Originally Posted by
Kyle Boatright
Chad, the problem is that EAA has changed how SA is operated.
Once upon a time, EAA promoted the owners and aircraft which won major awards at Oshkosh (err, Airventure). Every month, there was an article, maybe two, about the Grand Champion Antique, Classic, Contemporary, Homebuilt (kit), Homebuilt (plans), Warbird, Ultralight, etc. The owner/builder didn't write the article, Jack Cox did, and EAA's longtime photographer (whose name escapes me) contributed with outstanding photos. Now, we get advertisements (disguised as articles) from Socata, Bose, the DC-7 folks, and a host of others, plus stock photography which seems to include a fair amount of 2nd rate photoshop work.
The magazine is the organization's calling card, and should serve as the organization's point of entry, even if it loses money on a strict accounting basis. It should serve to inspire and recruit members to the dream. Instead, it is being run as a profit center where revenues are maximized and expenses minimized, despite the impact on the quality of the product. Long term, that will be a failing strategy because nobody is going to pick up a random copy of SA sitting in an FBO and say "Wow, I wanna join that organization." Instead, they are gonna say "Meh. I already subscribe to Flying."