Pilot Magazine
 

Well....has it taken a headlong dive for the dirt, or is it just me?
This latest issue is riddled with errors, as have the preceding two.
It certainly aint what it used to be.

The new publisher is a regular poster to this forum, so no doubt he will contribute. The magazine appears to have gone through a period of tumultuous change, inbcluding the acrimonious departure of the previous editor and a number of its key contributors.

QDM

Yep, mine kept repeating itself. (Nov issue) Must be a prob at the printers...... :(

I didnt renew my subscription in May, the mag' has become a shadow of it's former self.
If anyone from the editorial team is reading, IMHO, although the regular bits (air mail, old timers, safety etc) maintained the usual standard, the magazine has become very much the same as all the other competitors.
Where Pilot used to win was it's ability to produce a magazine with different types of articles which appealed to the broad spectrum of everyone in aviation, even specialist interest matter was produced in a very readable way.
For whatever reason this doen't seem to happen now, and I briefly read it on the newsagents shelf.
Even the letters page is dull these days - although I accept that this has as much to do with the readership as anyone.:p

..and there's a blatant wrong piece of advice about logging P1.s in the letters page. Guy asked a question about this, and the letters editor gave exactly the wrong answer.

Tsk tsk.....

Steve R

I'm just waiting for my subscription to run out... :(

Mine has and I'm not bothering to renew it.

Pilot...................utter shyteeeeeeeee

best kept for the regie spotters.

Nov issue, I subscribe and it has not turned up yet. I was a big supporter but it has not picked up at all since the new editor arrived. The amount of poor quality articles continues. The other mags are getting better. Pilot must buck up. Perhaps the correspondents who jumped ship new what was going on!! A good flight test writer is a must, (Bob Davy or Maxi Ganza come to mind) who can put the reader in the seat. Rant now finished.:rolleyes:

BRL
May I ask when you received the November Issue of "Pilot"? I have been a subscriber for years (although I suspect new subscribers are offered better deals than existing subscribers) but the latest issue I have is October 2002 which arrived (according to memory) a couple of weeks ago.

Pilot
 

As an avid reader of all 3 and occasional contributor to them -a few letters and, by coincidence my provision of the aircraft for a feature in this month's Pilot (cover feature in TP last year too) I haven't noticed anything about Pilot that causes me the even consider cancelling my subscription. I have taken it for many years and have back numbers to compare.

If in your opinion the new team are getting it wrong then a readership survey may be necessary.

However, how many of you contributors to this thread have pulled a readership survey out of a magazine and binned it rather than complete it?

You then rely on telepathy for them to get it right and castigate them for getting it wrong.

All I say is - the Pilot team are great guys keen to do a good job. If you want the magazine to reflect your wishes, share it with them.

What you also seem to fail to realise is that there are 3 magazines out there now and the readership wll certainly not triple to accomodate them.

Couple this with the fact that ours is a highly specialised sector with relatively modest numbers and you will conclude that anybody bringing out no.3 magazine was really brave and presumably well funded.

I take all 3 - all make their contribution - all really nice guys involved - all aviation enthusiasts trying desperately to win the majority.

I can't believe that the negativity in this thread about Pilot reflects the views of the general readership.

I look forward to the development of this thread with keen interest.

My November "Pilot" arrived on Friday. I think a day or two late is acceptable; blame the post office.

It isn't brilliant, but I really can't understand what you're all making so much fuss about. I wasn't always interested in everything in the "old" Pilot either. It has a few interesting articles, a few that are OK, some which I haven't bothered to read and probably won't. As usual really. One new thing is 10 free landing fees for November - including Coventry and Wolverhampton, which are both normally pretty expensive. A November Private Pilots fly-in, maybe? There may be mistakes - but that's not unique to any of the mags, though don't ask me for specific examples, as I can't remember.

No, I really don't know what you're all on about. The last thread like this I remember, everyone was whinging about Flyer not having enough depth. Then there was a thread on Today's Pilot being lightweight, or something similar. I think if anyone whinges, someone else jumps on the band wagon.

Hmm...who/what shall I have a whinge about? Any suggestions? I'll start a new thread. :D

I have to second Whirlybird here. About 50% really appeals to me - liked the 196 review this month - but for a couple of quid a month, especially with the new free landing fees, worth every penny IMHO.

LF

I brought "Pilot" every month for years but, other than the first two issues under the new management, I haven't bothered recently. Why?

I'm not sure just which of the "original" regulars are still on board, but it seems to me that the depth of aviation knowledge and expertise that the old editorial team and the excellent contributors possessed is missing and it feels too lightweight a read now. Not sure that the Pilot sense of humour is still there either... Quite apart from the various howlers I spotted in those first two issues, the overall quality, particularly photo reproduction, has plummeted in my view.

I've leafed through subsequent issues in Smiths, but have not seen any improvement nor have I been inspired to get my wallet out.

A great shame for it was once an excellent magazine, something to look forward to each month; and in my view it stood head and shoulders above the competition but now it's just one of the gang...

Pilot Magazine
 

How many of the old 'regulars' are still on board? Even fewer than the masthead or the article bylines would have you believe. They're still using up some feature material that was in place before the rest of us were sacked or walked away, and some of those still shown as 'Contributors' have no intention of ever writing another word for 'Pilot' under its present regime.

Whirly - I've subscibed to Flyer and Pilot for a couple of years now, and the difference in the new Pilot is quite clear to me. Flyer has always had better columnists (especially John Farley), but Pilot still used to be a more enjoyable read. However, I've found that's no longer the case. I flick through it when it arrives, but there's nothing much there. Flyer beats it easily now and it never used to.

I recently found a year-old Pilot (the one with the SR-22 review), and the difference between that and the latest is dramatic IMHO. It's gone downhill fast. No point in cancelling a sub with a couple of issues to go, but I've no interest in renewing. And that's sad :(

Rumour .... the worlds worst thing I know ... was that at the time of the last Aerofair [May, North Weald] the whole of the editorial staff walked out on the management [or Editor].

I did not expect it back but its still there so maybe they mended bits but not enough...

Either way this might give a reason for the loss of quality.

Pilot Magazine
 

Not quite the whole of the Pilot team quit just before Aerofair. But of those that did, a couple were pushed, which prompted the rest (myself included, after 30 years) to vote with our feet.

Days are getting shorter, the drizzle outside is very depressing but so far I agree with Whirlybird in that I shall buy the November issue if only for the free landings.

I no longer subscribe to either of the 3 mags - instead I preview them on the net or whs and buy whichever (one or more) that seems most interesting.

Hope they can all continue as competition must be good.

Suggest critics feedback direct to each editor as rather subjective comments can sometimes be seen as coming from a biased perspective and we will all benefit from improvemnts in the breed.

Bingoboy, you've just proven what we now-departed 'old guard' at Pilot tried to explain to the present incumbents. Freebies, giveways and gimmicks may boost sales of individual issues, but ultimately it's the quality of the editorial content that brings readers back month after month, year after year. And that's what really matters if a publisher is in for the long haul, as Pilot's former owner/publisher/editor and those of us who worked with him were.