Suggestions for Magazine Articles
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As for teaching Ms Tomb Raider what a crap article that would make. I am sure she is just a normal student who has large breasts (nought wrong with that i might add) but I am sure like most flying instructor once you have your instructors head on it dosn't matter what the student is or looks like.
A C172 with 3 girlies taking pics of there breasts while you throw neg G bunts is fun at the time but I don't think the rest of the country needs to know about it.
Be better getting one of the disabled flying clubs new students to do a diary. And also a feature on the Douglas Bader awards would be nice to. Along with some of the mods available for various aircraft types out there.
A C172 with 3 girlies taking pics of there breasts while you throw neg G bunts is fun at the time but I don't think the rest of the country needs to know about it.
Be better getting one of the disabled flying clubs new students to do a diary. And also a feature on the Douglas Bader awards would be nice to. Along with some of the mods available for various aircraft types out there.
Sub Judice Angel Lovegod
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I am late to this thread as I have been away, so apologies about cherry picking a few points throughout.
The article I did for the Feb Flyer (as WCollins) involved me talking to a few ATCOs and Nick is quite right that they really don't want to be identified. I think that it is fair to say that the contents of that article reasonably well represents what an "average" TC or App ATCO might want to say.
On the question of articles appearing in other languages, an El Al Capt friend of mine saw an article I wrote for Flyer a couple of years ago (about planning for EFATOs in light twins) in the Israeli GA mag. I had to take his word for it, as Hebrew is a little inpenetrable to the untutored eye! I certainly had nothing to do with its release for publication in Israel, nor did Flyer, and neither of us received a penny!
I do agree about GA encompassing much more than SEPs. For example, I used to fly the night mails in Cessna 404s. It was too long ago for me to write about now, but an article from someone doing something like that now might well be interesting. The same goes for air ambulance and VIP flying, both of which can be fascinating. Hmmm...Nick, maybe I do feel an article coming on!
Timothy
The article I did for the Feb Flyer (as WCollins) involved me talking to a few ATCOs and Nick is quite right that they really don't want to be identified. I think that it is fair to say that the contents of that article reasonably well represents what an "average" TC or App ATCO might want to say.
On the question of articles appearing in other languages, an El Al Capt friend of mine saw an article I wrote for Flyer a couple of years ago (about planning for EFATOs in light twins) in the Israeli GA mag. I had to take his word for it, as Hebrew is a little inpenetrable to the untutored eye! I certainly had nothing to do with its release for publication in Israel, nor did Flyer, and neither of us received a penny!
I do agree about GA encompassing much more than SEPs. For example, I used to fly the night mails in Cessna 404s. It was too long ago for me to write about now, but an article from someone doing something like that now might well be interesting. The same goes for air ambulance and VIP flying, both of which can be fascinating. Hmmm...Nick, maybe I do feel an article coming on!
Timothy
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I think that the mags are generally doing a good job and to move slightly off the point, what about a TV market. Since Discovery Wings was set up, it seems to me that they are struggling for programmes and show the same three programmes three times over, in one night. Why don't the flying mags move into this market and do video mags. Same or similar articles could be included, making for some new and interesting TV and I'm sure that the Discovery Wings would be eager to snap it up after the sucess of the mags themselves. There is very little TV for the average PPL with such things as airfields to visit and programmes on individual planes or pilots.
I recently watched 'A Spitfire's Story', which I found very interesting, if this could be filtered down to your average PPL aircraft, pilots and airfields it would not only be interesting, but would also allow people to see what the airfields/planes etc are like and encourage or discourage them to visit/buy/hire them.
I recently watched 'A Spitfire's Story', which I found very interesting, if this could be filtered down to your average PPL aircraft, pilots and airfields it would not only be interesting, but would also allow people to see what the airfields/planes etc are like and encourage or discourage them to visit/buy/hire them.
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Pacman
A brief comment so as not to hijack this useful thread.
The reason for channels such as Discovery Wings repeating programmes so regularly is two fold. Firstly the cost of generating new programming is high and therefore there is a shortage of good programming relevant to a small niche audience such as the UK PPL and aspiring PPL.
Secondly such channels have relatively low viewing and are often not the 'channel of choice' so the audience builds up over time. For any programme to be seen by a large part of the viewing audience (who each tune on for a relatively short space of time) the programme has to be repeated.
Whilst TV production costs have been lowered considerably in the past ten years the costs are still much higher than those involved in creating a magazine article. I have been involved in both television and magazines and have looked at this a number of times. What (in my humble opinion) is more likely, as broadband extends its reach, is on demand video content which might be produced by specialist magazines. This could be delivered by DVD (perhaps cover mounted) in the short term but ultimately would work better as broadband web content. It is easy to see how a flight test might work in video form and also many of the other typucal magazine feature elements.
Just as we are all becoming digital photographers we will slowly gain the technology and some of the skills of video production (see videos elsewhere on PPRUNE) which will make submitted content cost effective for magazines (although I can see looming quality control issues).
I have heard people involved in the aviation mags talking about this area over the past year or so and I suspect someone will offer some content like this within twelve months or so just to test it. Full time offerings could yet be some way off.
Many of the ideas offered in this thread might have an application in video.
A brief comment so as not to hijack this useful thread.
The reason for channels such as Discovery Wings repeating programmes so regularly is two fold. Firstly the cost of generating new programming is high and therefore there is a shortage of good programming relevant to a small niche audience such as the UK PPL and aspiring PPL.
Secondly such channels have relatively low viewing and are often not the 'channel of choice' so the audience builds up over time. For any programme to be seen by a large part of the viewing audience (who each tune on for a relatively short space of time) the programme has to be repeated.
Whilst TV production costs have been lowered considerably in the past ten years the costs are still much higher than those involved in creating a magazine article. I have been involved in both television and magazines and have looked at this a number of times. What (in my humble opinion) is more likely, as broadband extends its reach, is on demand video content which might be produced by specialist magazines. This could be delivered by DVD (perhaps cover mounted) in the short term but ultimately would work better as broadband web content. It is easy to see how a flight test might work in video form and also many of the other typucal magazine feature elements.
Just as we are all becoming digital photographers we will slowly gain the technology and some of the skills of video production (see videos elsewhere on PPRUNE) which will make submitted content cost effective for magazines (although I can see looming quality control issues).
I have heard people involved in the aviation mags talking about this area over the past year or so and I suspect someone will offer some content like this within twelve months or so just to test it. Full time offerings could yet be some way off.
Many of the ideas offered in this thread might have an application in video.
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fair enough I was in serious thread mode and with any luck if the editors take us all seriously we might actually get a mag that takes more than 10 mins to flick through and lord forbid actually maybe reread.MJ :t
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A couple of years ago, the US Mag "Flying", did a fascinating article called "Moving Up", where it got it's main contributors to talk about the rationale behind their buying their latest pride and joy (it would seem that most of them have one!).
As others have said, the human interest angle in flying is a good one.
As others have said, the human interest angle in flying is a good one.
Thread Starter
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I guess most of us that fly the little ones, wonder what it would be like to fly a heavy....maybe an article or two on life as a captain on some heavy iron might be of interest.
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Some suggestions for magazine articles, though I'm sure they will all have been made before:
i. Techniques
VOR/NDB tracking
VOR vs NDB holds
Non ILS approaches, etc..
ii. Experiential
First year experiences, post PPL (or post NPPL)
Flight planning & preparation by an experienced (>300hr) PPL (with IMC or IR?) including Meteorology evaluation, ATC liaison planning, etc..
iii. Speculative/Opinion
Are PPL ground examinations too easy?
(Should there be more academic rigour, to discern whether
potential pilots have the ability to evaluate and decide
upon appropriate courses of action given input of mixed
value, for example. Are potential pilots able adequately
to communicate with others, not only ATC, in their first
language, etc.. Are the requirements for knowledge of
basic physics and basic human biology sufficiently
stringent?)
i. Techniques
VOR/NDB tracking
VOR vs NDB holds
Non ILS approaches, etc..
ii. Experiential
First year experiences, post PPL (or post NPPL)
Flight planning & preparation by an experienced (>300hr) PPL (with IMC or IR?) including Meteorology evaluation, ATC liaison planning, etc..
iii. Speculative/Opinion
Are PPL ground examinations too easy?
(Should there be more academic rigour, to discern whether
potential pilots have the ability to evaluate and decide
upon appropriate courses of action given input of mixed
value, for example. Are potential pilots able adequately
to communicate with others, not only ATC, in their first
language, etc.. Are the requirements for knowledge of
basic physics and basic human biology sufficiently
stringent?)
Last edited by DRJAD; 17th Feb 2004 at 17:20.
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I also find the 'trips abroad' articles interesting (eg. the guys who flew an AA5 to Portugal, and the guys who flew a PA28 from Florida to the Bahamas). But I also agree that instead of just.... "we landed here"... "struggled to pitch our tent there..." it would be much more interesting if there were more details about what was involved in planning the trip, differences with local procedures/airspace or R/T etc.
As an inexperienced PPL with only one real 'away' trip (to Guernsey) to date, this kind of article would be helpful to understand how difficult such a trip really is (or isn't, as the case may be).
As an inexperienced PPL with only one real 'away' trip (to Guernsey) to date, this kind of article would be helpful to understand how difficult such a trip really is (or isn't, as the case may be).
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DRJAD
It could really be that most of the magazine readers (i.e. the present customer base) are real anoraks who really do want to read about somebody restoring some WW1 plane - we don't know this but presumably the publishers have a pretty good idea.
But working on the assumption the above is not the case, my view is that the mags should avoid printing the same old stuff.
They should stop reprinting sections of Trevor Thom. Every PPL has been exposed to enough of that, and I think most people do buy the books and keep them. They should cut the articles on owner maintenance - excluding vintage type owners, only a tiny % of pilots do their own maintenance and those that do need specific advice, not the generic rambling that gets printed.
They should try to take GA forward. Most normal people want to go forward and do interesting things.
This means moving away from the WW1/WW2 PPL syllabus. It means actively using GPS navigation, flying abroad (basically anywhere South of here has better weather
), promoting the IMC Rating as a good way to defeat much of UK weather...
It also means printing articles about really modern aircraft and the way one flies them. While 99% of present day PPLs can't afford a £200k plane, they aren't going to buy a £30k PA28 either, and it is a lot more interesting to read about new stuff than seeing pictures of the same old C152/PA28 interiors with 1970s radios which are about to drop out of the panel...
There is a huge amount of negativity among the largely traditionalist GA establishment when it comes to anything new or modern, and this needs to be countered.
Nobody else has the profile to do it. AOPA doesn't have the profile and is far too expensive for the average present-day (skint) PPL to join anyway. Very few pilots are online in any way. The mags are still the main source of info.
It could really be that most of the magazine readers (i.e. the present customer base) are real anoraks who really do want to read about somebody restoring some WW1 plane - we don't know this but presumably the publishers have a pretty good idea.
But working on the assumption the above is not the case, my view is that the mags should avoid printing the same old stuff.
They should stop reprinting sections of Trevor Thom. Every PPL has been exposed to enough of that, and I think most people do buy the books and keep them. They should cut the articles on owner maintenance - excluding vintage type owners, only a tiny % of pilots do their own maintenance and those that do need specific advice, not the generic rambling that gets printed.
They should try to take GA forward. Most normal people want to go forward and do interesting things.
This means moving away from the WW1/WW2 PPL syllabus. It means actively using GPS navigation, flying abroad (basically anywhere South of here has better weather
), promoting the IMC Rating as a good way to defeat much of UK weather...It also means printing articles about really modern aircraft and the way one flies them. While 99% of present day PPLs can't afford a £200k plane, they aren't going to buy a £30k PA28 either, and it is a lot more interesting to read about new stuff than seeing pictures of the same old C152/PA28 interiors with 1970s radios which are about to drop out of the panel...
There is a huge amount of negativity among the largely traditionalist GA establishment when it comes to anything new or modern, and this needs to be countered.
Nobody else has the profile to do it. AOPA doesn't have the profile and is far too expensive for the average present-day (skint) PPL to join anyway. Very few pilots are online in any way. The mags are still the main source of info.
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IO540,
I think we generally agree. To turn to your message specifically:
I would just not necessarily endorse use of GPS as a primary system at present, owing to its control by authorities outside Europe, and its propensity for degradation if political will deems that advisable for reasons not necessarily apparent to us.
It is the experiential aspects, and the speculative aspects, of magazine contents which would most interest me, though I believe there to be value in a discussion of how techniques described in the various manuals are applied in, for want of a better phrase, the 'real world'.
I think we generally agree. To turn to your message specifically:
I would just not necessarily endorse use of GPS as a primary system at present, owing to its control by authorities outside Europe, and its propensity for degradation if political will deems that advisable for reasons not necessarily apparent to us.
It is the experiential aspects, and the speculative aspects, of magazine contents which would most interest me, though I believe there to be value in a discussion of how techniques described in the various manuals are applied in, for want of a better phrase, the 'real world'.
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re Magazine suggestions
Formationfoto wrote >
What (in my humble opinion) is more likely, as broadband extends its reach, is on demand video content which might be produced by specialist magazines. This could be delivered by DVD (perhaps cover mounted) in the short term but ultimately would work better as broadband web content. It is easy to see how a flight test might work in video form and also many of the other typucal magazine feature elements.
snip>
I have heard people involved in the aviation mags talking about this area over the past year or so and I suspect someone will offer some content like this within twelve months or so just to test it. Full time offerings could yet be some way off.<
There is much in this; not wishing to fall foul of BRL's advertising rules, but I would just like to mention that next month's John Farley column will print a web URL to a video we will host to illustrate his piece on Harriers and ski jumps.
With the growing availability of video and broadband this is an area where the magazines will be able offer the reader more.
Thanks to those who have contacted me directly on this thread – Still taking note of your suggestions, too.
Nick
Flyer Ed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
What (in my humble opinion) is more likely, as broadband extends its reach, is on demand video content which might be produced by specialist magazines. This could be delivered by DVD (perhaps cover mounted) in the short term but ultimately would work better as broadband web content. It is easy to see how a flight test might work in video form and also many of the other typucal magazine feature elements.
snip>
I have heard people involved in the aviation mags talking about this area over the past year or so and I suspect someone will offer some content like this within twelve months or so just to test it. Full time offerings could yet be some way off.<
There is much in this; not wishing to fall foul of BRL's advertising rules, but I would just like to mention that next month's John Farley column will print a web URL to a video we will host to illustrate his piece on Harriers and ski jumps.
With the growing availability of video and broadband this is an area where the magazines will be able offer the reader more.
Thanks to those who have contacted me directly on this thread – Still taking note of your suggestions, too.
Nick
Flyer Ed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Hmmm, wouldn't like the idea of being disenfranchised by broadband.
BT say there is 'no outlook' for broadband in my area, and we take this to mean 'no likelihood' of broadband availability.
BT say there is 'no outlook' for broadband in my area, and we take this to mean 'no likelihood' of broadband availability.
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However, it's already happening. Nothing to do with me, and I'm not advertising it, but take a look at this link to a French internet-only flying magazine.
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Talking of Online Mags - There is always -
http://www.blueplane.co.uk/lefthande...ssue/index.htm
God Forbid!
Mr.W
http://www.blueplane.co.uk/lefthande...ssue/index.htm
God Forbid!
Mr.W
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Superb article in this month's 'Pilot' that is in the tradition of that mag. Graham Ellison's description of flying a 747 400 is a breath of fresh air. No techy stuff about SIDS and freqs and procedures and how the levers and knobs work - Graham leaves his anorak in the closet and tells us about what it's really like to sit in the pointy end of one of these leviathans of the air, mostly at night, and traverse half the globe.
More please!
SSD
More please!
SSD
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Was flicking through an old edition of 'Pilot' last night (I was in Birmingham - what else was I going to do?) and a couple of things caught my eye:
1) Excellent article by a man whose name I forget about plane hire in the USA. It answered most of the questions/queries which regularly pop up on pprune about that, as well as giving some useful tips. So I thought, why can't the mags have back issues available on the net? The cost of web space is not as great as it was and it would be useful to be able to refer back to articles like that. Any Eds care to comment?
2) Another good article - this time a flight test of the Mk 26 replica Spitfires being produced in Australia. Although the author was good - what about getting someone like Geoffrey Wellum (or any other ex-Spitfire pilots) to test fly and compare it to 'real' Spits.
1) Excellent article by a man whose name I forget about plane hire in the USA. It answered most of the questions/queries which regularly pop up on pprune about that, as well as giving some useful tips. So I thought, why can't the mags have back issues available on the net? The cost of web space is not as great as it was and it would be useful to be able to refer back to articles like that. Any Eds care to comment?
2) Another good article - this time a flight test of the Mk 26 replica Spitfires being produced in Australia. Although the author was good - what about getting someone like Geoffrey Wellum (or any other ex-Spitfire pilots) to test fly and compare it to 'real' Spits.