Issue 26: March/May 1985

Regular readers will have noticed many changes in the past eighteen months. The magazine has grown appreciably bigger, more colour pages have been added along with a stronger laminated cover and a number of new features have been initiated. Still, there has been one major problem these past few years that simply won’t go away and that is an acute lack of space.

Readers would be truly surprised to learn of the great number of excellent features we have on the back burner due to lack of space. It originally was this exact problem that led us to go from an annual to a quarterly back in 1979.

This is because over the years we have developed a core of excellent aviation writers, a resource that largely did not exist a decade ago. I personally like to think that this is probably the most useful thing the magazine has done for the industry these past seven years. Without enthusiastic and knowledgeable writers covering the industry, you risk a situation where aerospace slowly fades away in terms of journalistic capability. An industry that does not possess a cadre of experienced specialist writers ceases to be an industry in the public’s eye, and that’s vital if that industry is to have a voice in an ever-competitive world.

The trouble is that now we find that we have too many great ideas for features that go nowhere due to lack of space, so we sought an obvious solution – to produce the magazine on a bi-monthly basis.

Much research has gone into this decision. As long ago as 1983 we interviewed readers to ascertain their basic thoughts on an increase in frequency. An overwhelmingly positive reaction prompted us to then poll over 400 subscribers via an in-depth questionnaire as to whether they wanted greater frequency. The response was a stunning 98% ‘Yes’ vote as to whether or not we should produce six editions annually instead of four.

To produce six issues a year to the same high standard though necessitated a number of changes that were long overdue. Most readers would perhaps be surprised to learn that since 1980 the magazine has been produced by only two people in an office that barely measures five by two and a half metres! Similarly, a lack of space also meant that no additional staff could be accommodated to cope with future expansion and with the magazine now receiving in excess of 500 mail items each week, clearly something had to be done simply to cope with the rapidly increasing day-to-day workload.

That something has resulted in a move to Canberra, a bigger office with our own computer and typesetting equipment in addition to two experienced ladies to handle the day-to-day running of the office. This will allow myself and my wife Margaret (who is AssociateEditor) to be more active in the industry we enjoy so much. Canberra, of course, will also allow greater access to both the Departments of Aviation and Defence while every major aerospace team visiting Australia passes through the national capital so if anything, we will not only have more time to do so but will have a greater opportunity to meet firsthand with those who matter.

This is our biggest issue ever, 164 pages and about as big as you can get in production terms. We cannot continue to produce super-giant issues of this size for both practical and economic reasons so instead we shall produce six issues each year varying in length between 104 and 164 pages. This will allow us the flexibility to run all those great articles we currently have on the back burner in addition to being able to update our news service. We have always had a problem in reporting hard news in quarterly. It has been difficult as often events of significance occur in the ‘limbo’ period between one issue ending and another coming on sale. To present news three months later in the next edition that sounds fresh and alive demands some judicious editing to say the least. With a bi-monthly that ‘limbo’ period will be reduced greatly while the extra space will allow us to run certain news items that formerly would have missed publication.

Commencement of publication as a bi-monthly will be effective with the September edition. There will then follow a November, January, March, May and July edition. Subscribers will have their subscriptions automatically adjusted to suit the new format (on a per-issue basis) and they will now save even more when subscribing directly due to the increase in publishing frequency.

Our readership means everything to us, you are the reason we are here today and I know that the changes we are introducing later this year will give you a magazine that you will truly be proud to call Australian. Thank you for your support and we look forward to being of service in the years ahead.

Yours faithfully,

Jim Thorn

Managing Editor