You are holding in your hands the last issue of this magazine that will be printed on paper and mailed to subscribers. Current subscriptions will be transferred to sister publication IFR beginning with its March issue.
As long-time readers may recall, in 2023 this magazine was acquired from Belvoir Media Group by FLYING Media Group, now Firecrown. Firecrown has made the business decision to stop incurring the expense of printing and mailing issues of Aviation Safety, and publishing them online instead, free of any subscription fees and presumably supported by advertisements. While there has been some discussion of bringing the magazine’s content to online sister publication AVweb.com, the details had not been finalized by this issue’s deadline.
Also undecided at this writing is what role, if any, I will have going forward, along with our regular contributors. Firecrown has delineated what it wants to do, and I have responded with proposals of my own.
Meanwhile, I want to take this opportunity to thank a few people. First of all, Paul Bertorelli and Tim Cole, both of Belvoir, who gave me this opportunity and stood by patiently as I learned the ropes. Thanks also to Ken Ibold, my predecessor, to Larry Anglisano at Aviation Consumer and to Frank Bowlin at IFR.
There also have been many writers who have contributed their knowledge and expertise to these pages over the years. Among them, in no particular order, are Tom Turner, Bob Wright, Mike Hart, Dave Higdon, Mike Berry, Mike Banner and, of course, the current crop of regular contributors, Matt Johnson, Ryan Motte and Jim Wolper. Thanks also to Cory Emberson, our proofreader, who has had to put up with my late-night, last-minute work habits all this time. Many other people also have my thanks and appreciation.
I’ve helmed this publication for more than 20 years. I made a few mistakes along the way, but I’ve learned a lot, too, especially from you, our readers. Thank you.
I’ll see you on the ramp or hear you on the frequency. Fly safe!
