Reader Feedback

During a recent conversation with our editor Fred Polak, he asked me why we don’t have a reader feedback section. My reply was simple — we do. Well…sort of. We had a reader feedback section in our second issue (one year ago this issue). I would like to have a regular reader feedback section in the magazine, but I need regular feedback to do that.

We have recently received a couple of notes from our readers:

Fred,

HeliMx fills a niche that has always been empty. I think that the diversity of articles has been great and highlights the wide range of what helicopters are capable of doing and what goes into keeping them reliable and safe. EMS, tours, fire, lift-work, flight instruction, law enforcement, offshore, corporate transport, SAR, seismic, wildlife survey, one really hairy air show exhibition, the list goes on without even mentioning the military. Putting the emphasis on maintenance is tough. We are an independent lot, for many years were neglected by A&P schools, it was and still can be hard to get that first helicopter job (especially these days), so it must not be easy to solicit articles. Keep up the fine work, and thank you.

Jon Robbins

Aviation Officer II (M), CAL FIRE

 

Hola Joe (or José as the case may be)!

I learned about your magazine at the HAI convention in Orlando this year and I am really enjoying it.

I have taken advantage of a few articles to help my customers with your great information.

Cheers.

Greg Johnson

Bell Helicopter, A Textron Company
 

Another reader wanted to know what helicopter that is in my new photo for this column. (Ed. note: I was on vacation when I received the email and wanted to reply to it right away, but I accidentally hit DELETE instead of REPLY on my “smart” phone. I couldn’t find the e-mail when I got back to my computer. My apologies.)

For the record, it is a Safari 400 kit helicopter. I was walking around EAA’s AirVenture at Oshkosh, WI this summer and bumped into Jessica Gibbs, sales and marketing manager for Safari. We chatted for a while about HeliMx magazine, and I asked if I could step in and have my photo taken. I liked the shot and decided to use it for my column.

I appreciate Jon and Greg’s feedback and the question about my new photo. But I couldn’t devote a page of reader feedback to those three notes. We want to hear from you. We need more feedback! Don’t worry, if you don’t want your name published we can withhold your name if you would like. Just let us know. We will also edit for clarity and brevity.

I have three requests for you. First I would ask for more feedback. Let us know what you are thinking. Did you like a particular article? Did you disagree with something you read? Let us know! We are ready to publish a reader feedback

section in each issue!

My second request is for some help naming the reader feedback section. I would like to have a unique name for the section. Fred uses “Vertical Viewpoint” for his editorial column each month. I would like to do a similar thing with our reader feedback section — have a unique standing head that identifies the section and ties it to a reader feedback theme.

I don’t want to influence your ideas on naming the section, but here are a few thoughts. If this was a magazine for electrical contractors, we might name the section Electricians’ Observations. If it were a racing magazine it might be

Throttle Talk.

So what are you waiting for? Send us your feedback and name ideas. You can email them to jescobar@HeliMx.com or mail to:

Joe Escobar
HeliMx Magazine
P.O. Box 175
Milton, WI 53563

We will publish submissions in the next issue as well as the winning name. If you have multiple suggestions, feel free to send them.

As far as my third request, HeliMx will be publishing a pre-show guide to HAI’s Heli-Expo in our next issue. If you have news or product announcements you would like to share with our readers, send them our way. Also, if you have a special contest or promotion planned in conjunction with the show let us know so we can help you get the word out.

Thanks for reading!

Joe Escobar  |  Editorial Director