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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 0908.PDF
f/ygHT] OCTOBER 12, 1912. OURSELVES." FLIGHT" TO BE 3D. interval between the successive issues of monthly pubh- In the one case, it was ENCOURAGEMENT from our readers—the greatest of gifts that it is within the ambition of the Editorial "we" to acknowledge—is the inspiration of a change that we have long contemplated and now announce. Commencing with our next issue, FLIGHT will enter on a new phase of its career, and will make a progressive step that is the natural outcome of successful labour. We must be exonerated from the blame of arrogance if, on this occasion, we appear to give way to self laudation, for common courtesy demands no less than explanation and explanation needs no less than truth. Besides, the laurels of success were not of our creation ; though ours, truly, was the sincerity of purpose for which they make reward. Not ours was the power to compel so many thousands to buy this paper and to read it every week, but ours is the duty to respond to such support. FLIGHT in its present form has long since outstripped all reasonable dictates of commerce ; from its first number, in fact, there was never an issue that did not cost us far more than a penny for the paper and the mere mechanical act of printing alone. For three years, our readers have had the advantage of purchasing a journal that would still be cheap at three pence, for one-third that sum, and even of that third a considerable fraction escapes our coffers. And now aviation itself is developing so rapidly and is opening up so many new aspects of interest, that never a week passi s that we are not in conflict between our desire to cope more adequately with the situation and our ever pressing necessity of realising that even the best intentions must be subject to some reason in commerce. Either we must stand still and be false to our subject, or we must go forward and make a change in the price of FLIGHT. It has been for our readers to decide, and they have voted in no uncertain voice for progress. Very nearly every letter we have ever received embodying suggestions for this or that improvement has likewise contained the query, " Why don't you charge more for FLIGHT?" Certainly in no other country in the world is it possible to buy a paper like FLIGHT for a penny, and the letters that we receive from Germany, from France, and from America, where the purchasing power of two cents is virtually nil, have long convinced us that the measure of appreciation that FLIGHT receives at the hands of its readers is not materially exaggerated by the popularity of its price. When we founded the paper as a separate journal, as distinct from the section devoted to Flight in the Auto., wherein it had evolved by degrees during a period of six years or thereabouts, we desired to afford every possible opportunity for the popularising of the new science by pub lishing FLIGHT at a price that would be an incentive for all to see for themselves what manner of thing it was that had been brought into the world. It was the best way to encourage the development of the art of flying and to extend the growth of this nascent industry, which, when FLIGHT was founded, was not only very young, but rather weakly. The first Aero Salon had just been held in Paris, fitting climax to the historic events that make the year 1908 for ever memorable in the annals of aviation. In that moment, the study of aerodynamics passed from the sphere of mere academic interest, into the realm of serious commercial business—aeroplanes were already for sale on the open market. To develop the practical interest apace, the enthusiasm of the few had to be communicated to the many, and for this purpose the space available in a mere section of a motoring journal was obviously too small, while the time cation was similarly too great, impossible to deal adequately with the amount of informa tion available, and in the other, impossible to provide current news. A weekly paper exclusively devoted to aeronautics was wanted, and FLIGHT appeared to fill the gap. Naturally, we desired to feel our way modestly, but the response was so immediate as to be astounding. Within a few weeks, we realised that we had launched on an undertaking that was far greater than ever we had anticipated, and that must inevitably necessitate a change if the success was continued. The issue of a journal like FLIGHT at a penny, not only left no room for expansion, but involved a most serious financial onus if the number of readers to be supplied and amount of matter to be published remained at all in the vicinity of the magnitude that they almost immediately assumed. Realising that much of it might be evanescent, we decided to wait awhile; the expense, after all, would be for a good cause in the long run, for the wider the field of interest in flying the more secure would be the foundation of the industry associated with FLIGHT. SO we continued to wait, but each year brought new activities and more readers and each year also saw the interest in the subject develop an increasingly serious phase, demanding a more and more expensive paper for its adequate expansion. And, as we explained in the beginning, it has at last come to a point at which we must either change or cease to progress. We are encouraged by our readers to progress and we feel secure in our faith that they will not allow the question of having to pay more for the paper, interfere with their support of our present policy, any more than they have been led by the former fact of FLIGHT being a penny, to profess a pseudo-interest in a science for which they felt no real concern. In deciding upon the change to 3*/., we have naturally wished to make one that would prove effective, but, at the same time, we have not wished to raise the price more than is essential to the purpose in hand. It would have been useless, for instance, to have merely charged 2d., because that would have benefited neither our readers nor ourselves, inasmuch as it would still fail to cover the expenses of production, and would, therefore, have left as great a bar to progress as ever. At 3d., however, we hope to be able to even improve the paper and to meet more adequately the varied interests of our readers to whose suggestions we shall not be forced to turn such a persistently deaf ear. Again, however, are the laurels in our readers' hands, the more support we receive from them the more can we do for them—each man benefits in person by what thousands are required to pay for as a whole. In the past, we have received much encouragement from the friendly feeling that readers have evinced towards FLIGHT. In the future we hope we may still have cause to appreciate this same helpful support and thereby to score an even greater success. A WORD TO OUR READERS. To avoid disappointment, definite orders for FLIGHT, October 19th and following dates, should be placed with newsagents as early as possible, as the demand is likely to be great, and it is impossible to re-print the journal when it runs out of print. Subscriptions received by the Publishers, at 44, St. Martins Lane, W.C. For rates see page 926. Q08
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