Taking Off in Public: The Journey Begins

Editor’s Note: “Taking Off in Public” is a new digital series written by Craig Fuller, the new owner of Flying magazine. In this series, Fuller will provide insight into his plans for Flying and a first-hand look at how Flying is being built for the next generation.

Last week, I acquired Flying magazine from Bonnier Corporation. Having the chance to own the iconic aviation media brand is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

As a kid growing up in the ‘80s, my love of all things aviation was influenced by the movie Top Gun and the first Microsoft Flight Simulator. It was reinforced by my subscription to Flying magazine. I saved up money from odd jobs and chores to become a subscriber.

Flying has been around since 1927. It was the first magazine launched by iconic publisher Ziff Davis. Back then, Flying started out as Popular Aviation and it was Davis’ first publishing project. He went on to create dozens of others, many of which were focused on emerging technology and hobbies.

In specialized consumer publishing, Davis was the dominant leader for most of the 20th century.

Most of Flying’s history is anchored around the print magazine. Being able to thumb through the print pages of a magazine creates an important connection between the content and the reader. That connection gets stronger when you’re thumbing through beautiful photographs and stories that bring the adventure of flying to life.

One thing is for certain: There’s room for improvement in the print version of Flying.

Early next year, we plan to overhaul the print edition of Flying. We’ll double down on beautiful photographs of airplanes doing cool stuff and stories that grab the reader and bring them into the cockpit.

We also plan to upgrade the paper stock and covers. As I told the staff, the print version of Flying should be like a piece of artwork that you want to own and proud to display.

Overhauling the digital version of Flying is also something that I’m very excited about. I’m a digital media executive and have had great success building a transportation media outlet that is entirely digital. I think we can take a similar approach with Flying digital.

What does that mean?

In short, we’ll provide a content hub for the aviation community.

Changes in our digital product will come sooner, so look for some significant upgrades to the online user experience in a month or so.

We are looking to expand the Flying editorial and content team. We have open positions for:

Check out our LinkedIn page in the near future for more on these positions.

Flying is an iconic name in aviation, much the way Sports Illustrated is in sports. The responsibility ahead of us is great.

I truly believe that you never actually own Flying. You merely look after it for the next generation. My staff and I are honored and humbled to have the chance to look after it for a while.