Pilot Magazine Watch Offer
 

Pilot are offering new and continuing subscribers a Sekonda Pilot watch if they take out a 2 year subscription.

Before I add another 2 years to my sub does anyone know anything about the watch featured?

Thanks

Beware expensive imitations..........

:p

Anyone got theirs yet?

I put the offer together for Pilot and it's gone amazingly well. below is a email I had from a subscriber asking when the watch would arrive.

Hi Sam
Just to let you know the watch arrived and I must say that it seem to me to be a bargin. Nice and large with all the right buttons etc and waterproof.
How about some more bargins for aviation enthusiasts??
Nice one.
CB

It really is a a good offer.

Unless I read the advert wrong - isn't it just an offer for existing subscribers who are renewing?

Let's be realistic: if they are giving them away as part of a magazine subscription, it is not going to be a Seiko equivalent, let alone comparable to a Rolex, Omega, Breitling, etc.

My advice is, if you like the magazine in its own right, by all means go ahead and sign up, and think of the watch as a bonus. That way, whatever happens you won't be disappointed; and you might even be pleasantly surprised.

Sam

Interesting to note that the subscriber involved couldn't even spell 'bargain'. Surely that isn't a typical PILOT reader?

We are not going to start another spelling rant are we?

lol! :}

These rants seem to be spreading rapidly! Perhaps some weird strain of that chicken flu thing has got on to pprune ... ? :ugh:

I couldn't find this watch on the Sekonda website. Is it a 'special' (maybe bought-in) for this offer?

SSD

Er... excuse me, but when the promotions manager - or whatever 'Sam the man' is - and an Archant ( Pilot's publisher) director - 'formationfoto' - turn up here, isn't it beginning to look like advertising?

When I want a watch, I go out and chose one on the basis of its quality. Good advice would be to apply similar principles when buying a magazine.

No didn't want to start a spelling rant it is just that I find it rather difficult to accept the critical review of an aviation timepiece from someone who has difficulty with spelling the word bargain.

He or she can spell the word however he or she wishes but I am not encouraged to seek out the watch on the basis of the advice of the individual concerned.

Boring old fart maybe but just as we are all free to spell as accurately or inaccurately as we desire I am free to make my own decisions on the advice I choose to accept or ignore.

I am also free to have a life and opinion outside of my day job and am exercising this freedom here Philip. I strongly agree with your advice on the subject of quality in the case of watches, magazines, and conspiracy theories. :-)

<<I find it rather difficult to accept the critical review of an aviation timepiece from someone who has difficulty with spelling the word bargain.>>

ff

Am I missing something here? It seems to me that — whatever his linguistic shortcomings — the person quoted by 'Sam the man' was praising, not critically reviewing, this timepiece. I have no personal opinion on the watch or 'bargin' offer, since I have not felt compelled to buy a copy of your organ — itself not short of stylistic and factual gaffs these days, I hear — since I ceased to be one of its editors.

Hi all. I have been watching (sorry) this thread and have wondered myself what the watch would be like so it makes for interesting reading. As for it being advertising, FF knows full well how I stand on this and any posting to do with Pilot magazine or any other mag published by him. They know better and are sensible enough not to try anything on here regarding advertising their magazines. They are simply replying to someone who has queried their offer and rightly so without going over the top. If they wanted to, they could easily log-on as a new user and start another debate on flying mags ect to stirr up a bit of interest.

By the way, if there are any watches left over, could you send one over here for us to look at and add a well balanced, fair opinion on them ;) :suspect: :p

Here's an offer. 'Subscribe' to AOPA's magazine General Aviation and you'll get:

1. Representation at the regulatory bodies, to help maintain your flying freedom and rights.

2. Legal 'first aid' (with an enviable track record of success), if you fall foul of the authorities.

3. Free medical advice.

4. Free engineering advice.

5. An aircrew card that identifies you as a pilot and entitles you to a range of discounts or even upgrades, when travelling by airline.

Yes, yes, you could get a freebie watch - or even Private Eye's free, cut-out SARS mask - elsewhere, but feel the quality of the magazine...

(Well, if they're not advertising, BRL...)

Well in that case....

You really should, err, no I'll resist ;) ;)

Ian

Well no Ian, I don't think that you should resist, Flyer magazine is under represented on this thread after all!:cool:

S,

You were not paying attention and missed the big banner advertising on this page for the Flyer Professional Flight Training Show on 27/3/04!

;)

FD

FD

I think that ad was paid for, unlike so many of the others. ;)

2D

BRL
I have tried getting a watch from Sam and he won't give me one - I suspect I have upset him with criticising the spelling capability of one of his 'audience'. If you manage to get one out of him let me know how you achieve it!.

No one has spoken up for Todays Pilot yet so to even up the balance.......

I have been looking through a recently published forum dictionary. It appears that the definition of 'advertising' is as follows:

Any non negative comment at all pertaining to a magazine which the poster regards as crap or is published by an organisation the poster is not impressed by even of that comment is a response to a point (negative or otherwise) made by another poster.

The definition of 'reasonable comment' is as follows:

Any comment which is negative pertaining to a magazine which the poster regards as crap or is published by an organisation the poster is not impressed by even of that comment is a response to a point (negative or otherwise) made by another poster, or any comment which seeks to promote a magazine other than a magazine which the poster regards as crap or is published by an organisation the poster is not impressed by.

And that may in itself be advertising for which I apologise unreservedly. :-)

Perhaps to answer the original post someone who has decided to take up this subscription offer (and not in any way connected with any of the magazines) might care to post here on the quality (good or bad) of the watch.

Before they start offering watches they should start offering a decent magazine. It has plummeted in my opinion. Haven't seen one in ages that has made me want to part with any money and certainly wouldn't want 24 of them being delivered just to get a watch. There are other ways to boost flagging sales figures!

Just my opinon.

Not sure why i'm bothering to reply but hey - it's nearing the end of the working day here in the Pilot office!
Sales of Pilot are up year on year - best performance for 8 years!
I don't overly like gifting subscriptions on Pilot but the watch was a fantastic offer which is why I changed my mind.
We get many letters praising the magazine and according to the many pilots I meet at events, my local flying club etc we seem to be doing the right thing.
I fail to see how offering a watch as a gift subscription can be the subject of so many threads!
Quite a lot of fun really.

Foto - apologies for the spelling - I cut and pasted from the email so it's my subbing that's need critisising not my spelling! (Although it is quite poor)

and my grammer........

is that anohter advert?

Congratulations on your circulation Sam. Must be all the free advertising on PPRuNe :D

ian

Sam, excellent magazine, I've been a subscriber for many years now.
But please, ditch the new format. Flyer does the square spine, Pilot has the staples. Thus was it ever .:8

We had to move to perfect bound from staples - the staples are only good for a magazine up to around 120 pages. Because we grew the magazine circulation from 120 to 132 to 148 (depending on month/features/advertising etc) we had to change.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Pilot sent me a couple of free editions recently, as I am former subscriber.

Sam, Formation and others please listen carefuly..........

I can afford a Breitling Old Navitimer and I can afford a subscription to your journal.

The former I have and the latter I will not waste my money on until you improve the quality of the content.

Offering a cheap Sekonda pretty much says it all.

By the way, please explain why growing the circulation directly increases the pagination? What is your balance between editorial and advertising compared to, say, 1999????

They are not related apart from the fact that by upping the offering of any magazine you should increase circulation.

The point of sending subscribers who had lapsed two copies was so they could see the work and improvements we have made to the magazine. That way the customer makes the choice based on where we are now, not where we were historically.
I fully respect that you have made your choice and held firm to your opinions.

As for being able to afford a Breitling - any chance you could sub me a couple of hundred pounds for my next lesson - my third child has just been born and i'm running out of cash fast.

I'll pay it back in the summer - honest!

May I ask: who needs these fancy "pilots" watches?

For actual flying, they offer nothing over the cheapest wristwatch with a stopwatch function. And even that is rarely used; the only time I've used a stopwatch function in the last 2 years was for timing holds.

If one is navigating PPL-style (by dead-reckoning) then a straight stopwatch is likely to be better because of its big buttons; one is constantly pressing them and a wristwatch is just too fiddly.....

IO,

You are obviously still on the bottom rung of the aviation ladder.

It is a well known fact that your flying ability is directly related to the expenditure on the wristwatch, making comments like that is not going to be helpful for furthering your aviation career!

;)

FD

FD

You say that, but.........;)

fg/g

IO

Who needs a Ferrari or Lamborghini with a 70mph speed limit :}

Who said they were for 'actual flying anyway? More for posing in the bar (afterwards.)

Anyway, mine's a 'cosmonaute', because that's even sexier than a mere Concorde or Red Arrows version, but its a bit hard to press those tiny buttons wearing a spacesuit ;) And everyone thinks it's stopped because it has a 24 hour face and the hands are always in the wrong place.

By now, you probably gather that I am quite capable at laughing at myself, for owning what is without doubt a vanity item.

Sam

£200 - what h@ll are you learning on - a twin?:O

I thought it went "big watch, small **** ". But only having a normal-sized watch myself, I wouldn't know:)

SSD

:O :O :O

So how do you define 'normal' shaggy, isnt size measured in small, medium and large???

Could it be that your 'normal' might be 'big' in someone else's opinion? :}

Much ado about not a lot peeps :hmm: :hmm:

If you like Pilot, which I do but I can appreciate why it has fallen out of favour with some, then take out a subscription. If you like the watch, keep it. If you don't then give it to your wife, girlfriend, brother, father, cat, kangaroo or the neighbourhood bike (loose woman for our mainland and transatlantic readers). Forget the latter one as it will make at least two of the former examples raise their eyebrows. :ooh: :ooh:

PS The initials on my watch are cK. That well known fashion guru colin Klein :D :D

Yup, considering how low is the percentage of UK citizens who are pilots, we are bloody lucky to have two excellent mags like 'Pilot' and 'Flyer' on the bookstalls.

Never mind watches or whether 'Pilot' used to be better than it is now; support them both - subscribe! I do :)

SSD

I wouldn't mind betting that a fair percentage of the readership is of the spotter type.

So lots of pictures of planes and ads for scanners will be all thats required.

Must admit the only article I read is John Farleys can't remember which one its in.

And everyone knows the best watch for navigation is a 1.99 splash proof casio available at all indoor markets around the country.

MJ

MJ

Agreed. With the honourable exception of JF in Flyer, the mags remind me of girlie 'lifestyle' publications with lots of aeroplane pix, but little talk about real flying. And as for the recent Pilot article about short field landings..... rolleyes:

Despite the change of personnel at Flyer in the US (mainly due to Father Time), it still features pilots talking about flying ... and I like to read the experiences of others.

So good luck to the UK titles, but they won't get my money.:

Just my personal opinion, but if you want something that features pilots talking about flying, I don't think there's anywhere better than PPRuNe. Which is probably why I read PPRuNe regularly, and very rarely buy any of the mags. (Also, mags are much harder to read in the office without the boss getting suspicious!)

FFF
-----------------