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Australian Aviation relaunches for 2013 with new layout, columnists

written by australianaviation.com.au | December 20, 2012

Australian Aviation has been redesigned for 2013.

A refreshed and updated Australian Aviation will launch when the January/February edition of the magazine goes on sale on January 3.

For 2013, Australian Aviation‘s print edition moves to a new, wider format magazine with an increased page count allowing the introduction of new regular columns and a redesigned news section.

“The decision taken some months back to move to a wider format for the January/February 2013 issue has really allowed us to step back and look at the magazine’s strengths and build on them, and identify any weaknesses and buttress those,” Australian Aviation managing editor and publisher Gerard Frawley writes in his NOTAM editorial column of the January/February edition.

“We have a new design that takes advantage of the larger page size, with a crisp, clean aesthetic that is intended to showcase our quality writing and photography rather than distract (or detract) from them. To me that is the sign of a great magazine and that is what we have aspired to achieve.”

The magazine’s biggest content change is the evolution of its Newsdesk news section to the renamed ‘Preflight’, “where we move away from news reportage and instead start to cover news issues with a bit more depth and context”, Frawley says.

January/February 2013 Australian Aviation's cover.

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New columns in the magazine come in the form of ‘Asia Watch’, by former National Aviation Press Club Journalist of the Year and chief correspondent for Hong Kong-based Orient Aviation magazine, Tom Ballantyne; ‘Cabin Pressure’, a column on the passenger experience by John Walton, staff journalist at Australian Business Traveller; ‘Flight Levels’, a professional pilots’ issues column, and the new ‘Australian Airports’ column from the Australian Airports Association, with whom Australian Aviation has entered into a media partnership arrangement.

Another new feature is the ‘Locked On’ photo spread pages at the start of the magazine to feature some of the best Australian aviation and defence photography.

Says Frawley: “Building on AA’s existing strengths, the new columns, the restyled news pages, a new format, and a new design, will, we hope, combine to make the magazine even more engaging. Because if I had to summarise Australian Aviation with a single word it would be ‘engaging’ – our aim is for an engaging magazine for people engaged in, or engaged by, aviation in Australia.”

The January/February edition of the magazine goes on sale in Australia on January 2. Print subscribers will begin to receive their copies in the days after Christmas (print copies were due to be lodged with Australia Post on Friday December 21), while the iPad app edition of the mag has been delayed to allow for its redesign, and is due to be deployed on Friday January 11. The Australian Aviation Online January/February digital edition of the magazine is already live.

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Comments (18)

  • Jack

    says:

    AWESOME! Can’t wait for the new permanent columns.. AND the photo spread!! Awesome work!

  • Aubrey

    says:

    Looking forward to the new format. I hope YesterYear is still there. Now you have a wider format perhaps there could be a 4th column, 75 Years Ago, The world of aviation was expanding the late ’30s so some interesting stuff could be included.

  • John N

    says:

    Gerard and the AA Team,

    Look forward to the continued evolution of AA and to picking up my new and improved edition in January!

    Still remember buying my first edition back in the late 70’s when Jim Thorn started the mag, but as we know under a slightly different name, Australian Aviation & Defence Review, and I think, from memory, originally is was quarterly or bi-monthly too!

    Unfortunately some of my very early editions disappeared (never did get them back from the guy at work that I loaned them too!!!), but still have over 30 years worth, stored in the garage, it’s interesting now and then to look back at what was making news at the time.

    There was a lot more black and white in the mag in those days, it was a good move when it went to full colour and 11 editions a year.

    One gripe, and its a small but annoying one, with the move to a larger format, are you going to go back to the heavier cover stock of a few years ago?

    Much prefer holding and reading the mag of a few years ago compared to now, it didn’t “flop” down at the sides, bit easier to hold and read, anyway, as I said, just a little gripe.

    Good luck to seeing AA being published for many years to come!

    Cheers,

    John

  • Carsten Bauer

    says:

    Looking forward to it. Will you be publishing to the Google Play Store too, so that people with Smartphones and tablets can download and read the mag? Not just Apple devices.

  • Brett M

    says:

    I have just flicked through the online version of AA magazine and i love what i see!

    The new layout is so much more visual and reader friendly!

    Although i can read the latest edition online, i look forward to receiving my copy in the mail so i can sit down with a glass of wine and take it all in.

    Great work & Merry Christmas to you all.

  • Raymond

    says:

    Yes, please don’t give up the clean, crisp look and feel – keep the layout reader-friendly and not ‘busy’!

    Thanks for a great Aussie all-rounder publication.

  • Brett

    says:

    As a former typesetter and page layout artist (and aviation addict) for the print company that prints your fantastic magazine, I’m really looking forward to the continued quality of your magazines design and reading. A Google play version for the Google tablets that are really taking off would be very much appreciated!

  • JACK CAIRNS

    says:

    HI FOLKS – ALL THE BEST – I ALWAYS HAD HIGH REGARD FOR JIM THORN – WOULD SUGGEST YOU HIRE A RETD. SNR. A+P – WHO WOULD NOT USE NON AVIATION ENGINEERING TERMINOLOGY SUCH AS PLANES – HE WOULD REFER TO THEM CORRECTLY AS AIRCRAFT . NOR WOULD HE USE THE TERM JETS – HE WOULD SAY CORRECTLY TURBINE ENGINED AIRCRAFT / AIRLINERS OR MILITARY AIRCRAFT – AND HE WOULD REFER TO THE TAIL AS EITHER THE TAILPLANE OR THE FIN . THANX J.C.

  • Air Observer

    says:

    Thanks AA! I’m sure it will look great!

  • Andrew McLaughlin

    says:

    Looks fantastic Gerard, Julian and team! Got mine today and I haven’t been able to put it down!

  • Tuts

    says:

    Fond memories as a kid growing up in Mascot submitting funny ATC stories to AA for On The Airwaves. Great to see the magazine going from strength to strength with a new format.

  • Observer

    says:

    Got to say I am spewing I signed up for an iPad subscription, now after reading a friends hardcopy. It looks awesome especially the cover with Lee’s photo on it. Great work AA can’t wait to get the electronic version or maybe I should just sign up for a hardcopy subscription….

  • John Wilkinson

    says:

    It is a pity you dropped the aircraft register pages in favour of a bunch of journalists giving us their views. Journalists are paid to report and all this comment is a waste of space that could be used for more news or features on what is happening in the region..

  • Anon

    says:

    You mean the Register Review thats on page 109?

    Read the ditto rial why there are fewer news pages…it’s quite logical really!

    And do you seriously advocate dropping real quality editorial-style journalism In favour of spotter friendly pages? If so, you’re reading the wrong mag…

  • Anon

    says:

    “ditto rial” = editorial!

  • EC225

    says:

    I am surprised that there is nothing on the EC225 Grounding… Been over 3 months now. A lot of oil companies in Australia are really hurting with the loss of 10 Heavy Helos.

  • Craig Brankin

    says:

    Love the new look layout, and in my opinion it has raised the bar for all magazines in Australia.

    Australian Aviation has been a favourite read of mine for many years now, so I will be following the new changes with a great deal of interest over the coming months.

    Keep up the good work; and if you could squeeze in an article about the F4U Corsair at some stage, it would be much appreciated! 🙂

  • Dane

    says:

    Certainly a more informative publication and better looking too. Great to see some of my comments included in the magazine too. Well done to all the staff at AA.

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