What is the best Warbird magazine/periodical out there?

[Sgt13Echo]

What magazine/periodical do you prefer and if you had to chose one, which one would it be?

Last edited by Sgt13Echo on Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Zachary]

I really do like them all and read most of them month to month, but for pure historical journalism, FlyPast wins hands down in my opinion. In my mind, it has the perfect mix of current warbird news and history. Classic Wings and Warbird Digest are also high quality. Warbird Digest has a P-47 in their logo, so you KNOW they have to be good!

[Sgt13Echo]

FlyPast is my top for the same reasons, plus One! Back in the early 80's I sent them a couple pictures of the P-38 in Poplar, Wisconsin, USA that was on a pole in honor of their hometown son Richard "Dick" Bong. It had recently received a fresh coat of paint and they had a big ceremony. Flypast sent me a small check in £'s for the pictures and I never cashed it. It was a very big day for this guy, at the time 13 year old

The P-38 is now in Superior, Wisconsin, USA and indoors. Northern Wisconsin winters can be brutal on planes on a pole.
http://www.bvhcenter.org/

[JohnB]

I've read FlyPast for years...it's fine but I think the supply of stories about WWII airmen and missions is becoming limited. That may explain why they're running more jet stuff.
I also like stories...in any publication ...about the restoration of rare types (civil and warbirds...especially civil, to me the restoration of a rare civil type trumps another Mustang or Spitfire)..
I don't see many Classic Wings or the EAA pubs on warbirds or antiques, but when I do I enjoy them.

What I really miss and my choice for the best aviation magazine ever is the old Air Enthusiast from the 70s.
Edited by the great William Green, it covered everything, historic, modern, civil and military. even a section on models plus a nice news section.
Lots of color photos and profiles. I have many old issues and still enjoy readingthem. The historic stuff is still great, and some of the "news" is now very historic.

It was later retitled Air International (after being acquired by Key, IIRC) ...then that became modern stuff only. Key later revived the original name for a semi-monthly for historic stuff...which I think is gone now.

[Sgt13Echo]

I love going to my old Air Classics magazines from the 70s and early 80s when there were hardly any warbirds and the only P-38 flying was Lefty Gardeners. I look at the warbird movement now and never would've thought to be several P-38's and Zeros flying, it's beautiful!

[hang the expense]

Flypast and warbirds are tops.I didnt know airclassics was still being published.

[EK764]

The UK's Aeroplane is the best written by far and I believe there is a strong market for a historic aviation magazine in the USA. Warbirds has some interesting features but is too steeped in traditional magazine protocol and limited in scope.

The UK magazines are sometimes factually incorrect, which casts doubt on the veracity of the rest of their editorial. The editors are also very poor at responding to news and emails, which is plain bad manners. The German classic aviation magazine has some fascinating features and the guys there are highly responsive to historic items from around the world - if some of those features were translated and published in English, we'd have a lot more insight into World War Two aviation.

Brit magazines are generally highly entertaining: Award-winning N-Photo, Classic and Sports Car, which is a feast of fun and amazing insight and uses great writers. In the US, Air & Space is tops and so it should be - it is highly readable.

Most magazines are struggling in the internet age and there are not many aviation editors able to see it as an opportunity rather than potential opposition; few know how to harness their social media efforts for instance. Another area: US publications are thankfully far more demanding of their photographers - a major weakness of almost all UK aviation editors.

Just my two dollar's worth!

[Sgt13Echo]

Yes, Air Classics is still being published. But Barnes and Noble have out it in the military history section of instead of Aviation.

[corsair166b]

Flypast kicks butt in my opinion....I have contributed to several, had stuff that I submitted to Air Classics gone non credited and non returned by them (which has not happened with any of the others)....several of them are great publications but for the sheer volume of info they put into each edition, FlyPast is the best.


Mark

[Sgt13Echo]

Mark, FlyPast got my vote!

[muddyboots]

WIX.

[Sopwith]

Classic Wings is my favourite,followed by Flypast,Aeroplane Monthly (about on par with each other),and EAA Warbirds has come on brilliantly lately,much more readable than it used to be.

[Canso42]

For me it's a tie between Warbird Digest and Classic Wings.

[cooper9411]

For me it's a tie between Warbird Digest and Classic Wings.

+1

[JonL]

Classic Wings and Aeroplane compliment each other beautifully. Then Flypast and I too, have a soft spot for Airplane Classics...from the 70's, early 80s........