J. Mac McClellan @ EAA

nddons

nddons

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When Mac moved from Flying magazine to the EAA, I thought "oh, brother.". It seemed like a real mismatch. Would he really be in touch with what EAA is all about?

When I read his first article in EAA's Sport Aviation, I was unimpressed. Would he incessantly complain about ATC routings on the East Coast, or slowing down to 170kts in his twin?

Well, I was wrong. I think he's been a good writer for the EAA, and has written some very good articles.

Agree? Disagree?
 
Agree - I pretty much always enjoy Mac's work.
 
He always came across as a doucher with Flying. I quit reading anything he wrote.
 
Mac has been a good friend for 30+ years. He's an incredibly bright, irreverent and funny guy who can write about anything, and Stancie is a Texas girl who's even funnier than Mac. He was a sportswriter before going into the aviation business, and can write for any segment of the market or most anything else. Like any other periodical writer/editor, every article isn't going to be a masterpiece, but guys in that business know that's just part of the game. Ask Ibold.
 
wabower said:
Mac has been a good friend for 30+ years... He was a sportswriter before going into the aviation business, and can write for any segment of the market or most anything else.
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Ask him about a trip to the Indy 500 one year when it got rained out.

dtuuri
 
He still blathers on too long about goofy things, IMHO, but I read his stuff nevertheless.

He is a good writer who would benefit from a good editor.
 
He still writes too much about GA stuff. EAA and Sport Aviation is slipping farther and farther from its roots to appeal to people who will never build their own airplane. It seems like it's all about the dollar now. But EAA like AOPA does stand up for our rights so I belong to both. I own two airplanes that I built and fly and have been an EAA member for almost 30 years. DOn
 
Dunno about EAA, but Mac's blog is worth reading, even if not agreeing. Actually, there are only something like 3 or 4 top aviation bloggers. Mac, Ron Rapp, Karlene Petitt, and the Paul Bertorelli, who's a real media hound. There's also the LSA guy who is a more earnest voice of LSA and SP than Dan Johnson himself, unfortunately I forgot his name. The rest just dabbes.
 
zaitcev said:
Dunno about EAA, but Mac's blog is worth reading, even if not agreeing. Actually, there are only something like 3 or 4 top aviation bloggers. Mac, Ron Rapp, Karlene Petitt, and the Paul Bertorelli, who's a real media hound. There's also the LSA guy who is a more earnest voice of LSA and SP than Dan Johnson himself, unfortunately I forgot his name. The rest just dabbes.
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Where can Bertorelli's blog be found?
 
Jay Honeck said:
He still blathers on too long about goofy things,
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pot_calls_kettle_black.jpg
 
Palmpilot said:
Where can Bertorelli's blog be found?
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You can also search for his name on Youtube, though his name there is technically attached to Avweb reports, like this one posted about 3 weeks ago:

 
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Bertorelli seems to *be* AvWeb these days... that and that one other young CFI. The days of them having articles by the various experts seems to be long-over-with.

Some of that stuff was great. Kevin Garrison still hangs around Facebook selling his books and pitching his flavor of "save aviation" through his non-profit thing he does.

The articles that are sorely missed by me are Don Brown's stuff. Those were great.
 
Just got my Spot Aviation today. One good story by Mac on flying a T-6. But another by him on EFIS and auto pilots for certified airplanes. Then another article from another author on engine warranty on a T-210. Then an article on a doctor and all the equipment and avionics mods he did to his 1984 Bonanza non of which he did himself, he just wrote the checks. Sorry but these articles belong in Flying or Pilot magazines not on "SPORT" Aviation.
 
yakdriver said:
Just got my Spot Aviation today. One good story by Mac on flying a T-6. But another by him on EFIS and auto pilots for certified airplanes. Then another article from another author on engine warranty on a T-210. Then an article on a doctor and all the equipment and avionics mods he did to his 1984 Bonanza non of which he did himself, he just wrote the checks. Sorry but these articles belong in Flying or Pilot magazines not on "SPORT" Aviation.
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I don't know. I admire the EAA, and all that that implies. Yet, I will never build an airplane, and will likely never have the opportunity to fly a homebuilt. I see the EAA moving toward a more "big tent" organization, and I appreciate that. I think Sport Aviation just reflects that evolution.
 
I've always read J. Mac's stuff as "guy who soloed with a silver spoon in his mouth" types of articles. Especially the Flying editorials.

Not jealous, so much as his stuff never was all that much like my personal aviation story at all, so it rarely resonated with me as interesting.

As someone pointed out, articles on avionics upgrades (probably bought at a huge discount due to his proximity to the advertising dollars for such things) on aircraft so far out of my personal financial reach to be laughable, rarely held my interest any further than, "Oh, that's how the folks with big bucks do it, huh?"

Strikefinder in a 210? Yeah... I'll let you know when I can afford the 210, bud. Let alone the Strikefinder. (Or weather RADAR, or whatever the hell it was...)

There wasn't a single J. Mac editorial at Flying that spoke to anything I felt was important to me, or was up against in my own aviation story, the entire time he was there.

I was a 20-something, and eventually a non-flying 30-something, who started out without two plugged nickels to rub together for most of his tenure at Flying and later wasn't flying at all due to costs. Only at 36 did I decide I could make lifestyle changes necessary to rejoin the aviation community.

The new articles at EAA? I don't know. Jury's still out.

AOPA has completely lost touch with the budget flying community and doesn't throw their weight around nearly enough to help the "owners"... that second letter in their name.

EAA seems, as someone aptly put it, like they're trying to be the "big tent" more than AOPA these days.

And I've heard rumors that whatever happened with Michael Maya Charles was completely over-the-top, bat-**** crazy, but haven't been able to drag the story out of anyone yet.
 
wabower said:
Mac has been a good friend for 30+ years. He's an incredibly bright, irreverent and funny guy who can write about anything, and Stancie is a Texas girl who's even funnier than Mac. He was a sportswriter before going into the aviation business, and can write for any segment of the market or most anything else. Like any other periodical writer/editor, every article isn't going to be a masterpiece, but guys in that business know that's just part of the game. Ask Ibold.
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No question that some works get into your portfolio and some don't, just like any business. However, its also true that the longer you cover something the more you think of yourself as an expert on it, rightly or wrongly. That puts you into the dilemma of whether to lead your readers or follow them from in front. There's where the challenge lies in selecting editors, from a management point of view.
 
yakdriver said:
Just got my Spot Aviation today. One good story by Mac on flying a T-6. But another by him on EFIS and auto pilots for certified airplanes. Then another article from another author on engine warranty on a T-210. Then an article on a doctor and all the equipment and avionics mods he did to his 1984 Bonanza non of which he did himself, he just wrote the checks. Sorry but these articles belong in Flying or Pilot magazines not on "SPORT" Aviation.
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There is exactly one segment of aviation which has experienced meaningful growth over the past decade or more. The EX/AB category.

And EAA seems to be moving away from it and embracing segments that are in decline.

It makes no sense to me.
 
I think somebody at EAA may have (finally) counted all the airplanes lined up in the grass at OSH and decided that they might-oughta make the organization more user-friendly to the majority of the GA market, especially since the other alphabet organization hasn't done much in that regard, especially in the middle of the country. For years I the only reason I joined EAA was that it was a requirement for admission to the show. Since I wasn't (and will never be) a cleco-head, the magazine was of no interest and the organization provided no tangible benefit other than the show. That has all changed, and IMO we're better off as a result.
nddons said:
I don't know. I admire the EAA, and all that that implies. Yet, I will never build an airplane, and will likely never have the opportunity to fly a homebuilt. I see the EAA moving toward a more "big tent" organization, and I appreciate that. I think Sport Aviation just reflects that evolution.
Click to expand...
 
I have to second DenverPilot's thoughts. I enjoyed a few of Mac's editorials in Flying but most seemed too high-brow or just didn't apply to the average GA pilot.

I liked the one editorial by Michael Maya Charles, and it seems like some folks here know what happened. Anyone care to clue me in?
 
denverpilot said:
articles on avionics upgrades (probably bought at a huge discount due to his proximity to the advertising dollars for such things) on aircraft so far out of my personal financial reach to be laughable, rarely held my interest any further than, "Oh, that's how the folks with big bucks do it, huh?"
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The editorial strategy is clearly not about catering to the budget-minded pilot or builder. I'd guess it's also not about catering to Mac's interests. Instead, the idea of having his column is attracting advertising dollars. Write a column about some new-fangled avionics, score a full-page ad from its manufacturer.
 
kyleb said:
There is exactly one segment of aviation which has experienced meaningful growth over the past decade or more. The EX/AB category.

And EAA seems to be moving away from it and embracing segments that are in decline.

It makes no sense to me.
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I joined to be get on the Antique Aviation sub group.

But I still get more and higher-quality information from the Aeronca Aviators group.

:dunno:
 
This month's Sport Aviation had the following lengthy articles and columns:

1) A flight report on the AT-6. Appropriate topic for the magazine, but didn't do much (IIRC) to point interested people to more information on the type.

2) Mac's column, where he talked about Mooney's old positive stability system and a couple of modern replacements. This column wasn't a good fit for Sport Aviation, but would have been a great fit in Flying.

3) An article about a guy who tracked down an early Stearman (interesting), and had it professionally restored (not as interesting).

4) An article about a guy buying and restoring a Baby Ace. Good article and good fit for the magazine.

5) A column by Mike Busch about the engine problems and warranty issues one of his customers experienced on an IO-whatever on his T-210. Marginal fit for the magazine.

6) Lane Wallace's column about flying over the midwest. I liked Lane when she wrote for Flying, but she isn't a fit for SA. And this column in particular just didn't do anything for me.

7) Some guy I've never noticed before had a column that was 3-4 pages long about his experience one night flying turbine aircraft for an airline. Really? Not a fit at all.

8) Some other guy wrote a long article about the pilot personality. It was essentially a story about how his old airline buddies get together from time to time. Would have fit Flying magazine much better than it fit SA.

9) An article about a guy doing a checkbook upgrade on his relatively new Bonanza. Again, a much better fit for Flying, and not a good fit for SA.

The bottom line is that if you replaced the Baby Ace article with a glossy article about the latest, greatest turbine product on the market, you'd have sworn this was an issue of Flying magazine.

SA is headed in the wrong direction fast.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Why don't you send these comments to Rod Hightower. I would imagine if enough people did that, it would at least get addressed.
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Got an e-mail address for him?

I've been through SA a couple of times looking for one, and if it is there, I'm blind. Same thing for eaa.org and Oshkosh365.

Even a google search was a bust.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
That is probably as good as you are going to get. He will notice if the Editorial Department gets flooded with emails.
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I wrote him this morning and received a personal reply including his phone numbers a couple of hours ago so he does listen.
 
Just picked up the first issue of Gulfstream's new periodical "Nonstop." J Mac is the head of the editorial team. Maybe all he needed was a higher-class readership.
 
When I first started out flying around by myself I was all excited about learning as much as I could from whatever source was out there. Didn't take long to find out that the same topics were being presented almost simultaneously in the major GA publications, many by the same authors, so I dropped them all except SA. Now that one source is getting the same glossy spend all your money look and my interest in it is waning.

Is there an EAA membership category that you can forego the magazine?
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Why don't you send these comments to Rod Hightower. I would imagine if enough people did that, it would at least get addressed.
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Perhaps Rod Hightower will. I did a couple of dozen to Tom and whoever the editor was after Jack and got squat back. Bushwa about how they cared about homebuilding and low-powered GA and how I was wrong.

Hope you get better results out of Hightower.

Thanks,

Jim
 
I like Mac's writing...............but then I've always liked "Flying", "Plane & Pilot", etc. magazine too. And although I did build an experimental kit plane, it doesn't bother me one bit, that Mac now writes for SA.

L.Adamson
 
L.Adamson said:
I like Mac's writing...............but then I've always liked "Flying", "Plane & Pilot", etc. magazine too. And although I did build an experimental kit plane, it doesn't bother me one bit, that Mac now writes for SA.

L.Adamson
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It doesn't bother me *who* writes for SA. What matters is *what* they write. The magazine is making a fast transition to being a me-too magazine that looks just like Flying or AOPA. We/I don't need a third version of the same thing.
 
How long did the doctor say it would take for your thumb to heal? The one you use to flip by articles you don't want to read.

kyleb said:
It doesn't bother me *who* writes for SA. What matters is *what* they write. The magazine is making a fast transition to being a me-too magazine that looks just like Flying or AOPA. We/I don't need a third version of the same thing.
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wabower said:
How long did the doctor say it would take for your thumb to heal? The one you use to flip by articles you don't want to read.
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The problem with another Flying is how the Sport aviators have no other place. Heck, even not being Sport-minded pilot, I have little interest in most of what those mags publish. And those guys already have publications like Twin And Turbine at their disposal, why do they have to crowd out everyone else?

A month or two ago I tried to pick up InFlight USA, which used to be pretty awesome, but guess what - they had a ridiculously dumb article about Shuttle retirement, worse than the thread at PoA. Put it right down.
 
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