Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Yesterday I was at a magazine retailer and I took a look at the latest (January 2018) issue of Aeroplane. I have browsed a few issues from the last year and the feeling I had back was not abated by the latest issue: once a great magazine has become pretty useless trash. The same applies to the other "major" British avmag FlyPast. Aeroplane used to be great until late 1990s. Article series like Per Mare Probare, Probe Probare, On Silver Wings and Limited Editions were excellent examples of high-quality writing based on primary research.

Back then text was the mainstay of articles with illustrations to support the text. Today both above mentioned mags are filled with eye candy of limited informational value and the text seems to be mishmash of secondary quality and originality. Far too much space is wasted on warbirds and museum aircraft.

Yet, one does not need even to cross the Channel to see two examples of how it could be done. After the Battle magazine is one example, Cross and Cockade the other.

Then one may ask that why can't British publishers achieve the quality of French Batailles aeriennes or Avions? Do French readers have longer attention spans than British?

As a final note, I should mention the potentially promising British The Aviation Historian. I say potentially because the editorial policy so far has been so-and-so with totally uninteresting stuff like remembrances of some air stewardess or a piece on Hugh Hefner's aircraft. Sheesh! And even they have succumbed to the cancer of designing layout from the point of colourful eye candy instead informational value.

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Gotta agree with the above. Haven't bothered buying either for ages.

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

The problem is getting people to put pen to paper, writing something that is of interesting/well written and more importantly writing something new or unique. I was told by one editor they publish an article on one aircraft type one month and then are inundated with articles on the same type/subject-it will be at least 3 years before that subject is covered again. This annoys and puts off writers who should know this. Yes there are quite a number of magazines fishing in the same pond and it is embarrassing when, for example, two from the same stable have articles about the same aircraft the same month but readership tends to be different for said magazines. As to After the Battle and Cross & Cockade, these are one offs and quite specialist. However, I have forwarded this as a link to the editors of Flypast, The Aviation Historian, Aviation News, Britain at War, After the Battle and the Key Publishing Group Manager........

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Thanks also to Belgian authors (Roba, Mombeek, Taghon, Saintes, etc.)

ClinA-78

PS : also this year Clinaz too :D

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

The problem is not solely limited to contents, the problem is also one of design. Both Aeroplane and FlyPast are designed like some pop music rags for teeners with their ragged-right design looking like a mixture of vomit and diarrhoea (I occasionally read two Finnish rock/metal music magazines and even they are far less eye candish than Aeroplane or Flypast or the British classical music magazine Gramophone suggesting that there is perhaps syphilis at work in British publishing industry). A side-by-side comparison of those two to either After the Battle or Batailles Aeriennes (or Air Enthusiast or Aeroplane Monthly in their prime) is shocking. Air Enthusiast articles, on average, devoted 70 - 80 % of space to textual information, the rest to illustrations. Today's Aeroplane (and FlyPast and too often the The Aviation Historian as well) has the proportions reversed suggesting that the English avmag readers have regressed back into to the caveman age.

Another issue is the length of articles. 2 - 4 pages seem to be the norm for FlyPast and Aeroplane. For comparison, Shlomo Aloni's article on Israeli Mossies in AE 83 runs for 22 pages.

Why not simply publish an English edition of Batailles Aeriennes?

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

I agree completely with everything said. I stopped buying aviation magazines after the wonderful "RAF Flying" went to the wall (changed format) in the 60's.
I went on to buy books instead. "Bomber Pilot", "Pathfinder Cranswick", "No Moon Tonight", "Enemy Coast Ahead", "The Dam Busters", "The Ship Busters", "Ploesti", "The 1000 Plan", and more, all available in paperback in old second-hand bookshops..
Happy Days....

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

1) The main reason why books and magazines 'ain't what they used to be' is mainly due to the internet - and forums such as these! In the pre-digital age, forum posts and information would be submitted to magazines as either letters or articles. This has dropped off dramatically.

2) The lack of this revenue means publishers' budgets are far smaller, so they can afford fewer staff, new articles and photos - and they pay the journalists far less, meaning there is less incentive to put pen to paper.

3) Perhaps most concerning - and it's something few people seem to have noticed or mentioned - the public interest in WW2 has dwindled massively in the last 10 years or so.

This, I think, is due to several reasons, from veterans and the post-war generation of readers dying out, to younger generations having no connection to WW2 and so are just not interested in it - or, more worryingly, history itself. The digital age encourages the younger generation to look forward, not back into history.

If you doubt what I say, look at how few WW2 documentaries there are on TV nowadays compared to a decade ago: it even used to be staple diet for the cable history channels - it isn't now. Also, look at the UK's main military history publisher: they used to publish overwhelmingly WW1 and WW2: look at their website now and many of their books are now about buses, murders, trains, politics and local history.

Perhaps our subject has been 'done to death'?

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Definitely agree with Jukka, I'm sorry to say - but anyone somewhat fluent in the german language has a couple of useful alternatives - at least compared with Aeroplane and FlyPast (magazines I stopped subscribing to a couple of years back - due to the reasons mentioned...).

Outstanding is the "FliegerRevue X" with long and deep probing articles by good authors about everything aeronautical, and not only german themes. Comes every second month which perhaps is one of the reasons they can serve us such high quality!

"Jet&Prop" also comes every second month, "Flugzeug Classic" and "Klassiker der Luftfart" monthly. All three still very readable with of course lots of Luftwaffe-related articles. Over the last couple of years all three are moving slightly in the glossy direction - but IMV a far cry from being unreadable...

Hans K

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Bombhoon:

1. No doubt over the fact that the internet has affected affairs. However, I think it is wrong to blame the net for the decline of the mags I mention. After all, the decline of especially Aeroplane Monthly began in late 1990s, i.e. at a time when the net was not nearly as "all-encompassing".

2. The question of authorship for the purpose of living. It is my opinion that like many other quite specialist fields aviation history's greatest authors are those whose main income does not come from publishing. For example, the late D. K. Brown was a great naval author who was a naval architect by profession.

3. Is the situation in the U.K. so massively different from Finland? Here great many historians whine that military history rates so high in history book sales compared to e.g. topics like "Lesbian transgenders in the 17th century Finnish society".

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Bombhoon: As for doing "our subject" to death, when has either FlyPast or Aeroplane published a technically-minded article (vs. combat chronicling) on a major German aircraft based on latest archival research? I mean material not based on rehashing William Green/Alfred Price et al. Or French aircraft? Japanese? Italian? Russian?

Another massive gap is aviation in the 1920s.

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Only for the Chris Goss articles I doubt that I would still be a FlyPast reader.I am old enough to remember the old FLYPast It was an aviation historians' MAGAZINE then.
Tony K

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

A few suggestions if I may, with a desire to help. I work for a company that produces fiction books.


1) Postal rates from the US to Europe skyrocketed some years ago due to the fact that "Surface Mail" was eliminated as an option. When it was available, we could send pounds of books to Australia, and they might take a month or two to arrive, but it was inexpensive. Now, the only options are First Class Mail International (4 pound weight limit, and not cheap), or Priority Mail International.

We lost the bulk of our foreign customers.

2) The emergence of pirate sites on the internet. It's disheartening to see your books available for free download. But free is the price anyone can pay.

3) I think Luftwaffe im Focus is the best example of putting the English and German together so both readers can be satisfied. Perhaps the French could try it, or, failing that, contract with a publisher in the UK or United States to produce an official English language edition. Some other, non-book related, but hobby game related publishers, have opened offices in the US.

4) Yes, the internet has its pros and cons. But some web sites have such odd or nondescript names that if I didn't stumble across them then they might as well not exist. Example: spikeybits. Anyone? Any clue there? No. Oh yes, the specialist would find out - eventually.

5) Promotion. Why aren't books promoted here more? Perhaps because 12 O'Clock High might be mistaken for a movie title? Again, website names that say Luftwaffe Research Group tell me more. The other problem being some other websites are filled with unpleasant folk who have a lot of anger. Not for me.

6) Let's have a list of Facebook pages.

7) It seems everyone in the US will get chronic neck problems because their heads are constantly bent down, scanning their smart phones. Websites need to be designed to be device friendly. Pages here will not look right on a smart phone and take "too long" to load. The waiting period desired is around 8 seconds.

8) New customers are needed, whether hobbyists/builders, casual readers or dedicated researchers. Excitement and fun, and even a bit of simplicity, at first, draws people in. I originally had a lot of trouble reading the abbreviations here, but took the time to figure them out.

9) Brick and mortar stores are still out there. If a company cannot afford advertising, perhaps they can get permission to put a short run of color fliers on the counters of some stores. Good art, short, exciting text, and let people know.

10) The book and other print media have lost their minds. Buy this dedicated reader as opposed to the actual printed material in my shop. Bad, very bad idea. Just close your doors and sell the readers online I say. Save yourself the trouble of complaining about declining sales in your stores.

In the US, independent bookstores are doing quite well because they take the time. The time to ask the customer what he wants. Not just sitting there, waiting for a sale.

11) The vultures. Here's a new, beautifully produced book by a respected author. A chunk of the press run is then purchased in bulk, and before you know it, a 30 to 50 dollar book is going for 100 to 300 dollars online. And why would anyone sell it for less if they thought they could sell them?

One book I own was originally priced at $30 but went up to $300. Then, after a time, went down back to between 30 and 60 dollars.

Getting the word out is very important. Some imagination and research is in order. The internet and even shops can help. For those already buying books like those mentioned here, a few questions, or a poll, could be asked:

A) What subject or unit or person would you like to see covered in detail or more detail?

B) What's your price limit? I have only a few books in my library around the $100 range.

C) How do you find out about new book releases?



Hope this helps,
Ed

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

'Aeroplane' and 'Flypast' are owned by Key Publishing. They also own just about every other UK aviation magazine - 'Aviation News', 'Combat Aircraft', 'Air Forces Monthly', 'Jets' (now incorporated into AN) and 'Air International'. All of these mags have now subsequently lost their 'unique' identity. Even 'Britain at War' (another Key title) looks like Flypast.

Stephen Bridgewater, editor of 'Jets' in 2015 said to me back then ;

" ..Key purchased us last September. Personally I think it's a great thing. It was like going home for me as I worked on their 'Today's Pilot from 2000 to 2007. They're the market leaders and have the money to invest in the magazines, that other publishers do not. There's no cross over between Jets and other titles. I've only seen good progress so far..."

That was obviously before Key wound his title up in 2016! The idea that far from condemning certain titles to oblivion, Key was actually rescuing them I thought was a nonsense at the time. Evidently though Kelsey ('Aeroplane Monthly', 'Jets') and Ian Allan ('Classic Aircraft') sold out to Key since those particular titles were not making any money. Editorial content is now shared out of the same pool of contributors and any one article could easily appear in any other of the magazines. Chris Goss must have written for all of them by now. I really don't understand what Key's approach is here. They've wiped out the competition but now they have a roster of magazines that no-one will buy (in comparative terms..) - the 'average' enthusiast is only going to buy two or three magazines per month at most. So they play it safe - the UK magazine scene desperately lacks the more interesting and 'off-the-wall' subjects that you would see in, say, the French magazines; 'Avions', 'Le Fana de l'Aviation', 'Airfan', even 'Aerojournal' - four quality, independent (from each other), bi-monthly (for the most part) mags

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Perhaps we readers of a certain age group and knowledge base, are no longer the target demographic for some of these aviation magazines. Is it possible that to target the older - and possibly more aviationally "educated" - enthusiast requires a magazine of greater depth of article? Then what of the up-and-coming newby to the scene - who may want a "lighter" introduction to the genre? Magazines need to make money to justify their existance. They would have to snag a younger market to obtain new blood so to speak. If the general sense of historic aviation awareness is lessened - in favour of the newer high-tech jets and models of sci-fi spacecraft - don't magazines need to change to grab a share of the expanding market? The cost to their subscriptions is likely to be the loss of one aging end of the market versus the potential gain of a newer, younger market.

I too, lament the passing of the older AIR International/ Enthusiast style of articles circa 1980s and 1990s. It was the style of introduction that I wanted to the historic aviation genre (with a dash of new jets and glamour).
...geoff

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, I used to purchase regularly two aviation magazines: Avions and AIR Enthusiast. Those were the publications I found the most informative and in-depth as aviation history regards. Those were THE reference in this field, at least for me. I also managed to publish a couple of detailed studies in both journals.

With the sad termination of AIR Enthusiast, I sense a gap for a reference publication - be it bi-monthly, or even quarterly - in the internationally accessible English language. Publishers should be aware of this existing gap, which could be filled in with a bit of investment. I believe such a publication would self-sustain financially. I would certainly contribute with detailed and well illustrated studies from my field of research, and I am sure others would do just the same. Only a suitable 'vehicle' is currently missing.

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Thanks Tony! You do me an injustice!

I am asked (I do not write and then offer) to write for Flypast, AN, Air Mail, The Aviation Historian, Britain at War. I also am asked to write for 4 French magazines. All I will say is I am lucky/blessed that I have material that apparently appeals to the interested masses not just the specialists per se. I try my best!

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Ok, in previous messages, peoples examined the situation about the quality of aviation magazine, their declining, etc but what happens with authors? I'm agree with most of previous written about aviation magazine, but I have a sense that it is not so interesting for me as in past tense, maybe because I'm older? Why today has no interesting aviation articles (or not so much) as in 70's, 80's or 90's?

kind regards

Newcomer:D

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

I completely agree with Denes. As I previously wrote, The Aviation Historian could be it if its editorial policy was changed. As of now, there are too many useless articles like the one on an air stewardess or or the one on some Iranian aerobatic team in the jet era. For me the maximum amount of editorial space devoted to post-1945 stuff should not be more than 15 % and of that only a minor share of that should be wasted on airliners, esp. jet airliners.

However, the best option would be a new querterly or bimonthly (quarterly being perhaps the most feasible) magazine that would be strictly limited to pre-1946 aviation history. Articles should be on average at least 70 % text and the illustrations should be selected primarily for their informational value, not eye candy. Technical articles having substantial number of detail technical drawings could devote a greater share to illustrations. The page count should be at least 80 per issue.

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

What do you find interesting? You didn’t say.

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Simply, my impression about a most of today aviation articles are looks like read somewhere before. Sometimes it is boring. Maybe I'm wrong but that's my personal impression. From the articles of 70's, 80's and 90's I formed a core of my opinion, most of my knowledge about aviation. Today? Avions and sometimes (but only sometimes) Flypast, and what else? Profile publications in 60's and first half of 70's gave the first impression about most of main types of combat aircraft, from WWI to WWII and then modern planes. Today, Flypast has the color photo of the plane in flight in the same angle on the front page. It is boring. If You ask me what types of aircraft was in the front page on the last two or three Flypast magazine I can't remember now. The same thing occured in the articles. It was uniformed, wrote in the same way. Of course, exceptions always existing, but it is only exceptions. If Flypast or Key publishing aviation magazines put the article about one type of aircraft, the author often ommited some of their foreign users. I'm repeated, maybe I'm wrong, I'm too old, but the aviation magazines in the past were much colorful and more interesting than today despite their technical imperfections.

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Nothing you have said is offers much guidance to a writer or editor. Are there specific subjects you would like to see an article about?

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

You weren't asking me directly Nick, but let me attempt an answer from my perspective.

The attraction of the 1980-90s AIR International magazine format, for me, was the balance of 10-page articles on modern jets (Mirage 2000, SAAB Viggen, MiG-23, etc), early post-war era (F-86 Sabre, MiG-15, Hawker Hunter, etc), WW2 historic (dH Mosquito, P-51, Boulton Paul Defiant, etc) and occasionally WW1/Between-Wars aircraft. For the aircraft with greater volume of data/details, these articles would appear over a number of issues. The sister publication AIR Enthusiast, was the avenue for the strictly historical aviation articles - e.g. USAAF use of Spitfires, Franco-Thai Air War, F-84s over Korea, expanded Fiat Cr42 article.

AIR Int. was also inbibed with modelling profiles and kit reviews, personal views of aviation (e.g. interviews/articles on test pilots, industry characters - Roy Braybrook, etc).

I don't know of any current English-language magazine that has that balance. AIR Int. doesn't do a great deal of historical articles anymore (well not in the few copies that I have purchased from the newstand in recent years), and AIR Enth. ceased after copy #131. The closest in format would be the new French Aero Journal or Avions. Alas my poor French language skills does not make a subscription from the other end of the planet, a practical option.

If I was to be asked for a sample of my personal preference, it would be for more 10-page articles on the following (or longer articles split over 2 issues):
B-58 Hustler, Su-27/30, Mirage III, Grumman Tiger, SAAB 32, Lavochkin 15, Avro Lincoln, CAC Ca-15, Dornier 26, Kawanishi H8K Emily flying boat, Hawker Fury/Demon/Hart/Nimrod (biplane).
Mixed with operational histories:
Air War over the Atlantic (Fw200, Ar196, Bv138, etc), Allison-engine Mustangs over Burma, USAAF WW2 use of remote control guided bombs, Ha-1112 Buchons in action.
Up to date news and aircraft development:
Syria, Iraq, F-35 JSF, JJ-20 "Chinese Stealth", etc
Occasional articles:
Model kit review, how to build vacform, random profiles - Fw190 in RAF, USAAF, French service, etc.
Science & tech:
Aircraft strength (why does the Fw200 snap in half so often), Engine performance versus drag (why did the radial-engine Ki-100 out perform the in-line engine Ki-61).
I'd be happy with quarterly or bi-monthly.

...geoff

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

I'm agree with bearoutwest. I wish to see more historical articles about older aviation from WWI and WWII, maybe Korea, with insight in achive of both side. Not only the text about flying oldtimer! Also, I wish to see much interest for foreign air forces like older authors show.

kind regards

Newcomer

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Thanks Jukka to tell to the community that Batailles Aériennes and Avions (French) are above the average.

Lela-Presse does a very good work and published also solid and master books.

http://www.aircraft-navalship.com/

For the French aeronautic literature you can also add Le Trait d'Union

http://www.bfab-tu.fr/

Bertrand

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Thanks for that, Geoff. I just thought that since Chris had drawn some editors' attention to the thread then it would be good if forum members flagged up specific topics that they would like to see covered in magazines. There's just a chance that someone out there will take notice and commission some articles.

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

Nick, the first problem with the articles as in current Aeroplane/Flypast is that they are awfully short and superficial. You may at first say that hey, it is 6 or even 8 pages (only rarely), but if of those 8 pages only 2 are text, there is simply no possibility for any comprehensivess. The Finnish aviation historical quarterly Suomen ilmailuhistoriallinen lehti has only 24 pages per issue, yet its articles are on average longer.

As for topics I would like to be covered:

1. Latest research of German WW2 aircraft. However, this seems to be today conducted mainly by French, German and other non-Anglo-American authors (like Denes Bernad) and it seems to be a rad flag to the editors of British mags.

2. WW1 aircraft in the spirit of Peter M. Grosz and J. M. Bruce.

3. Aircraft and aviation on the 1920s and 1930s. Again a vast gap in what is available.

4. Imperial Japanese aircraft and aviation, preferable ffrom authors who speak fluent Japanese.

5. Technical articles on aircraft and aircraft manufacturing up to 1945. E.g. an in-depth article series on the development of the DB 605 (and I do not mean any stuff about Black 6 or other warbirds).

Re: Declining quality of British aviation magazines
 

One more thing: Publishers should really think who they "target". When I was 15, I fancied these eye candy publications about modern jets (partially for not knowing English then) and what I prefer today at 44 would have been most unappealing back then. Today, I wouldn't even touch most of that eye candy anymore. Yet, today, I spent much more money on books than back then. In other words, should aviation publishers target youngsters who have no real long-term commitment to the subject or those who are willing to spend money for years and years.