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By: - 6th August 2005 at 19:35 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I will stick up for Todays Pilot as without it I dont think I would have even considered the thought of going for my PPL ( not that I am yet but I've taken a few flights with a view to when the money situation is better ). The 'other' mags were always very much a closed door you read them and they presumed you knew everything, not very inviting. Perhaps they are not the best read for pilots but it's the best for people thinking of taking flying up. Having said that it has been getting a bit weak lately as they ran out of things to do but as you say back on track know. Just my 5 pence worth.
By: - 8th August 2005 at 12:15 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I've always seen TP as being something of a comic even though the pictures are rather nicer than those of the competition.
TP is also a common abbreviation for Toilet Paper in the US, so Suzannah tells me.
By: - 8th August 2005 at 22:17 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I've read TP right from issue 1 and have always considered it a breath of fresh air compared to the competition. Most of its competitors are stuck in a rut so deep they can't see daylight. Before anyone criticises any of the Brit pilot's magazines I think they would do well to peruse the foreign equivalents, I'm sure that most will come to the same conclusion I have. Ours leave theirs standing for picture quality and all round value for money. I would say that ours rate about 8/10 whilst the foreign offerings average around 5. Before I am accused of being biased let me say in my defence that if it's about aviation I read it given the chance and my opinion is based on many years of comparrison.
By: - 8th August 2005 at 23:10 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I've always prefered TP to the other GA mags although I do buy Pilot now and again.
I also have a friend who writes for TP so that helps I suppose.
Neal
By: - 9th August 2005 at 00:01 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Ah, nothing like an unbiased opinion
By: - 9th August 2005 at 07:27 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Well, as a contributor to TP I'm always going to be accused of being biased. However as a non-pilot, I find TP far more accessible as a general read than the other magazines. I find the others either very dry or as previously said, a bit 'closed door' for the non-flyer. If GA wants to encourage people to take up flying, it's not going to happen if people can't understand a single article! TP addresses this well IMHO by having some articles geared towards those who fly and know what's going on (eg Density Altitude in this month's edition) and more general interest articles about real people who fly.
By: - 9th August 2005 at 08:38 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I also have a friend who writes for TP so that helps I suppose.Neal
Trinny has a friend who writes for one of the other magazines. ;)
Moggy
By: - 9th August 2005 at 10:46 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I do indeed, and a fine chap he is too, even if he does seem to go out of his way to ignore my fashion advice. At least I managed to talk him out of that silly habit of painting his neck black, Boy George-style.
On topic though, I must say, I am staggered that poor old Mike Currill finds "Brit" output better than that of say, the USA. "Flying" leaves all of our offerings in the dust IMHO. In fact, the US AOPA Magazine leaves ours in the dust.
It seems strangely countercultural that when it comes to Aviation Magazines, the average US reader seems to be prefer fewer photos and a greater quantity of better-written text.
By: - 9th August 2005 at 18:09 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Ah, nothing like an unbiased opinion
:p :D
I did start buying the mag before he started writing for them though.
Neal
By: - 9th August 2005 at 22:56 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
At least I managed to talk him out of that silly habit of painting his neck black, Boy George-style.
Your knowledge of what it is Boy George does, earns you no kudos here and does you little credit. :(
Moggy
By: - 10th August 2005 at 07:39 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I do indeed, and a fine chap he is too, even if he does seem to go out of his way to ignore my fashion advice. At least I managed to talk him out of that silly habit of painting his neck black, Boy George-style.Sorry Trinny but I find all the American mags are written in language that a well educated 12 year old should be able to improve upon. Their test reports are certainly not written with prospective buyers in mind or anyone else for that matter (unless it's for the pleasure of the manufacturer) I don't wish to pick fault all the time but I honestly don't see the point in writing a test report which leaves out information which is of importance to a prospective purchaser of said aircraft i.e the fact that the aircraft is marketed as a 4/5 seater when all you can realistically put on the back seat is two children or garden gnomes whichever is the lighter or else you'll be outside the CofG limits. I won't go into the full fuel/full pax/ full baggage scenario as we all know that every manufacturer is guilty of building aircraft where you can't have all three at the same time, I think the Proctor was probably one of the last aircraft where that was possible.On topic though, I must say, I am staggered that poor old Mike Currill finds "Brit" output better than that of say, the USA. "Flying" leaves all of our offerings in the dust IMHO. In fact, the US AOPA Magazine leaves ours in the dust.
It seems strangely countercultural that when it comes to Aviation Magazines, the average US reader seems to be prefer fewer photos and a greater quantity of better-written text.
The Americans are not alone in that failing, other countries are guilty of it too.
By: - 10th August 2005 at 08:59 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I'm afraid that we'll have to disagree over the quality of the writing. Too much in UK pilot magazines is written to attract "blokey blokes", Top Gear-style. Count those "Greasers", "Bumping the Dunlops" and other assorted bits of nonsense.
And as for Flight Tests, puhrleeez!!! (as thay say in America) You'd have to be a seriously retarded wanabee owner to base your buying decision on a magazine flight test, let along on the perception they create of MTOW, Useful Load and other such vital performance data.
Sadly, I can see why you seem so hung up on Flight Tests though. Once you remove those from the average UK mag, there isn't really much of any substance left. Not true for magazines like FLYING.
By: - 10th August 2005 at 10:29 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Maybe I'm the "ideal target reader" for TP magazine, I don't know. What I do know is that every month I'm excited about going through the articles, which I find both informative and interesting.
More than that, I find that reading the mag makes me want to fly even more. It could be true of any flying mag you might say but I seem to relate more to the experiences/flights/adventures and articles in TP.
I am also buying other mags now and then, both in French and English and I can see some aspects that are better in them but it truely depends on the niche of readers it targets. For instance, though I hope to be able to own an aeroplane one day, I don't necessary want very long+technicle articles with prices and detailed comparisons of every option available, which I find a bit dry in other publications. When the time (and money) comes, I may change my mind and start looking deeper at other papers.
I also love the adventures about people crossing several countries in all sorts of flying machine and each time, TP's make me want to do the same - and I will! TP never omits the human side of flying either. I like to read what other pilots are feeling towards their aircraft and when flying, as opposed to a very factual description. True, views are subjective then but it's closer to us.
The pictures are of very good quality. The glossy format is pleasant and I find it has the right "volume". The French mags seem a bit shorter but I may not have tried them all.
The sort of things that I did like in other mags is for instance a kind of "instructor's corner", that each month focuses on a particular aspect of the flying syllabus. TP has some but not always. As a lowish hour PPL (130h PIC), who flies a couple of times of month, I like to be reminded of things we all tend to forget after a while, flying the same way from the same places.
It would also be very useful to have a page now and then to show in which issue such and such aircraft has been reviewed and such and such places has been focused on: I had to go through the exercise several times and it can be long.
I have also seen in other publications more detailed drawings of circuit patterns/noise-sensitive zones in "going places" type of articles, Which I find TP is lacking sometime, preferring a more textual description.
Anyway, sorry for going on about my views but as a very pleased reader, I felt I had to say it and why. So keep up the good work, your mag definitely flies very well!!
Cheers,
Steph
PS: I'm not close to any contributor
By: - 10th August 2005 at 13:46 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Don't you find that there are some articles in each of the magazines that you like and plenty that you don’t?
Don't you find that you get stuck reading the same magazine each month and do not even trying the others? They may have improved since you last read them.
From time to time I make myself buy one of the magazines I avoid and I am always pleasantly surprised.
Sure, no one magazine is going to keep you interested all the way through. So let’s have a bit of a survey. Let's create our Fantasy Flying Magazine. Name a magazine and the particular articles that you have enjoyed.
I'll start with Pilot's 'I Learned About Flying From That'.
(Not necessarily my favourite item - just a good place to start).
By: - 10th August 2005 at 14:56 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I bought (and still buy) TP from Issue No. 1, as it looked a bit more user friendly to a novice such as I am. I have been disappointed recently and did think about swapping allegiance to Pilot, but the last couple of issues of TP have made me hesitate. I will reserve judgement for a while and see how things progress.
As far as articles are concerned, since I was small, I have already enjoyed reading Flight Tests on the grounds that I have always wanted to fly and this at least gave me an idea of what it was like. Years ago, always used to love the fantastic cutaways in Flight etc by Frank Munger (?), although I don't read it now.
By: - 10th August 2005 at 20:25 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Funnily enough I have some leftover recent cutaways from Flight ;)
Janie, I see your ILAFFT and raise the recent articles by Miles McCallum in FLYER that are very well written, informative and entertaining.
By: - 11th August 2005 at 07:28 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I'm afraid that we'll have to disagree over the quality of the writing. Too much in UK pilot magazines is written to attract "blokey blokes", Top Gear-style. Count those "Greasers", "Bumping the Dunlops" and other assorted bits of nonsense.Aha, on that I can agree with you. Unless Flying has improved recently it used to be long on ''there I was' type stories where the author was too full of how well they got out of a sticky situation which a little bit of good airmanship would have prevented in the first place.(unfortunately they don't admit this, mind you I've never known Americans to admit they're wrong about anything)And as for Flight Tests, puhrleeez!!! (as thay say in America) You'd have to be a seriously retarded wanabee owner to base your buying decision on a magazine flight test, let along on the perception they create of MTOW, Useful Load and other such vital performance data.
Sadly, I can see why you seem so hung up on Flight Tests though. Once you remove those from the average UK mag, there isn't really much of any substance left. Not true for magazines like FLYING.
Posts: 2,606
By: BlueRobin - 5th August 2005 at 16:27
I picked up a copy of TP last and this month. Wow! What a change. Since day 1 (imo) it's never been that up-to-scratch. So what's different? Same format yes but the variety is much improved and this is the key. This means your £3.60 odd doesn't take 5 minutes to read now. Take this month for example: 3 aeroplane features, two somewhat interesting foreign flying articles and two on famous flying celebs. It's those articles wot flesh it innit?
Now if only Mr Unwin could learn the error of his errant ways when reviewing! :p I think that critical independent editorial eye is missing before his flight tests are published. This Robin is always willing to help on the latter if asked. :cool:
Don't take this as a slap in the face. Please continue to strive along this improving route. Other benefits? Perhaps you could then increase those display and counter sales significantly? You never know!