Is AOPA Forgetting about the little guy?

James Blakely wrote:

Is it just me, or is it that AOPA is starting to ignore the Spam-can pilot?
I've been a member for about 5 years now and each year, the airplane they
give away becomes more impractical. They claim the Waco is worth $200k but
it is a day VFR only aircraft. How useful is that? Now, next year, they
are giving away a twin. What percentage of pilots have a ME ticket? How
many could get insurance?

It is not just the airplanes either. I used to think that the AOPApilot
magazine was one of the best. Now, almost half of it is dedicated to
turbine operations. I do not see a turbine in my future at all.

It really seems to me like AOPA is moving away from the weekend pilot and
moving toward the semi-professional pilot. It seems to me that they are
just supporting part 91 operations just because that is where most
professional pilots get their start.

So, what do you think?



I disagree. AOPA Pilot is like any enthusiast's magazine, it has a mix
of articles on things ranging from practical to dreamworld.

I also get Flying Magazine, and it's even MORE weighted toward turbine
and expensive planes. I like to see articles for SpamCan pilots like me
but I also like the variety too so I can see how the other half lives.

The magazine that is closer to the SpamCan journal you want is Private
Pilot, which while kind of cool has the lowest quality editing and
writing that I have ever seen.

There just aren't that many models of spam cans out there, you couldn't
sustain a magazine for long writing about nothing but flying Cessna
172s and Piper Warriors!

I also get Car and Driver, they run articles on normal cars all the way
up to supercars. They also get letters to the editor from people
griping that they should not review Ferarris since most readers can't
afford them.

Whatever.