First of all, let me be clear that I am an avid reader of AFM. I look forward to receiving my copy every month, but lately I’ve noticed many of the topics are the same month after month, and I think I am starting to get a little bit ‘bored’ of them.
I can understand AFM needs an article or two about British aircraft/units in every issue to boost sales in UK stores, no problems with that, but haven’t we read enough by now about the shrinking fighter force, Joint Helicopter Command and the JSF vs Carrier debate? At least one of these three topics seem to come back every single month!
I haven’t received this month’s copy yet, but the website says it features articles on an F-15 pilot telling about Basic Fighter Manoeuvres (didn’t we have an F-16 pilot writing about this recently?), an article called ‘UK AIR DEFENCE – THE FIGHTER FORCE SHRINKS’ (the June issue recently had an article about the F3 withdrawal and the March 2009 issue wrote about the RAF being under pressure), an article on Russian Air Force bomber patrols (we had 3 major articles about these patrols in 2008) and the Helicopter Force in Afghanistan (we already saw 3 articles in 2009 about the UK helicopter fleet this year).
Isn’t it about time to report on some new items? Why do we hardly ever read about basic or advanced flying training, low flying in Wales, the Nimrod, the hard work done by the cargo and tanker crews etcetera?
Please understand I am in no way trying to start a flame war or anything like that. I have been an avid reader of the magazine for years and will be one for many years to come. The magazine still offers many great articles on other topics and of course the extensive news section. This is just something that came to my mind and I wondered am I the only one thinking this? This topic may leave some constructive criticism to the AFM editors if more people agree with me..
Looking forward to your replies.
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July 12, 2009 at 7:52 pm