasts: you might get away with cribbing from existing sources but you'll need to tie it to specific events or localities
3. General public: titillation, emotion, human aspects. Aviation is only a backdrop for the story.
Sounds like you're aiming for #3. But frankly: why? What are you going to bring to the table that hasn't been done before?
It might be better to start with a series of magazine or newspaper articles. My local paper is always interested in short articles with local interest, such as about the airfield or the former aircraft factories which can be written with audiences #2 and #3 in mind. Not that they pay for them, though... Or a presentation at a local history society.
Thanks for your response, you make very good points. Regarding point 1, I have a young family and very limited time and resources, so interviews are out, as for point 2, I live in Dublin, and frankly there isn't much local interest in aviation - airfields are few and far between, and local interest is practically zero. There have been very few aircraft built in the Republic of Ireland (as opposed to NI, which has a long and rich history of aviation).
So practically speaking I'm left with the third option, the human aspects. Why? Because the old aphorism, "write what you know" is still true today. People trust commercial aviation but they might not understand how much blood, sweat, tears and money has gone into making it a non-event, even regarding an engine or pressurisation failure. My goal is to make people more aware of how aviation has changed the world for the better and yes, the human aspect of that struggle. To make it more person. I will be including personal interviews (when I can get them) to make things easier to understand.
Looking back, I've answered my own question! Thanks for generating more ideas.