Released 26 March: Air Combat

Location : Lincs Spotter Watch Member : No

Posted with approval of the admin team.

On 26 March Key Publishing will be releasing 'Air Combat', a one-off special from the Air Forces Monthly team (price £4.99).

Released 26 March: Air Combat Ac001

It's a bit of a departure from the norm, and the staff at Key would be really interested to know what you think - it's especially aimed at the newer enthusiast. If you do buy it, please add your comments to this thread; if you don't buy it, please tell us why! It will all help with future products and make sure we deliver what you want.

Location : Sheffield Spotter Watch Member : no

Didn't they do a magazine like this a few years back that was aimed at younger readers? Can't remember what it was called but it didn't last long.

Location : Lincs Spotter Watch Member : No

That was 'Air Action', and no, this isn't like that.

Location : Lincs Spotter Watch Member : No

Should be on the shelves from today: let us know what you think! Good or bad...

Location : Sheffield Spotter Watch Member : no

I had a thumb through a copy but having looked at it, I assume it's aimed at kids? Strikes me as being a pretty expensive magazine for a kid to buy though.

Admin Location : East Midlands Spotter Watch Member : Yes

Not found anywhere that sells it yet.

Been to Sainsbury's, Asda, WH Smith at the Train Station and the local Martins Newsagent even the shop here at the Hospital.

Will have to go to the larger WH Smith in Nottingham.

Admin Location : East Midlands Spotter Watch Member : Yes

Finally found it and purchased it.

Got back home and handed it over to Adam who is an over exicited 8 year old, who gets bored very easy, and has a short attention span. Is into jets, and asks lots of questions about them in how they work, how fast they go and how many bombs they carry. His first airshow was Waddo 2008.

Adams feedback.

Initial concept:

We told him that it was for older boys and that it might be difficult to understand.

Content:

Adam read through the first 4 pages and said that it was boring. He then flicked through the pages and said that the layout was the same. We told him to sit back down and carry on reading it. He then flicked through with haste and I asked what he was doing, he said that he was looking for RAF Jets. Then he found the Typhoon and he started to read it. Then he asked me what does Tranche mean as it didn't give him the meaning of what Tranche is.

He said that some of facts were boring as not all the aircraft facts told how fast the aircraft could fly. And then he put it down to watch Primeval.

Then it was my partners turn. Stacey is 31. A camp brat with a background of Chinooks and Hercs.

Stacey's feedback is as follows.

Initial concept:

It would definately capture the interest of early teenage boys.

Content:

Pictures are very good, the information is basic, but sustainable for the targeted age group. It is very "boyish". There are members of the opposite sex with the same interests.

The layout of the magazine is repetative. Being there is no break in the middle of the magazine. She said that there should be a question and answer section based on each aircraft.

Would nice to have a large wall poster included. Afterall most teenage boys bedrooms are adorned with posters.

Value for money:

At present the cover price of £4.99 is a bit of expensive for it's current content.

As a parent who was having this delivered via a subscription I would expect a bit more for my money.

And finally, it was my turn to read it. By then the pages were well thumbed.

Looking through the photos were very good. The positioning of the information was well placed as some mags have text that cover a large area of the page and have a small photo

The facts were informative and adequate on some aircraft. But other facts I felt that some teenage readers would require prior knowledge of, as ofthe facts related to events that occured even before they would have been born.

Having grown-up with fortnightly magazines such as Weapons and Warfare, Aircraft, and Aeroplane of which you could put in Binders, from an early age to my teenage years, I was expecting pull out sections with illustrations of the aircraft and some more information about the aircraft, and even a large poster.

One thing that causes a big negative for me is the advert of a 1/48 diecast model which costs £64.99 and is advertised as a limited edition of 750 models.

Not exactly what some teenagers, whose weekly allowances are burning a hole in their pocket are looking to purchase.

Value for money:

I think £4.99 is very expensive. When I was a teenager I was reading my dads aircraft magazines and motorbike mags.

Overall review:

Todays teenagers are very difficult to cater for, and they get bored very easily, especially younger teenagers. This was a brave decision to test the waters with this magazine.

Personally your marketing team should go to Secondary schools, 6th form and colleges in towns and cities far away from an RAF base and have the kids your target age give their opinion.

Location : United Kingdom Spotter Watch Member : No

I actually got mine from a Newsagents in Edinburgh and no it wasn't a WH Smiths or one of the big stores like that.

Location : Sheffield Spotter Watch Member : no

I was only assuming that it was aimed at younger readers but maybe it isn't. However if it is, I agree with the above that it seems a bit dull and very expensive for a youngster to buy. Putting big pictures across a gate fold is never a good idea and I would imagine that kids would want a full page or some pull-out photos, not shots which disappear down the middle of the page.

It just struck me as rather lazy production (which is gob-smacking when you look at the long list of people involved in the production process!) which doesn't offer a young reader all that much, but costs plenty. I would have thought that a better approach would be to write some actual content which actually explains how the aircraft are used and what it's like to fly them, but not written in a way which bores youngsters (not too many esoteric acronyms or facts and figures). Otherwise, it just looks like a poor version of the old "plane spotter" - type books but without the three-view sillhouettes!

I guess the ideal approach would be to include a cd on the cover so that the whole lot can be looked-at on computer, maybe with some video to add a bit of excitement? As it is, my own view is that it's just not ambitious enough to attract youngsters. It's certainly not something that any older enthusiast is likely to be interested in as there's virtually nothing to read and just a set of repetitive pictures, so if it's aimed at "newbies" I think the production team need to create something which has much more appeal. These days it takes a lot to grab the attention of a teenager and a set of pictures and info that can be found on the internet in seconds ain't gonna do it.

Moderator Location : Between Coventry and Leicester

Sheff wrote:: I guess the ideal approach would be to include a cd on the cover so that the whole lot can be looked-at on computer, maybe with some video to add a bit of excitement? As it is, my own view is that it's just not ambitious enough to attract youngsters. It's certainly not something that any older enthusiast is likely to be interested in as there's virtually nothing to read and just a set of repetitive pictures, so if it's aimed at "newbies" I think the production team need to create something which has much more appeal. These days it takes a lot to grab the attention of a teenager and a set of pictures and info that can be found on the internet in seconds ain't gonna do it.

I did see it yesterday while out shopping . large Booker's store was the place i found it. did flick through the pages . as above was many of the same old shots.

Tim as you said above maybe a CD for the kids and younger brigade that are all PC and Computor game modern Britain , then a CD would be some way in the right direction,

The Mag for the price was not to my taste , so was placed back on the shelf,

Subject: Re: Released 26 March: Air Combat 2009-03-28, 16:34

Any complimentary copies available ?

Subject: Book 2009-03-31, 05:23

Had a look through at my local newsagents this morning, it didnt appeal to me, very basic information on miltary aircraft and as Streethawks son said "boring" in my opinion it wasnt worth £4.99. But it may appeal to a lot of children or people just getting into the hobby, who dont have a lot of knowledge of military aircraft.

Bought Combat Aircraft magazine instead, nice poster of Phantoms and some good articles too. I didnt know the Aussies were retiring the F111!!!! :x

Was hoping they would send one over to RIAT this year! Crying

Cheers