From the Publisher: We've Come A Long Way!
Not many may know that Model Aviation, as the Academy of Model Aeronautics official publication, was started way back in 1936 (almost 40 years ago!) and has been going in one form or another ever since. For a long while its distribution was limited to AMA Leaders and subscribers, but in 1954 circulation was increased to include all members as a benefit of dues payment. The next milestone was the incorporation of Model Aviation as a distinct section of American Aircraft Modeler in 1966, thereby providing members not only with AMA news but also with interesting modeling features of all types. This arrangement continued until this past February when word came of the AAM publisher's bankruptcy. During this era the number of AMA members increased from about 16,000 to more than 52,000!
For Openers
Lots of people have asked what will happen with the magazine now that Bill Winter has retired. First off, Bill is still with us, although he has a new role. Turn a few more pages, and you'll see the beginning of an exciting new feature called "Just For the Fun of It," which Bill writes as a contributing editor. It talks about interesting kinds of things that guys just like you are doing (but you will see, some of this is far-out!). Actually the column has no bounds, though we wouldn't expect to see much, if any, that pertains to contest fliers and the contest circuit.
Carl Wheeley's For Openers
READER SURVEY RESULTS. Periodically we conduct a reader survey to provide information useful to advertisers and for feedback on editorial policies. The most recent survey was mailed in July to 3,000 randomly-selected subscribers. When the tabulation was completed, survey forms had been returned by 1,158. Projecting the results of the survey to the expected 103,116 average circulation for Model Aviation in 1987 results in subscribers estimating they will build 334,443 models, buy 69,294 radios, and buy 108,993 engines.
