Letters

I just finished the August issue and enjoyed it as usual. The footnote on flashlights in “Gear Guide 2010” caught my attention as I have had personal experience with battery-free flashlights. I am an avid horseback trail rider and in my saddlebags I carry the usual survival/first-aid supplies including a flashlight, which I recently upgraded to battery-free for the same reasons cited by the

author. On my next trail ride I checked my gear, including my compass, and fortunately was near my home where I knew for certain which way was which. To my utter disbelief my compass was indicating 180 degrees backwards; i.e., north was south and vice versa. I promptly replaced the bad compass with a newer and better version and the next trip out had the same experience. What to do?

I dumped the entire contents of the saddlebag, including the new flashlight, and in a stroke of pure dumb luck found the culprit. The needles of both compasses, old and new, were pointing directly at the battery-free flashlight. Apparently the magnetic field produced by the Faraday Principle causes problems that might not be readily apparent. Might this be a problem in the cockpit? I hope not.

Jeff Hartwig
St. Louis, Missouri

I was disappointed to read the “Editor’s View” quip about not understanding the apparently exotic-sounding “Faraday Principle of Electromagnetic Energy.” Since when do pilots shy away from seeking to understand technical matters, and when did they start mocking them for being technical? I know that this was an attempt at humor, but I found the anti-intellectual attitude inappropriate. It’s particularly disturbing in this case, as electromagnetic induction is precisely the effect used in magnetos to keep the spark plugs sparking.

Tobin Fricke
St. Louis, Missouri

Disappointment

Nearly six years ago, at age 65, I became a student pilot and signed on with AOPA. I began receiving Flight Training magazine and found it worth reading every word, cover to cover, sometimes over and over. I couldn’t wait to get my next issue. When I achieved my private pilot certification 49 logged hours later, I elected to stay with Flight Training in lieu of AOPA Pilot magazine because of its friendly, classic, homey appearance and value of the content for low-time pilots.

Well, sir, that is no longer true. I can’t stand the magazine and no longer look forward to it. I look at it almost as an obligation. Feature articles by regular writers are accompanied by strange colors, variations in type styles, and little bitty black-and-white writer photographs that diminish the character of the contributors. The excessive amount of advertising offensively crammed onto many more pages than necessary and apparent change for change's sake have really turned me off. The previous format was pleasing. Today, while the articles are generally good, it is horrible in appearance.

Harry Hammond
Fenton, Michigan

Magazine redesigns are always a work in progress. For example, this month we’ve made the photo and illustration captions easier to read. We certainly appreciate honest feedback, and act on it appropriately. Surveys show, however, that readers like the new design. —Ed.