Editor’s Comments
July 1, 2011
Today marks a very special day for me. Almost 10 years ago, I started working for the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) as the Editor of a new publication: Model Aviation’s Sport Aviator. Sport Aviator was created and designed to attract new people to model aviation while helping them to conquer their initial difficulties, have fun, and make new friends. I hope the many technical and product articles helped the hundreds of thousands of Sport Aviator readers throughout these almost 10 years.
Helping to make Sport Aviator to become as successful as it has been is the most rewarding work I have ever done during my working life. But the magazine’s success is because of many others who helped greatly and without whom Sport Aviator would never have worked as well as it has. My thanks go to Rob Kurek, AMA’s Publication Director, who steadfastly stood by Sport Aviator through some very difficult times. The same thanks goes to the many AMA Publication Department staffers, artists, and editors who helped along the way.
Especially helpful have always been the past AMA Executive Directors including Joyce Hager and the late Jim Cherry. The same applies to the AMA Executive Council members, especially Gary Fitch and Bob Brown.
But most of all, my thanks and loving gratitude goes to my wife, Ann, without whom Sport Aviator would never have happened. Ann not only took most of the videos and photographs but also edited and corrected every article before it was published. I could not have accomplished anything without her.
That special day? Today I have retired. It’s time to fly my airplanes with Ann and the many, many special friends that I have been privileged to make during the past 42 years in model aviation. Jay Smith, Editor of Model Aviation, and several other model professionals will be working hard to carry Sport Aviator up to the next level to make it even more successful and relevant to all the thousands of new and future new model pilots. I know that they will do a great job and wish them every good thing I can think of.
Finally, thank you to all the Sport Aviator readers. I don’t have to tell you that the publication would have been meaningless without you and your input. There were several times during which the ever-positive reader feedback kept me going through some really difficult periods. Thank you all.
There are 30 airplanes on my personal flightline and 130 kits in the attic. It is time for me to get going with them. See you at the field.
Frank Granelli
Former Sport Aviator Editor
June 29, 2010
Welcome to Sport Aviator’s new format. Our new “look” has been in the planning stage
for a long time and is primarily based upon your reader survey comments and input.
Yes, the appearance is more modern and eye catching. But appearances have little to
do with this change.
In fact, if only appearance was important, we would never have taken the time nor
incurred the expense to do this. The new format accomplishes, we hope, two very
important goals:
First, our Home Page better presents Sport Aviator’s enormous wealth of content and
information. Rather than seeing just a few of the more recent articles, both new and
current Sport Aviator Readers can immediately see some of our many varied airplane
reviews, piloting techniques, electric and glow power technical how-to’s, building articles,
the Sure-Start Guide to beginning RC flying, videos and the many Park Pilot type
aircraft.
It’s all there on the Home Page without having to search blindly through the old menus.
But yes, the older menus are still there right at the top if you prefer to use them. The
current Sections’ Table of Contents are also in place as usual.
Second, the new technology behind this format fixes many of the communication
problems you and I experienced. The Comment Section after each article now works
and should continue to do so. Your emails to me will now always get through. So if you
don’t get an answer from now on, it’s my fault. The new technology should reduce, if
not totally eliminate, the “down time” periods that have been happening occasionally.
So please, look through the new Sport Aviator and then email me with your comments
at EditorSptAviator.com This time, your emails will get through and be answered.
Finally, my profound thanks go to our many tens of thousands of Readers who alone
have made Model Aviation’s Sport Aviator the enormous success that it has become.
Best Regards and Thanks,
Frank Granelli
Editor – Sport Aviator
Added on 10/8/09:
The survey will remain open until 10/31/09. The three free AMA membership winners will be selected and notified shortly after that. If you have not yet taken the time to complete the survey, please do so if you can. The responses have been extremely helpful and educational. I have already learned much that will better focus Sport Aviator and hopefully meet many of our reader’s needs that have been overlooked in the past. To those that have asnwered the survey questions, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. This is one survey that is really going to be listened to and followed. – Frank
Original Post:
As most of you know, Sport Aviator is very different from other magazines that always subject readers to a monthly Editor’s Column. Instead, we always let Sport Aviator speak for itself and seldom bore readers with upcoming articles that are not yet online.
If there is something important to say, then we do a short column here to alert our readers. That was the case with the advertiser inclusions, (you ARE supporting our advertisers, right?) and is now the case with our new Reader Survey.
While many readers write me directly and tell me what they would like to see in Sport Aviator or comment on an article, most don’t. So, we would like everyone’s opinion whether you have written us before or not.
Please go to the “20 Questions” button on the Home Page, or CLICK HERE, to help us better focus Sport Aviator’s efforts to meet your needs. 18 of the 20 questions are multiple choice and we all know that answering a multiple choice survey is like having the wind at your back! The last two questions are more open-ended so you can tell me your suggestions and experiences in case they were not covered in the multiple choice questions.
As a “Thank You” for taking the time to make Sport Aviator better, three random respondents will win a free annual AMA Membership. The survey runs from now until September 30, 2009. The three winners will be selected in early October and notified shortly thereafter.
I pledge that the contact information you supply, like all your visits to Sport Aviator, will not be used for any purpose except to notify the three winners.
Take the time now to complete the survey. We promise to use the information only to make Sport Aviator better and more directed to meeting your needs.
Please, Take the 20 Question Sport Aviator Readership Survey now.
Frank Granelli
Editor – Sport aviator
E-Mail – EditorSptAviator@aol.com
