In 1995 when I joined FLYING the National Science Foundation and its partners were just beginning to open up their World Wide Web for commercial use. The internet was in its infancy, with 20,000 websites in existence and little to no pathway to them for consumers. The tide slowly started to change with the launch of Google in 1998. Even so, magazine publishers had not made investments in digital publishing as it wasn’t a thing…yet.
I am forever grateful to have started at FLYING when I did, as it instilled in me a great appreciation for print media and the vital role it plays in providing a focused and stable environment for readers to indulge, to learn, and to be inspired, free from distraction. I believe this is vital in aviation, where the risk and reward for pilots is far greater—and the need to learn is constant. We simply have to unplug sometimes.
