Sport Aviation Magazine

[Bill Greenwood]

McClellan often wrote about IFR flying in his Baron or similar when he was at FLYING. That's great for that market, but is one of the reasons that I don't subscribe to that magazine anymore.
I am not very interested in reading much about jets and turboprops. If you've smelled one diesel burner, you've smelled them all.
I don't want Sport Aviation or EAA to change focus and convert to a mag about business flying. That's for FLYING or maybe the turbine part of AOPA mag.
This seems like the lure of the almighty dollar at work here, and not related to the fun side of sport or gen aviation that EAA has always been about.
Maybe if there are enough protests over this to headquarters it can be stopped.

[Neil]

Glad to see you over on the Biplane Forum, Chad. Hope to see you there often.

[Chad Jensen]

Glad to see you over on the Biplane Forum, Chad. Hope to see you there often.

Thanks Neil! I plan to stop in there at least once a day as long as schedule permits.

[Mike Switzer]

Thanks Neil! I plan to stop in there at least once a day as long as schedule permits.

You lucky dog, you get paid to browse aviation forums...

[martymayes]

Sounds like they also need to "expand" the North 40 parking to make room for all those jets and turboprops that many EAA members own or fly.

[Eric Page]

My $0.02:

I'd prefer to see Sport Aviation stick to the core of what EAA is: home building of experimental aircraft. I want to see more articles profiling builders and their aircraft; building techniques, methods and best practices; when they're available, reader contributions about trips they've taken in their experimental aircraft; features about new technology, whether it's experimental engines, avionics, advances in aerodynamics, whatever. SA could also do great service to the factory built S-LSA market, but anything bigger than that -- unless it's experimental -- should be left to others. In short, stick to the core of what EAA represents.

I'm also a long-time AOPA member and I love their magazine. I think Pilot is the best magazine out there for "mainstream" GA pilots. They feature lots of great info on factory aircraft and certified engines and equipment. Their training and safety focus is legendary and worth the annual dues alone. I get the Turbine Pilot edition because it interests me, and I appreciate the option to read that info at no additional cost. They don't have much coverage at all about experimental aircraft, and I don't expect them to. They wisely leave that to EAA. I hope EAA comes to the same conclusion and leaves factory built GA coverage to AOPA Pilot, Flying, Plane & Pilot, etc.

[rwanttaja]

Steve Wilkinson built a Falco and used to be editor of Flying Magazine. Y'all might remember his name. But Steve Wilkinson also writes for car magazines and history magazines. When I read his stuff in Military History magazine, I don't see references to his Falco or to bizjets or even to cars. The first thing any successful writer learns is to *write to the audience*. No doubt Mac will need a bit of "re-calibration," but there's a pretty good headquarters staff to keep him oriented.

With the downturn in aviation, I'm suspecting the advertising revenue for SPORT AVIATION is down quite a bit. Mac has enough visibility and respect within the industry to help encourage the remaining pool of money to gravitate towards the EAA publications.

Ron Wanttaja

[Marlhalbrook]

Found this interesting----quote from the very 1st "Sport Aviation" magazine (well, actually, the 1st Experimenter that was published from Paul's typewriter in 1953)
" This association has been in the planning stages

since November 1951. A number of meetings wereheld at Curtiss Wright Airport in Milwaukee over aperiod of a year. We found that enough interestwas shown by people to form a non-profitorganization to encourage the development of anytype of aircraft by individuals through

experimentation and home building."

There it is---in Papa Paul's own words---the ORIGINAL motivation for the formation of EAA.

I don't think we are out of line to request that that basic premise be at the heart of the magazine that represents EAA to the world. I agree wholeheartedly that the aviation world has changed, but EAA, at it's core, is ABOUT the experimental/homebuilding side of things. I really hope that the management of the publication side of things will stay centered on EAA's history and not head down a different road, but if the last few issues of SA are an indication of things to come, I think we've passed the proverbial "fork in the road".

I have read Flying magazine for the last 30 years---loved it when J. Mac was the big man over there----but I reallllllllly hope that SA does not become another Flying or AOPA Pilot under his tenure at the helm. Those markets are being covered well enough, thank you!

SA has grown over the years to include pretty much all aspects of SPORT aviation....which I feel does honor the spirit of the original concept of EAA. Developing any type of aircraft does include the restoration and preservation of warbirds, antiques, classics, etc....as well as LSA, ultralights, powered parachutes, gyros, helis, etc... But, the other key thought is that of experimentation and homebuilding. SA should be dedicated to those aspects of aviation above and beyond others----and by having such dedication, SA would stand out from the crowd of other aviation mags---and would truely represent what EAA was originally intended to be.

Of course, this is all just my opinion........

[Yellow Peril]

Case in point. What does a 84 Bonanza that some doctor has thrown his checkbook at and has dual redundant everything that he flies IFR everywhere have anything to do with "SPORT" aviation?

[Kyle Boatright]

As I wrote elsewhere, if you exchanged the Baby Ace article in the current SA for an article on something turbine powered, the magazine would be indistinguishable from Flying magazine. The really odd thing in this month's edition of SA was the 3-4 page ramble by Jeff Skiles. Is SA really the place for a column about the guy's experience flying an overnight airline route in a modern jet? Sheesh.

Note to the powers that be: I discontinued my subscription to Flying magazine because it wasn't interesting to me and didn't address the type flying I do. Don't turn SA into the very same magazine.