Sport Aviation Magazine

[keen9]

multipage uncompensated (?) advertisement for Van's Aircraft

Wow. If you can't appreciate an article about Van (and it was mostly about the man not the company), what part of experimental are you interested in?

[BBARTONB]

I think the same thing Steve.I do understand that change happens.But I would be in favor of a seprate magazine;geared toward the things you pointed out.I know,that this comment will draw alot of "flack",but that's how we feel,and'the the ones giving the flack should try and see "our"side.

[Chad Jensen]

I think the same thing Steve.I do understand that change happens.But I would be in favor of a seprate magazine;geared toward the things you pointed out.I know,that this comment will draw alot of "flack",but that's how we feel,and'the the ones giving the flack should try and see "our"side.

It's coming! I'm not gonna let the cat fully out of the bag yet though...

[canopyflier]

It's coming! I'm not gonna let the cat fully out of the bag yet though...

Have I missed a new publication?! Let me know. I am definitely interested.

[Hal Bryan]

Chad was talking about our new digital magazine, Experimenter, which launched last September:

http://www.eaa.org/experimenter/

[Chad Jensen]

As hard as I try, I can't stay ahead of you here Hal!

[Victor Bravo]

It seems many of the articles now are like infomercials.

How many other articles have we read pushing glass technology and such while mentioning the manufacturers.

Perhaps I should weigh in here, having been on both sides of this issue. I make a living writing, and have helped, written or assisted magazine articles that highlight a product which I manufacture. It is "guerrilla marketing" for sure, but it also may be legitimately relevant and of interest to readers. On the other hand, I'm a magazine reader like any other EAA member, and I too have been annoyed at the large number of articles in many aviation magazines which are reprints, re-hashes, or thinly disguised versions of the same old stories done dozens of times previously.

Seriously, how could you write an article on the tiny detail variations in this year's $750K Bonanza, and make it remotely interesting to the average pilot? How many times can you publish a DIY "tips and tricks" article that tells you how to change an oil filter?

Good magazine article authors are not exactly growing on trees.... and I'm sure the money sucks from a "pay the rent" standpoint. So it is not an easy job for magazine chiefs to come up with relevant, new material every month, and they can't nearly pay the kind of money for a Richard Bach caliber author to mesmerize and delight us on the deepest emotional levels (hats off to Lauran Paine and Jeff Skiles for their work in this direction).

Into this vacuum walks the avionics manufacturer, with money to spend, a good professional writer on staff, and a product to showcase. On an altruistic level, the magazine editor should refuse the article, and direct the avionics mogul to the advertising department. But on a realistic level, it fills up pages at no cost to the magazine, and makes the advertisers happy.

The only way to honestly address both sides is to have a designated, marked section of the magazine set aside for feature articles "assisted" or contributed by commercial interests, that are not traditional print ads, but are also not 100% neutral. This would fill up pages with new ideas and topics, and allow editors to take advantage of guys like me (who would provide a legitimate article, but an article showing off their product), and still be 100% honest with their readers.

[Bill Berson]

EAA had a prolific article writer named Bob Whittier from the 50’s to around 2002.
Bob wrote an article for EAA (back in the early days) about how small organizations eventually grow and switch from member oriented to advertiser oriented.
I don't know what year EAA switched.
What ever happened to Bob Whittier?

[martymayes]

What ever happened to Bob Whittier?

He was writing for Experimenter when I had a subscription back in the '90's. I remember him being inducted into the EAA hall of fame in 2004, same yr as Pete Bowers. I would guess he retired.

[Jeff Boatright]

...hats off to Lauran Paine and Jeff Skiles for their work in this direction...

Mr. Skiles is one of the best writers in aviation today, IMO.