Thoughts on _Aviation Consumer_?

[Andrew Gideon]

What do people here think of Aviation Consumer? I was considering
subscribing to help me "keep up" in the product space. But some recent
articles lacked details which I view as significant, and that leads me to
question the periodical.

That's a very small data sample, though, so I'm eager to hear what others
think.

The details by the way, were:

1. In a discussion of the new "standby gyro" that Sporty is selling,
there was no mention that this product can tumple. Despite AC 91-75's
lack of mention of this, I view that as significant: If I'm going to
replace a TC with an AI, I'll want that AI to be at least as
tumble-resistent as a TC.

Either I'm wrong about the Sporty AI being able to tumple, or
the article missed this crucial point.

2. A review of the Sporty navcom didn't mention its size in comparison
to other products. That may seem silly and obvious, but not worthy
of mention?

Am I overreacting? Is this periodical worth the (nontrivial!) price?

- Andrew

[Bob Gardner]

I've written a couple of articles for AC and I know that the editors have to
work with what they get from the authors. In my experience, magazines do not
have huge staffs of writers who can be sent out to check facts...with the
exception of those articles attributed to "staff report," the impetus
usually comes from the writer..."I have 2000 words about the new Gadgetron
456, with pictures. Are you interested?" The response depends largely on how
familiar the editors are with the writers work, and the pay depends on the
number of pages.

A couple of things may come into play...maybe the author supplied the
details that you view as significant but the editor had to cut the story due
to space restrictions (BTDT, or had it done to me); maybe the editor did not
feel that the information was significant. Hard to tell.

I think it is a good magazine for an aircraft owner or prospective
purchaser, with objective advice.

Bob Gardner


Bob Gardner

"Andrew Gideon" > wrote in message
online.com...
>
> What do people here think of Aviation Consumer? I was considering
> subscribing to help me "keep up" in the product space. But some recent
> articles lacked details which I view as significant, and that leads me to
> question the periodical.
>
> That's a very small data sample, though, so I'm eager to hear what others
> think.
>
> The details by the way, were:
>
> 1. In a discussion of the new "standby gyro" that Sporty is selling,
> there was no mention that this product can tumple. Despite AC 91-75's
> lack of mention of this, I view that as significant: If I'm going to
> replace a TC with an AI, I'll want that AI to be at least as
> tumble-resistent as a TC.
>
> Either I'm wrong about the Sporty AI being able to tumple, or
> the article missed this crucial point.
>
> 2. A review of the Sporty navcom didn't mention its size in comparison
> to other products. That may seem silly and obvious, but not worthy
> of mention?
>
> Am I overreacting? Is this periodical worth the (nontrivial!) price?
>
> - Andrew
>

[Dan Luke]

"Andrew Gideon" wrote:

> What do people here think of Aviation Consumer?

I subscribe to A. C. and like it. The product reviews are much more hard
hitting than the timid puff pieces one finds in Pilot, Flying, Sport
Aviation, etc.

--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM

[Andrew Gideon]

Dan Luke wrote:

> I subscribe to A. C. and like it.Â*Â*TheÂ*productÂ*reviewsÂ*areÂ*muchÂ*moreÂ*har d
> hitting than the timid puff pieces one finds in Pilot, Flying, Sport
> Aviation, etc.

I expect that. I didn't, for example, experience much surprise that a
recent review in Pilot of the Sporty AI didn't mention tumbling. But my
expectation for the review in A.C. wasn't met, which leaves me questioning.

- Andrew

[Thomas Borchert]

Andrew,

Well, you know any alternatives that come even close? Flying and AOPA
Pilot are completely worthless with regard to product reviews - it's
almost always totally obvious which advertising client triggered which
article.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

[Andrew Gideon]

Thomas Borchert wrote:

> Andrew,
>
> Well, you know any alternatives that come even close?

No.

Well, I trust here (the rec.aviation groups in USENET) in the sense that a
biased posting typically generates responses. It's not always clear which
poster is being more biased than another, but at least all sides are
presented. And certain posters have enough of a reputation that I tend to
trust them over an "unknown".

As it happens, I did decide to subscribe to AC, at least for one cycle. But
I'm not sure it'll stick, as I'm already starting out with a fair amount of
mistrust. I can get product features anywhere. What I need in a review is
thoughtful consideration of the consequences of those features.

If important considerations are left out, then there's not all that much
value. But we'll see.

- Andrew

[Ron Natalie]

Andrew Gideon wrote:
> What do people here think of Aviation Consumer? I was considering
> subscribing to help me "keep up" in the product space. But some recent
> articles lacked details which I view as significant, and that leads me to
> question the periodical.
>
Subscribe to it for a while if you like. My problem is that after a
decade or so of subsribing to it, it was the same old stuff over and
over again. I let it lapse.

[Andrew Gideon]

Ron Natalie wrote:

> Subscribe to it for a while if you like.Â*Â*Â*MyÂ*problemÂ*isÂ*thatÂ*afterÂ*a
> decade or so of subsribing to it, it was the same old stuff over and
> over again.Â*Â*IÂ*letÂ*itÂ*lapse.

In fact, I don't really care about the paper periodical. A product review
periodical's paper is useful only if (1) you happen to be shopping for the
right product at the right time or (2) you archive it.

Of course, the archive must be easily searched lest it go unused. Stacks of
periodicals are pretty poorly searched (although year-end indices help a
lot!).

But a web site? Perfect!

So I really subscribed for access to the web site. "Same old stuff"
therefore isn't too likely to be an issue for me (as long as new
products/planes are reviewed as well, of course {8^).

- Andrew