Dire writing standards in GA magazines
 

Is there, in fact, just one bloke who writes all of the aircraft reviews in the GA rags? I picture him as a wearer of knobbly cardigans, and a smoker of pipes. His purple prose is illuminated by passages such as these, found in every review, of every aeroplane, in every magazine:-

"climbed like a homesick angel"

"I chopped the throttle and let the speed bleed off"

"push forward and the cows get bigger"

"floated over the numbers"

and, of course, the classic "trickle of power"

May I be permitted to say ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH?

Wasn't it Adolf Galland who coined the phrase 'climbed like a home-sick angel' when referring to the Me 262?

Perhaps we could have a competition for the best spoof review which must contain as many cliches as possible.

'I chopped the throttle and the number of cows got bigger' :uhoh:

Galland may well have said that of a swept wing super fast Ur-jet . Nowadays bloke in cardigan says it of some wheezy spamcan. What shall we offer as a prize for the contest? A homesick cow?

FNG

The mags are always on the lookout for well-written copy and new writing talent. If you think you can do it better than 'that bloke in the knobbly cardy' then put pen to paper. Or finger to keyboard.


SSD

OK, would someone please commission me to write a review of a Mark IX Spitfire. Oh alright then, I'm not fussy, I'll settle for a tailwheel Yak 42.

Na, FNG. If that was on offer, I'd be there first:)

The way it works (at least in my experience) is that you find yourself a ride in a Spit or a Yak, then you write it up and see if an editor wants to publish it. If it is well written, with good photos, the editor will buy. If it's a very interesting piece but not well written, the editor will edit it (maybe he smokes a pipe and wears a knobbly cardy?? ;) ).

If you owned a 2-seat Spit or tailwheel Yak would you give someone a free ride just so they could write up a mag article? If you do own such a machine, and you would like to see a write-up in one of the mags, PM me. I promise a cliche-free article :ok:

SSD

FNG, I agree with your sentiments. Especially the cardy wearing pipe smoker, possibly with sandals with white socks to finish the ensemble.

The other thing that I find incredibly annoying is when theres a review for an aircraft, and lo and behold, there it is in the classified ads in the back:mad:

Boing_737, I think that happens because owners of unusual aeroplanes have no motivation to offer them to mag reviewers unless they wish to sell the aeroplane. If the reviewer is fair in their assessment, that shouldn't matter.

The same situation applies with the more usual source of flight test subjects; a dealer or agent for a current type offering it to a mag for flight test. The object here is to get the type onto the radar of the readers, some of whom may be potential purchasers of that type.

Same thing really; publicity.

SSD

Boeing - having just sold an aircraft, I've agreed to write an article for one of the mags!

I'll have FNG sanity, cliche and apostrophe check it first!

Stik

SSD - just out of interest, how does one go about offering a write up to the magazines? Are they receptive to cold calling? I ask, as I recently passed my Skills Test and got some good feedback from people on here and FlyPast who'd read it, some of who said they'd found it a useful read prior to taking their own ST. As I also plan to do my tailwheel rating later ths summer and have a habit of doing write-ups anyway, I'm just wondering whether my ramblings may be of interest to anyone?

BeauMan

Beauman,

Both Flyer and Pilot have info for writers; it's probably on their respective websites. Today's Pilot may do too; I just haven't written for them so I don't know. That'll give you an idea of what they want, length etc. You can either just send something to them (enclose SAE if you want it back), or phone first - I've usually found them pretty receptive to phone calls.

Actually, thinking about it, its not annoying, its just jealousy in that I can't afford a "homesick angel". I'll just keep renting a coughing and wheezing spamcans

I hope that
My writing style in FLYER
Is not dire

SSD's right - if you think you can do better, write an article and send it in. I sent one 'cold' to all 3 mags and had it published in 'Flyer'. I found Nick Wall very helpful in explaining the tweaking he needed in order to publish (without resort to laywers) and I earned enough to buy a decent GPS. (Although I've since spent it on booze).

Looking forward to seeing your article...:rolleyes:

Yeah. The most blatant one I noticed was that Ningchingchang thing reveiwed and then advertised.

Nice plane though.

I feel another new GA mag comming on, what do you say Ed (FNG)?

Perish the thought. Three is perhaps too many as it is (not counting the various safety mags, Popular Flying etc).

"Today's Flyer"? :O

"Unpopular Flying" (editor: whatunion)