Why is there a 7 page article about a TBM turboprop in my latest Sport Aviation magazine? If I wanted this I would subscribe to Flying or AOPA!http://www.sportaviationonline.org/s...99366000&pg=26
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Why is there a 7 page article about a TBM turboprop in my latest Sport Aviation magazine? If I wanted this I would subscribe to Flying or AOPA!http://www.sportaviationonline.org/s...99366000&pg=26
Would anyone be surprised if there was an ad from TBM or some sponsor money from TBM involved? After all there isn't a lot of money involved on a small homebuilt.
And the pilot/author naturally wants to fly the big stuff and the latest and fanciest.
That and articles about flying for the airlines, stories and editorials about late model mooneys and bonanzas, SA is really deviating from anything related to their sport aviation roots (ultralights, sport aircraft, IAC, warbirds, vintage, homebuilts)...
I agree completely. The "deal" whe EAA discontinued some of the niche magazines like Experimenter was that SA wouldcontinue to represent those interests. It seems like the deal is off.
Maybe they're just preparing us for the merger with AOPA.
I agree, J Mac is not agood thing for EAA. Shilling for Socata is NOT what I joined EAA for. That and endless droning about flying across the country with my boyfriend's son is getting as old as it was at FLYING. I think it might be time for a new organization truly for home builders. These guys have little in common with the average home builder and are about as in touch with grass roots aviation as congress is with the country in general. They should have poached Peter Garrison, at least he's built something.:mad:
Experimenter is alive and well, though it's online only, it is all homebuilt coverage all the time. It's a free subscription and we are working on moving it to more of an online magazine, rather than a newsletter. Check it out if you haven't already. Lots of great stuff there! This simply isn't going to happen...I always stress to members that are upset about the magazine that EAA offers so much more for the homebuilder than just the magazine. Hints for homebuilders, webinars, Experimenter, government advocacy (this is huge...), and Sport Aviation, although changing a bit, still has all the homebuilder content it has had in the past...there's just more additional content added. The flagship magazine has to appeal to the entire membership, and the current spread is covering all of it. There are lots of homebuilders on EAA Staff...I think you'll like some of the articles being worked on for future issues...
Forgot the link to Experimenter...http://www.eaa.org/experimenter/
I for one embrace the inclusion of the vast number of EAA members who own three million dollar, six passenger turboprop aircraft.
For far too long this silent majority has suffered within the organization, toiling along in obscurity, wishing for a voice.
It is about time they are represented in the periodical that is the face of the EAA.
(They got it backwards - should have been seven pages about Russ' Camel and a two page blurb about some regional commuter plane)
I wish experimenter was available in print form. I get the Experimenter emails, and when I get around to trying to read the articles half the time they wont load, or they take forever to load, and I give up.
I haven't had this complaint Mike...interesting. We are hoping to move it to an online magazine or even PDF downloadable for reading on a mobile device offline. It won't go to print though...cost is way to high, and the success of this publication being online (almost 30,000 subscribers) means it will stay that way.
Amen, Frank; It's all about the money.
It gets worse. Mac Mclelland has apparently described Burt Rutan to his staff as a "failure".
http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum...d.php?p=792874
Can I get my membership dues back?
Apparently, the FLYING editorial arrogance is transferable.
You got that right propjock
To be fair, the TBM article is not all bad--if it had been just a two-pager celebrating Socata's 100-year history as the heir to Morane-Saulnier, with a sidebar on their latest and greatest creation, the TBM 850, I think none of us would be complaining. But a seven-page article on a multimillion dollar business aircraft--neither homebuilt, nor aerobatic, nor antique, nor warbird, nore even a general aviation type that mere mortals might rent on a weekend--has no place in an EAA publication titled and dedicated to "Sport Aviation." If this trend continues I think we will see a lot of negative reaction from the membership.
I guess I don't understand why the Experimenter content isn't included in Sport Aviation anyway. Look at back issues, that is what the content of the whole magazine used to be. The magazine is going to print anyway, the cost of adding those pages each month is minimal, especially with the modern electronic format printing processes being used.
I am with Mole 100% on this one. I used to keep back issues of Sport Aviation to reread and pore over. Now they go into the recycle bin a couple of days after I get them. Sport Aviation is in danger of becoming like every other "general interest" magazine I buy at the airport and leave in the seatback pouch when the flight is over.
This is why I choose not to get the magazine with my subscription. In fact, the only reason I'm still an EAA member is because it's required to be one to be a member of the IAC.
Until the video archive was created with some focus on maintenance, the EAA portion of my membership had no value to me.
Of the hundreds of thousands of EAA members around the world how many do you honestly believe are owners or even potential owners of the $3M TBM? What audience is JMac speaking to? You cannot logically argue that it was directed to the homebuilder, the warbirder, the antique/classic guy/gals, or the light sport crowd. Yes, there are alternate sources of information for special interests but Sport Aviation is the magazine of the EAA membership " flagship magazine has to appeal to the entire membership" and articles such as this are so far outside the interests of the membership that one wonders what the motivation was.
I finally got my hard copy of the November SA. In addition to the extremely out of place TBM article, there was also a bad article on Mac flying a Bell 47. This was accompanied by the cover photo of Mac in the left seat of the Bell 47. If you read the article, it is a flight report: "I this, I that, I something else". Mac needs to understand that the magazine isn't "Mac's World". His photo doesn't need to be on the cover, and he needs to write in the 3rd person - it ain't about him. If he wants to do a flight report on a Bell 47, great. Find one that someone drug out of a barn and restored. Make the story about the helicopter and the owner, with a flight test thrown in. The current direction of the magazine is horribly misguided.
I am a member of the EAA because of my interest in experimental aircraft. My Tripacer may be a classic but if I want to meet other vintage certified aircraft enthusiasts I would expect to also join the VAA. I am a member of the Shortwing Piper Club. My certified aircraft interests are more or less covered by my AOPA membership. So in essence I am looking forward to information about experimental and homebuild aircraft in my EAA publications.
I really hate the new direction that Sport Aviation and EAA in general is taking... When President Paul created this organization he did so to help guide and promote the "little guy"... There are many reasons to build an airplane in one's garage, and not the least of which is cost of the craft itself! In the old days Paul Poberezny, Tony Bingelis, Jack Cox, Steve Whitman, etc etc... built EAA to inform, promote, encourage others that may be interested in home building their own aircraft. They always had safety in mind, but were NEVER afraid of liability incurred by printing "How to Guides" in Sport Aviation. Further, these guys and others promoted & protected aviation in Washington. I attended Airventure 2011. It had been about 25 years since I was last there for the fly-in. Back in the 80's one could sit on the flight line and watch the homebuilt's, one of a kinds, and Experimental's fly around the pattern. Announcers would expound the virtues of this or that design. One could learn a little about the aircraft & designer/builder. Later in the afternoon those aircraft were parked so that interested potential builders or just the interested could walk right up to them and have a look.This past summer NONE OF THIS happened... NO HOMEBUILTS flew in the pattern except those arriving or departing Whitman Field. The Fly-In was about War Birds & commercial interest. The very reason for EAA's existence is now largely ignored or merely tolerated. BIG MONEY is the theme now at Oshkosh and Sport Aviation. RIP Sport Aviation & EAA... maybe someone will begin again, and pick up the torch of the founders of the original organization. I understand economics as well as the next person, but MONEY is now the driving force behind EAA... It used to be Experimental Aircraft... It's a real shame.
I may be naive, I thought the issues were mailed over a short time period. Burtles opened the discussion on Oct 26 and I get my copy on Nov 15. Good reason that I didn't know what the discussion was about for three weeks. I'm not complaining, just wondering. Anybody get theirs later than I get mine?
Bob
Even allowing for the fact that self-selecting surveys, like this thread, are almost useless from the standpoint of producing statistically useful data, there's clearly a significant current of discontent among many EAA members concerning some of the recent items in Sport Aviation. This is the second multi-page thread on this topic -- a remarkable thing considering the age and member count of this forum.
Are the sentiments expressed here being discussed at EAA HQ meetings? Are EAA's leadership and SA's editorial staff being made aware of these posts, and of their growing number? What is the reaction, if any?
Are the things we're discussing here the result of scientific membership polling that indicates a desire for, e.g. ~$3M turboprop reviews? Or, are they being driven by the desires or "gut feeling" of one or more persons at HQ?
Hope not , I'm a 50 year of AOPA and they are becoming a pain in the email.
Absolutely Eric! Many of the staff members follow the forums and the topics specifically relating to SA. You will see Hal and I here daily, but several other staffer's, including Directors and VP's participate in the forums when their schedules allow. It is being discussed, and the editorial staff and leadership is well aware of what is going on, and what is being said. I think December's issue of SA will be a welcome sway back the other way from what I've seen at this point.
Maybe the TBM article was a shot across the bow to the membership to see if there really was a pulse, I don't know, but if it was, I think we've opened up the lines of communication.
:)
Eric -
Forgive me for cherry-picking, but these are the two questions I, personally, can answer unequivocally, and that answer is absolutely and vehemently "yes." As for the others, beyond what's already been said, I'm hoping to get some of my colleagues in Publications to dive in here and join the discussions.
Regards -
Hal
Cheers, guys! Thanks for the prompt and candid replies. I look forward to the Dec issue.
Looked like his hands were down by his side and feet on floor to me, on all photos including the cover shot. I found that hillarious.Quote:
I finally got my hard copy of the November SA. In addition to the extremely out of place TBM article, there was also a bad article on Mac flying a Bell 47...
Took me 5 minutes to read this month's mag. Skipped the TBM and Bell 47. Thumbs down. Thumbs up to Super Chub, Hands On, WOMB, Lauran Paine, pretty much the last 10 pages of the mag. And oh I wish I was there for the "50 years ago", what a time.
I wish we had Barry Schiff and Peter Garrison.
This thread and it's sister thread "Sport Aviation Magazine" are of keen interest to me.
I VERY much want to see how the EAA and the content editors handle this problem because an organisation I help manage has the exact same problem(s).
Problem 1. A percentage of sometimes highly vocal members see the org not as a club/group of aviation enthusiasts that promote aviation through world-class events, fly-ins, sponsor-ships, Young /Old Eagles, Museums, restorations, on-line tools with support, legal watch-dogging and activism but ONLY AS A MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION.
Problem 2. An aging population that are unwilling / unable to see or understand the movement of the media world from PRINT to DIGITAL. Print "Pinch" has killed many great publications and organisations that have not been able to make this transition. Print cost and postage costs continue to go through the roof, internet media draws away the younger subscribers and the remaining pool of subscribers feel the cost of a $50 publication that now leaves little remaining revenue for any projects outside of the quickly dying print publication.
Problem 3. As online media continues to prove a better media for quick news, better responses to troubleshooting questions, many stories, photos, how to and help content is directed away from the print media leaving mostly "human interest" and high end photography as the last bastions for print content. Sensing this change even the print sticklers now complain about the print media content because the format is not covering the topics they once found in the pre-digital revolution days. Print editors to meet the financial needs of a print publication have to appeal to wider and wider audiences and even when 4 or 5 articles are "on topic" to the reader seeing a few "off topic" articles causes a sense of abandonment. Citing examples like "Kitplanes" where the organisation is not a pilot "org" but a publishing house, subscribers completely forget about all of the other benefits of the org (see problem 1) and don't understand why the org can't "be like them".
Ironically, as we see in these threads:
"Concerned Members" that are affected by Problem 1, then inspired by Problem 3, cancel their "subscription" (membership) in "Protest" thinking they are some how helping the org, as if non-participation is a valid form of communication when what they are doing is actually compounding Problem 2.
Thus they are contributing causes to the the change that upset them in the first place.
All that said.... Sport Aviation really does need to publish more GYRO articles! ;)
.
Just got my magazine today.
And, yeah, jets and warbirds and anything costing more than a Honda Accord are of no interest.
I'm a long time "on again--off again" EAA member. I used to hit my "off" times because I got real pissed at what the EAA leadership seemed to be doing. By that I mean that I viewed EAA as a corporate, money gobbling machine that continually left the homebuilders behind. I joined about 1985 when I was a high school kid in central Indiana. Me and three of my buddies talked one of our parents into letting us take a car to Oshkosh and so we went, airplane crazed and bound for the greatest airshow ever!! Mind you that we went to a high school where there was an aviation program where we built a 66% scale Jap Zero, I had my picture in Sport Aviation, along with some other students for that build. You could not ask for kids more crazy about airplanes and especially hombuilt planes, it was in our blood. That first Oshkosh was everything I had hoped with homebuilts flyinging everywhere, a million things to see......we camped in pup tents in the area now occupied by Aeroshell square(or close). Over the years most of my friends wandered off to more lucrative careers but I stayed with aviation doing all sorts of jobs and eventually becoming an A&P and IA working in my own shop. Today I look at the EAA quite different than I did back in 1985, it's simply nothing like it used to be. Back then it was indeed still about homebuilts, today it's really not so much. I flew my Varieze to Osh this past year for the Rutan Salute, what a joke that turned out to be. They basically found time to squeeze Burt and a few of his planes in and that was it. Cancelled the flyby for those of us who showed up. Anyway, I used to quit EAA from time to time because of idiotic magazine articles like the socata one this past issue, fact is I finally signed up for the forum here just to get pissy about it. You guys at HQ got your heads stuffed clear up your A$%, thanks for leaving the rest of us low life hombuilders in the dust, you are delusional if you really think you a good connection with the average homebuilder these day's. J Mac...Go back to wherever you came from. I have no doubt that you are competent but you are not one of us. Why don't you go out and build something before you have the nuts to write for a mag that was founded on that exact activity!! Speaking of SA, you almost had me over the last year. I was really starting to like what you were doing but you have let me down as a member. This (Socata article) is not the content that belongs in this publication. I read somewhere that EAA has to appeal to a broad spectrum of the membership.........It is my observation that the broad spectrum is made up of people who build are interested in "EXPERIMENTAL AVIATION" HENCE THE NAME "EXPERIMENTAL AVIATION ASSOCIATION". I don't see a friggen experimental sticker on that Socata!
EAA---you have outgrown your shoes and like the current national debt, I don't see anyway it's ever going to turn around. Will I quit EAA again? No, as a matter of fact I recently became president of my local chapter and quitting would only let the leadership get away with it's crappy misdirected management of what used to be a very good and useful orginization. No I will stay, and maybe complain loudly with the hopes that it comes back in the direction of what it once was, what I joined in on back in the 80's.
Any of you that want to reply with some crap about printing costs, digital media, appealing to a broad spectrum etc... can stick it right in your ear, your nothing but excuse makers and enablers to those who have taken it away from us.
Sincerest Regards
Arnold Holmes
EAA 519850
TC 4476
Chap. Pres 534
A&P/IA
PP/TW
Varieze N80SH
OUCH
Wow, I was getting annoyed at all the articles about people building all the dime a dozen common kits, RV's, Zeniths, Rans etc.
I always look for people that are actually doing EXPERIMENTAL stuff, I used enjoy the odd one off's that appear in the magazine, and used to get 'Experimenter' till it was discontinued. :(
I know some of the one off's out there can be a bit rough, but it's a start, people are learning. :eek:
As an example, here's an airplane I built about 15 years ago;
Attachment 1000
Never got around to writing an article, plus I'm in Australia.
One day maybe...
Arthur.