RAAus magazine

[Headwind]

While it seems RAAus is a popular thing to kick at the moment, may I ask if I’m the only one who is utterly sick of PC, social engineering, whatever you want to call it, within organisations such as RAAus, and of late their magazine. Australian Sport Pilot was once a reasonable read, but yesterday I opened the latest edition to find another article (the first was in the previous mag) claiming to be written by a not-yet teenage girl. In this day and age of so-called influencers, it’s pretty obvious what is going on: little girls mummy wants daughter to be famous (mummy wants to be famous too but will use child to achieve this), little girl is primped and preened, and camera is always ready to take a picture, mummy writes articles for little girl, little girl wants to be a pilot and drive expensive cars, but gosh so many choices. Mummy fools the RAAus team into thinking that the ‘articles’ are suitable for the magazine, and a star is born. 
Yeah, I get it that RAAus is trying to broaden its membership but this is ludicrous. It may be suitable for Dolly magazine, but if RAAus wants to be taken seriously they need to kick this crap down the road; they are being taken for a ride by little girls mummy. 

[jackc]

They have lost their way, they advertise the latest plastic fantastic aircraft, they want to be GA and have forgotten where thy came from🤩

See pic,  and they  probably would like to see aircraft pictured, in a museum…..

[FlyingVizsla]

You're confusing the RAAus team with the Publishers and Editors of the Sport Pilot magazine.  The RAAus team contribute regular articles with their names on.  The rest of the content is provided by the Editors.  They have Travel magazines in their stable, so I suspect some articles are re-purposed with a little "aviation" tweaking.  They do some easy to assemble articles like Aviation Pioneers, Media releases, aircraft manufacturer's blurb.  They take whatever articles people send them. 

 

I guess a photogenic young girl & her instructor are glossy magazine fodder, but to give her her due, she is studying aviation at school through a Qantas sponsored program, and has been in several States to get to this point.  Nice to have the money to do that ....

[spacesailor]

" Civil Aviation Safety  Aurthority " .

The safe aircraft are not  flying .

Has Any museum aircraft crashed lately. 

spacesailor

[skippydiesel]

"You're confusing the RAAus team with the Publishers and Editors of the Sport Pilot magazine." 

 

This winger has no confusion - SP  is supposed to represent Recreational Aviation Australia (RAA) AND MEMBERSHIP.

 

I haven't been around long enough to know if it ever represented the opinions/concerns/interest of the members. What I do know is its sunk, from a mediocre publication,  to an unbelievably low standard, since the last editor .

 

With the exception of most of the RAA staff submissions and the very occasional little gem, it has become just a trash magazine.

 

If I didnt get it as part of my membership (a sore point - rather pay less ) I certainly would not buy it.😈

[jackc]

But it nice and shiny, with lovely glossy pages produced at great cost 🤢 The membership pays?

[turboplanner]

59 minutes ago, jackc said:

But it nice and shiny, with lovely glossy pages produced at great cost 🤢 The membership pays?

They do.

There was a long and bitter fight over it and the old geysers won because they said they couldn't read off screens.

[kgwilson]

I've read nothing of the new Mag I received today but a glance through indicates very little of interest. The Dolly girl had 2 articles in last quarters Mag both with very staged pics & articles that appeared well beyond her age & the same in this one & I agree with Headwind. There is little of interest to real aviators. The mag has become a travelogue. What happened to builder logs and technical info.

 

What would be of interest would be an article on the scandal regarding RAA being referred to the Vic DPP over the lies & cover up that saw the demise of Jill Bailey & Matt Boutell.

Edited March 12 by kgwilson

[facthunter]

There's a place for that elsewhere on the forum and since it MAY be subject to a Court Process there's not a lot that the Magazine could write about it.. Have we all prejudged RAAus & Jill Bailey.? That's for you to consider, not debate here as there's such a thing as presumption of  Innocence until PROVEN Guilty. EVERYONE should be entitled to it. Nev

[spacesailor]

  " Innocent untill proven guilty " .

Not in Australia  !.

In all taxation matters ' you Are guilty,  untill you prove your Innocence ' .

spacesailor

Edited March 12 by spacesailor
Spelling twice

[Moneybox]

Everybody is invited to put forward stories that they feel may be of interest to others. It's ok to sit back and have a grumble about the magazines content but how many aviators put pen to paper for the rest of us to read? If you have a story that is worthy of publication get it out there and then the rest of us might enjoy flicking through the SP magazine.

[turboplanner]

41 minutes ago, Moneybox said:

Everybody is invited to put forward stories that they feel may be of interest to others. It's ok to sit back and have a grumble about the magazines content but how many aviators put pen to paper for the rest of us to read? If you have a story that is worthy of publication get it out there and then the rest of us might enjoy flicking through the SP magazine.

Most sports have the same problem, it's always someone else's job to write the stories.

Same problem with finding people to attend shows, get things done  etc. They always have an excuse, "I have a wedding on that day" is the favourite. I was asking one guy and he didn't think before he answered "I'm gonna be sick that day".

[skippydiesel]

There is no comparison between an amature/club magazine produced by the mebers and one that employs, supposedly, skilled people (journalists?)to deliver a professional publication (SP?).😈

[Moneybox]

32 minutes ago, skippydiesel said:

There is no comparison between an amature/club magazine produced by the mebers and one that employs, supposedly, skilled people (journalists?)to deliver a professional publication (SP?).😈

 

It depends on what you want to read. If you want articles of interest to aviators then perhaps you'd get the most interesting written by aviators and where are you going to find those?

[turboplanner]

1 hour ago, skippydiesel said:

There is no comparison between an amature/club magazine produced by the mebers and one that employs, supposedly, skilled people (journalists?)to deliver a professional publication (SP?).😈

No, there's not, so as a member of a limited volume group, what would you be expecting?

[facthunter]

The Printed version is a significant cost item that has to be Borne by members or have some other way of offsetting the cost and that is what you have now.  Nev

[skippydiesel]

11 minutes ago, Moneybox said:

 

It depends on what you want to read. If you want articles of interest to aviators then perhaps you'd get the most interesting written by aviators and where are you going to find those?

True! Up to a limited point.  In the (unlikly) event of a slew of pilot articles being submitted, additional staff may have to be employed to;

• Read & evaluate each submission
• Fact check all claims
• Possibly reframe/precis 

Of interest to me would be articles on; 

• Independent test flight of aircraft with full review of actual performance, rather than the marketing/sales drivel we usually get. Included would be price range (delivered to AU)  from basic registerable aircraft  to top of the line fit out. This would require pilot/journalist to be properly compensated for their time & costs - unlikly scenario. You get what you pay for & we have Mr Heath.
• Flight control surface set up & effects
• Engine management maintenance/cooling/etc
• Obtaining best  trip fuel economy

 

😈

 

[facthunter]

Members won't want a fee rise and whatever they do they will have some criticism of.  "Keeping a Group of Pilots HAPPY" is a definition of the Impossible. Nev

[spacesailor]

There it is ! .

Lots of articles on this " RecreationakFlying  " forum .

can't we lend them a few , like ' aviation jokes & silly picture ' .

Science & technology.  Wouldn't go amiss either. 

( SILLY THOUGHT ).

spacesailor

[FlyingVizsla]

I've been with AUF/RAAus for decades, and have the magazines.  Originally it was a typed, roneoed sheet, then a monthly magazine put together by volunteers, mainly to inform members of AUF business, aircraft etc.  After criticisms they employed various people / companies to produce the magazine in a more "professional" way.  Didn't always work - in theory the AUF Board members were to read it before publication.  Some monumental blunders got through. 

 

Eventually they had a very good editor who was an enthusiast who travelled and ferretted out stories.  He died in a car crash.  RAAus searched for a new publisher.  Now it isn't an editor dedicated to the one magazine, it is a company for whom this is just one of several magazines.  The editor had some flying experience from years ago and the son started learning when they got the contract.

 

The magazine is a big cost.  I would have to check my old records, but just consider, back in the day, if it cost $5 to print, $2 to post for 10,000 members = $70,000 per edition, plus whatever the publisher is paid.  When 98% of the membership were on email, they tried a digital edition, but members said they preferred a printed copy.  A subscription was introduced and the numbers didn't translate into enough to make it viable.  

 

RAAus does not need a magazine any more.  They changed the requirement for election statements to be in a printed form and distributed to all members and voting is now electronic.  They have regular broadcasts by email.  The 2024 Financial Statement does not specify the magazine costs (its contained in Postage, Printing, Suppliers) but a half a million would be my guess.

[Freizeitpilot]

It may break even….or even turn a profit from advertising ? - I don’t know .You’d need to dig deep into the financials to figure that out.

 

Member engagement and nurturing a ‘community’ is key.  A membership magazine may be a very small part of that, but given the diversity of interests and opinions across recreational aviation, it would be challenging to hit the centreline every time.

 

I’m not too fussed about the magazine for or against. I do note the editor does write a lot of the articles though, which suggests that member contributed articles are practically zero, which is a pity.  I read Flying Australia as well, and used to read Australian Pilot when it was a print version in newsagents. Some articles in all these magazines were interesting to me, others I’d skip over. Someone said, if you can please some of the people, some of the time, you’re doing ok.  Ultimately, to make the magazine feel more genuine to the membership, more grass roots member articles would help……but who is going to volunteer to write them ?

I’m just a passive member that just likes flying and I don’t get too worked up about all the ‘baggage’ that goes with it. Maybe some day I’ll fly somewhere unique and particularly interesting and I’ll be motivated to dip my quill into the ink.

[onetrack]

Printing magazines is a recipe to lose vast amounts of money in todays digital age - especially when you're catering to a membership that is looking for cheap flying costs, and low-cost membership fees.

Add in a relatively low number of the members actually keenly interested in a magazine (as well as low total market numbers) and I'm surprised that RA-Aus would still produce a magazine.

Magazines are part entertainment and part informative, and they require a serious level of contributor and editing input. The magazine market is still saturated, and there's vastly less magazines now, than before the pandemic.

[rodgerc]

I enjoy and diligently read both Sport Pilot and its counterpart, AirSport from cover to cover.
 

As a suggestion….before you condemn Sport Pilot, avail yourself of the latest edition of both mags and have a read, then decide which standard of production you prefer. 

[spacesailor]

Impossible for none RaA people. 

It's no longer available in shops ! .i

Hence the outcry against digital magazines,  (  not a member  for any reason ) I had my local post office save a copy , untill they ended it .

spacesailor

 

PS. : read bother sport pilot & Airsport .

 

 

Edited March 15 by spacesailor
PS added

[FlyingVizsla]

I read - Kitplanes, EAA's Sport Pilot, RAAus Sport Pilot, Airnews (Aust Women Pilots Assoc) - in Print.  Read a number of other publications in digital - Kitplanes, EAA's Sport Pilot & EAA webinars.  Like their Engine & Kit Buyer's guides too.