Dumping Flying Magazine

(Dave) writes:

Is it me,

No.

or has Flying become among the worst GA magazines to read?

Yes. The only good writer left is Peter Garrison. Lane Wallace is
afraid to fly at night. Everybody else is afraid to fly in anything
costing less than $500,000.


Here's a post I made about Flying Rag in November 2002.


Flying magazine is about worthless anymore. So I get a thick envelope
from them, open it, and it's a survey complete with a crisp dollar
bill. Alright, I think, a chance to tell them what's wrong with their
magazine.

So I start reading the survey. It starts with the usual questions
about flying experience, do I own or rent, and so on. Then it gets to
my job: what do I do, job title, etc. Then total family income, and
do I own rental and investment property? And how much do I own in
stocks?

Now I'm thinking, screw you. Your magazine sucks and the only thing
you want to know from me is my financial situation?? It's now one
dollar better, that's for sure. Maybe I'll send the return envelope
back empty.

"Jay Honeck" writes:

Is it me, or has Flying become among the worst GA magazines to read?

Two words: Lane Wallace.

Oh, dude. C'mon. Lane is simply an average-skilled amateur writer
and a less-skilled pilot. You need to expand your reading and you'll
know what I mean and what you're missing.

Except for Peter Garrison, the other writers are useless too.

"Jay Honeck" writes:

I'll say one thing about Collins: The man is prolific. He writes two or
three HUGE articles each month, plus a flight reviews, plus an active
speaking schedule.

And none of the content worth a damn. Too bad, because the man
clearly has something to tell us, but he simply doesn't know how. He
is prolific like an Appalachian hill-billy family is...quantity
doesn't equal quality.

"Jay Honeck" writes:

What's all the fuss over Lane Wallace? Are you talking about sex appeal?

Yes. In-person she has a warmth and magnetism that's hard to quantify.

I'll take your word for it. I live in a college town...need I say
more?

"Richard Hertz" writes:

I find that all the magazines are fairly poor.
.... Maybe there are no good
journalists/writers in the aviation field.

You are correct. There simply is very little good writing in
aviation. Perhaps it's because there is relatively little money to be
made, and thus little new blood. We've all noticed the nearly 100%
old farts at airports and fly-ins; few young people, with their energy
and creativity, can afford or are interested in flying.

That's why I started subscribing to the Atlantic. Not an aviation
mag, but very good writers, including the son of Wolfgang
Langewiesche. After a bit you get accustomed to people who know how
to use English, and at that point Lane Wallace and the others read
worse and worse.

"Jim" writes:

When was the last time that you read an honest article on
flight training in Flying other than full motion sim training for the latest
and greatest biz jet?

Every month, Richard Collins has a critique article, about 2 pages long,
on someone's flying habits.

Also, Collins recently had an article about personal minimums.

Actually, quite often, now that I think about it.

-jav

Bob Fry wrote:

That's why I started subscribing to the Atlantic. Not an aviation
mag, but very good writers, including the son of Wolfgang
Langewiesche.

with a heritage that includes such authors as Clemens. I just wish the articles
weren't so darn long.

George Patterson
This marriage is off to a shaky start. The groom just asked the band to
play "Your cheatin' heart", and the bride just requested "Don't come home
a'drinkin' with lovin' on your mind".

Thomas Borchert writes:

Javier,

My beef with aviation magazines in general is that every airplane and
product featured gets a positive review, no matter what. Flaws are
minimized, virtues are extolled to no end.


Try Aviation Consumer.

Yep, I subscribe. I should've mentioned them separately.

-jav

(Robert M. Gary) writes:

We really need another Len Morgan.

You said it. I really enjoyed reading his "Vectors" column, and the
occasional articles he wrote.

-jav

On 9 Apr 2004 06:24:08 -0700, (Dave) wrote:

Is it me, or has Flying become among the worst GA magazines to read?
Why does it seem that all I read about are trip reports from Mac and
Dick Collins that, personally, offer little educational value? Each
of these guys write serveral articles per issue. Are they that hard
up for good writers, or do these guys just like to write everything
themselves? When I open AOPA Pilot, Flight Training, Private Pilot,
Plane and Pilot, etc. I find a good balance of education, reviews, and
good tidbits. All I feel I've gained from reading Flying is knowing
every detail of what's in the Avionics stack of Mac's Barron and
Dick's Cessna P210.

Before I retired, I read Aviation Safety, Aviation Consumer, LIght
Plane Maintenance, NTSB Reporter, and the usual trade mags (AvWeek,
Flight International, IDR, Jane's Defense Weekly, Defense News, etc)
through the Dryden Research Library distribution, as well as having a
private subscription to Flying and Approach.

Now I only have subscriptions to Flying, NTSB Reporter, AvWeek, and
Approach and I miss Aviation Safety. I miss Flight International too,
but it's really expensive.

Mary

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer