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Perspectives
In Constant Pursuit Of Perfection
One of the things every pilot learns—and certainly re-learns if he or she takes the trouble to become instrument rated—is the importance of constantly cross-checking your instruments and yourself in all phases of flight.
Running a magazine is a lot like flying an airplane— both take work and a lot of money to get off the ground, and both require constant cross-checking to ensure that what you think you are doing is in fact what you are doing.
So last summer we ran our own cross-check; we conducted a survey of our readers to find out what we were doing right, what we were doing wrong, and what you wanted to see more of. Happily, we learned that we were generally on track with the mix of information we’ve been bringing you about places to go with your airplane and ways to make getting there safer and more fun.
Overwhelmingly, people said they enjoyed the family-friendly, up-beat coverage of general aviation travel destinations that are written for the whole family. Readers also enjoyed our feature stories on how to use the airplane as an integral part of your business and leisure travel.
We looked at this information and decided that some minor course adjustments were warranted. First, we’re introducing three new departments that will help you make the most of general aviation travel.
In our new Business Travel department, we’ll talk about issues that affect readers who fly for business. Topics in this section range from how to expense your air travel, to building a meeting schedule around the weather, or even what electronic tools will help you stay in touch while on the road. Our goal with this new department is to give the business traveler important tips on how to use a general aviation airplane to maximize business revenue.
In our new Leisure Travel department, we’ll explore ways to use your airplane to better enjoy life. Topics range from ways to keep children occupied on long flights to how to plan a trip with a non-aviation couple. In this issue, contributing editor Janice Rosenberg tackles the subject of using your airplane to commute between two homes.
And finally, our new Plane Talk department will focus on issues surrounding aircraft ownership. Your airplane is an important investment, and we’ll explore ways for you to get the most out of every dollar. This month, we tackle the issue of whether upgrading from a single-engine airplane to a twin will make you a more reliable, safer cross-country pilot, and what such an upgrade will mean to your wallet.
In addition to these new departments, we’ve doubled our popular resort feature, which we called Nest of the Month, to include two luxurious resorts in each issue. We’ve also changed the name to “Resort Spotlight,” to better reflect the locations we’re covering.
 Of course, we’ll continue to bring you the popular Waypoints, Calendar and Cool Stuff sections that were rated so highly by our readers, and we’ll continue to have in-depth feature stories of popular destinations and destination themes.
In this issue, we explore 12 top gaming destinations. In the months ahead, look for stories about popular general aviation golf destinations, spa destinations, culinary vacations and winery tours.
We’d also like to take a moment to look back at what we’ve accomplished in the last two years. We’ve been honored by the magazine industry with three prestigious Ozzie Awards for Excellence in Magazine Design, beating out much larger national publications with infinitely larger budgets. The Web Marketing Association has honored our Web site for providing great, useful information to aviators, and we appreciate those distinctions.
Perhaps most importantly, readers tell us that Aviator’s Guide is their favorite general aviation magazine, and that they love reading about exciting places the whole family can visit with their airplanes. So to keep things fun and exciting as we launch into our third year of publication, and to say thank you to those readers who have supported us all along, we’re running an exciting anniversary contest between now and Sun ‘n Fun in April.
The Grand Prize is a five-day/four-night stay at the luxurious Stella Maris Resort Club in the Bahamas. The Cool Prize is a pair of his and hers Clarity Aloft Aviation Headsets. Winners will be chosen at random and announced during Sun ‘n Fun. No purchase is necessary to enter. Just visit our web site at aviatorsguide.com/anniversary/ to sign up, and good luck!
Hopefully, you’ll agree that the course adjustments we’ve made will make Aviator’s Guide a better magazine. We hope it will help keep you excited about flying and about living this unique lifestyle that few people are privileged to live.
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