Preflight

Enhancing The Magazine And Its Web Presence

I had made an appointment in February to check out in an airplane that had recently been placed on the line at our local flight school. The appointed date was a gusty, blustery, raw winter day, and my flight instructor greeted me in the lobby. "I knew you'd be here," he said. "All of my students have been calling in and canceling today because of the wind."

Walking across the airport parking lot, I thought that a ground session over steaming cups of coffee would be fine by me. But it had been a while since I tackled 15-kt winds gusting into the mid-20s. Most pilots, especially new private pilots, shy away from shifting, variable winds of that strength - what better way to practice than with a competent, qualified CFI in the right seat? "I'd never go up on a day that windy," you might think, and not flying is always an option - but what would you do if the winds were within your comfort zone and you took off, returning to the airport to find that they'd unexpectedly increased?

The last time I'd tried to practice crosswind landings with an instructor, we went to three different airports, but there wasn't a cross breeze to be found. I decided that I was up to the additional challenge, and after a systems review, it was back outside to preflight.

What did I learn about crosswinds? Nothing that I didn't already know, although I appreciated the reminder - and the practice. I did learn a lot about an avionics suite that I hadn't used before, with its attendant GPS receivers and autopilot.

The experience reminded me of AOPA Flight Training's motto, "A good pilot is always learning," which you'll see has been retained in the magazine's new look. In the magazine industry, it's important to maintain a fresh appearance. Surveys and a clear picture of your readers' expectations are the key to a successful evolutionary redesign, and we hope that you're as excited by the results as we are.

Like rebuilding a vintage airplane or mastering the art of landing one, redesigning a magazine does not happen quickly. These pages are the culmination of more than a year's effort by the AOPA Flight Training staff. Much of the credit goes to Mike Kline, the magazine's art director, and Angie Ebersole, our associate art director. As the team members most directly responsible for magazine's appearance, they have spent countless hours conceptualizing the new look, creating mockups, and then fine tuning the pages to arrive at this design. Angie's a student pilot herself, which gives her a unique perspective on her work - she can view it both as a graphic artist and as an aviator.

Contributing significantly to the production of this issue were Jill Tallman, AOPA Flight Training's editorial assistant and a new private pilot, and Jill Benton, our graphics assistant. Remaining unchanged is our stable of guest and contributing editors, almost all of them CFIs; several are designated pilot examiners.

Rest assured that our editorial focus on flight-training subjects has not softened. As you turn the pages of this issue, you'll find all the regular departments and columns - with one exception. "Final Exam" is gone, and "Flying Smart" has moved to the last page of the magazine, just inside the back cover. We know that some of you tested yourself with "Final Exam" each month, but those very questions - drawn from the FAA's Private Pilot Knowledge Exam question pool - are so readily available to student pilots that we felt the change would put that page to better use.

April's changes are not limited to the pages of this magazine. Also new this month is our presence on AOPA Online, the Web site of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. The AOPA Flight Training program's existing Web site - www.aopaflighttraining.org - continues to offer information about learning to fly, direct prospective students to flight schools and certificated flight instructors, and explain the free six-month trial membership.

Once you've become a member, however, AOPA Online is the place to go. Your membership includes free access to the members-only section of the site, 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Among the resources available there are almost every article published in AOPA Flight Training since 1994; current iterations of the federal aviation regulations, Aeronautical Information Manual, Private Pilot Practical Test Standards, Aeronautical Chart User's Guide, and AOPA's Airport Directory Online.

If you haven't visited the site, please do so. Bookmark the AOPA Flight Training page ( www.aopa.org/flight_training ) for future reference, and be sure to check out our online resource guides for student pilots and flight instructors. We think that you will find them helpful. After all, that's why we're here - to remind you about some of the important aspects about learning how to fly, to help you reach your aviation objectives, and to provide some encouragement and support along the way. Let us know what you think.