Mac MaClellen's coming to EAA

I'm thinking I quit reading Flying partially because it seemed like McClellan never wrote about anything that cost under a million dollars.

But I understand he flies a Bonanza (or maybe a Baron), he writes well, and from the little I heard it sounded like he left Flying for good reasons.  So let's see what he can do.

"Ditto" Mike.

He flies a Baron. Not sure what his connection is with the real world but I'll try to have an open mind

Lots of EAAers own and fly certificated airplanes.  Maybe Mac would be good at writing articles on certificated airplanes and their accessories? 

Now we can look forward to a Learjet on the cover of EAA Sport Aviation every month.

Seriously, welcome to EAA Mac.

For the record my other plane is a Bonanza. I belong to the American Bonanza Society for articles about Barons and such.

I've read Mac's Flying magazine articles on and off again over the years. I found his observations are usually spot on. The EAA announcement stated he'll be writing articles with a slant on airplane traveling. I'm looking forward to reading those stories. They'll be most welcome into the mix of restoration / flight training / homebuilder articles.

Welcome, Mac.

I also ditto Mike but I'll keep an open mind.

Sez a person with an F/A-18 as his avatar...

Something wrong with million dollar airplanes?   I fly C-500s, King Air 200 and F 90, Twin Cessnas.

I also fly a Baby Ace, PT-26, and any other aircraft I can get my mitts on.

Well C-500s, King Air200 and F90 and twin Cessnas are business and transport airplanes. Flying magazine is your best source of reading material. I joined EAA in 1974 to read about private, mostly homebuilt recreational airplanes, not stories about flying destinations. EAA (Experimental AIRCRAFT Association)is about aircraft. Why make EAA into another AOPA or FLYING? 

The fact  that EAA has slowly moved into business jets is a major concern. What organization will represent homebuilders when business and commercial aviation pushes their own agenda? EAA cannot represent all of aviation with an "open tent". This is a conflict of interest.

Don't ya'll plan on flying the plane after it's finished? What's wrong with reading about flying destinations? I really don't think the EAA is giving up on us homebuilders. They're just adding another topic to the magazine.

Exactly Bill.

Mac and Richard "Dick" Collins are the reason I let my subscription lapse. If I wanted to read about Bonanza's or Corporate Jets all the time, I read other publications.

They really put the hurt on the mag, I hope that Mac is not able to do this at Sport Aviation. I can see it now, "Only $350k for the new avionics package".....get real or get lost.

He should have went to AOPA or the Bonanza Club. He's in a world that he knows nothing about.

I'll keep an open mind, but that was not my first reaction.

All writers write to match their market.  Just because McClellan wrote of high-buck airplanes in FLYING doesn't mean he'll do exactly the same thing in SPORT AVIATION.  There are a number of aviation authors that write for auto or other general-interest publications, but you can't tell it from the work they do in the flying mags.   Let's give the dude a chance....

I got one of those discounted Flying subscriptions, and I seem to notice that quite a bit of content relating to little planes concerns death. They have the Aftermath, I Learned About Flying From That, NTSB reports, and often another article on lessons learned. While I appreciate that we need to learn from other people's mistakes, you don't see that type of article in boating or motorcycling magazines. I think that kind of topic scares away potential flyers.

As far as Mr. McClellen's articles on flying destinations, I'm in favor of that. Going to places I've never been to before is one of the best things about flying. The concern is that those type of articles are usually of regional interest. Since Sport Pilot is a national magazine, I don't know if there will be a lot of relevant information for many readers.

Steve,

You "get it" exactly!  EAA is expanding our breadth and depth of coverage to the diverse aviation community.  We will never move away from homebuilders, it's our EAA core. 

Mac joining EAA will serve our members and aviators who use their airplanes for personal transportation.  His focus will be on the pilot community, encompassing flying experiences, techniques, weather, technology, and aircraft ownership that interest our EAA members, and aviators.

Rod Hightower

Now, let's go aviate!  

Rod,

I hope you read all of the posts carefully, not just the one that echoes your opinion.

And I hope that wasn't too inflammatory of an opening statement, but what I want to say here is please realize the potential of this forum. 

Most companies or organizations have to pay big dollars to get consulting firms to conduct focus groups to help them determine what steps they need to take to succeed in whatever endeavor they may be pursuing.

You have the best focus group anyone could ask for right here. All you have to do is read the comments. All of the comments. From the guys who had bad experiences with forums at Oshkosh to the comments about the magazine and so much more.

What you have here are the unfiltered opinions of your core constituents.

We all love this organization, its founding principles and the great achievements we share in every day.

Lets not gold plate the butterfly.

I went for a drive with my wife the other day to Maine ( She drives,  I ride.  It's a Captain thing!?! ) and I was able to read the last 3 issues of sport aviation. I really enjoyed it!  I can't say I have read to many magazines cover to cover but it was all really great writing. I read all 3 of them cover to cover.  I really like the DC-7B article.  I read that one twice.  And who could forget  Buffalo Joe!  The writing and magazine is getting better.   In my humble opinion it is the best aviation magazine out there!

In this EAA interview:http://www.airventure.org/radio/clips/EAA-365/2010/INT-MacM_JoinsEAA.mp3

Mc Clellan said his focus will be "conventional" airplanes (factory built). He mentioned specifically how the Cessna Citation and the Gulfstream 650 have new features to write about.

This is a gross distortion of EAA's founding purpose.

Glad I am not a life member.... so I can quit anytime when the frustration is more than I can endure.