Magazine suggestions

[Pulsey]

When I bought my rappy from Skyline (I went in for a Sim & a 'how to' book, but that's another story), it had some heli magazines for sale, but didn't get any.

Now, I'll read anything and everything, so a magazine would be fun to have. Which would anyone suggest?

I'm assuming dedicated heli ones rather than RC flight in general. I'm not looking at building replicas. I just want something with general chit-chat, hints & tips, the odd interesting article, maybe a beginners section. Perhaps Claudia Schiffer demonstrating basic setup and maintenance, but sadly I may have to compromise on that last point.

[Raptorite]

There are two main heli mags, one is available monthly (Model Helicopter World) and the other one bi-monthly (Rotorworld). Most model shops stock both so pop along to your nearest one and have a look, maybe for the first few issues get both, you can work out which one you want to keep going with later if you wish.

Cheers,
Pete.

[Philimon]

Yip, I agree - both are pretty good, and I buy both.

[Cralis]

Just ordered a copy of Rotorworld from http://www.rotorworld.co.uk/ for £3.50 delivered. Not bad. Hope it's good!

[Philimon]

I see someone else isn't sleeping late these days, either..

[Cralis]

19 month old baby demanded milk, and.. expecting my new Raptor today or tomorrow.. so sleep ?/? Who needs it???

[Philimon]

To quote Bon Jovi

I'll live while I'm alive, I'll sleep when all my raptors are broken.

Or something like that.

[Made2Fade]

MHW here... i get the guys at my local papershop to order it in for me. I found it alot more helpful than rotorworld when i first started out. If your looking for good setup DVD/Video then get hold of Rays authorative DVD series. Its very in depth but he explains why everything works that way, ive learnt loads from it.
Lee

[Sao]

I don't buy magazines anymore, the reviews are totally biased and you can get all the information and more for free on t'internet.
I'll buy the odd issue if I'm really bored and in need of a heli fix but otherwise I'll just flick through them in the newsagents / LHS.

Ask yourself this, when was the last time you read ANY negative comments on a product review in an RC magazine?...

[Pulsey]

Thanks all. I'll get both and have a read. Sao, I see where you're coming from, but I still like to sit & read something physical. I stare at a computer screen all day, so it's probably better for me, too.

[heliward0]

stoped buying mags as all they do is advertise NEW models that have just superceded your NEW MODEL!!!!!!!!

[Nige321]

I don't buy magazines anymore, the reviews are totally biased...

...Ask yourself this, when was the last time you read ANY negative comments on a product review in an RC magazine?...

Greetings Sao

You're not still flogging this horse are you...!

Read between the lines - At least MHW IS independant

Nige

An when are you coming to Halesowen again??

[John Clark]

Rotorworld

We've published a number of less than complimentary reports on products in Rotorworld - I get a bit tired of this general argument about magazines being applied to us, because I set my stool out NOT to let that happen when I started the mag in 2005.

We've lost advertisers (no names, no pack drill) through this stance and so you can see why I find it annoying.

Certain other magazines (again, no names no pack drill) have hidden vested interests that their readers would be very unhappy about if only they knew about them. Trouble is, I'd have my pants sued off if I can't prove them in court, so it's stum for me, even though I am no longer editor!

Another important tenet in Rotorworld is that, if anyone writes a review or any other type of article in which they have a vested interest, we always tell the readers about it.

John Clark

[Disc]

I stoped reading mag reviews for the reason's is they never told it how it was....

Like others have said every model got rave reviews and I got fed up of reading stuff where they just wouldn't say what was wrong with machines.

Plus no local shop no sells any of the helicopter mags in the area any more so I save money on not buying mags

[John Clark]

Hmm...

Obviously my post made an impression on you!

Oh well, you believe what you believe. Just try reading our reviews of the Synergy, the Robbe Ornith and the A300 Plus for starters.

Another point that's worth making - most RC helicopters these days are good machines - there are few really bad ones - although, of course, they all have their anomolies (which are pointed out in the mag). You can't expect any of the mags to slag a helicopter off when it does a perfectly good job.

The magazines are put under enormous pressure by certain companies to be complimentary about their products. One company who will remain nameless always wants to virtually write their reviews themselves. We got to the point with them where I just decided not to review their products any more, on the grounds that we couldn't be objective, and that turning a contributor's review into a virtual advertorial wasn't fair on the reviewer, who'se reputation would be put on the line by such a policy.

My point here is that it's easy to blame the magazines for not being objective, but they need advertising to survive and the manufacturers / distributors know this; some of them use it to maximum effect. It is often they who you should be calling to account, rather than just the magazines.

Compare RC magazines to, say, BBC's Top Gear; because Top Gear is watched by millions, and their magazine is read by hundreds of thousands, car manufacturers feel they absolutely must have their producs reviewed by Clarkson et. al., whatever their ultimate opinion turns out to be. In the RC industry, magazines are just not that strong. There are probably only about 10 - 15,000 dedicated heli fliers in the UK, so we have limited sales from the off - without advertising revenue, none of the magazines would exist. That is the harsh reality of niche consumer publishing.

I would like to end this message by saying their are plenty of companies, like MacGregor Industries and Century UK to name but two, who ARE happy for the magazines to be objective in reviews.