Misinformation Threatens the Future of Sport And General Aviation--We're Going To Do Something About It

“At the moment of truth, there are either reasons or results.” -- Brigadier General Chuck Yeager

Greetings everyone…

It's been a while since we reached out to you, frankly, because we've had our nose to the grindstone, and have been doing everything we need to do, to pull ourselves out from behind the monster that has been the pandemic.

On the lesser side of things, it did disrupt business for us as well as the many untold numbers of companies and entrepreneurs throughout aviation, but on the far more critical side it has harmed or even killed a great number of people who had way too much to live for… And that includes some people very close to those of us today at ANN.

But a simple phrase repeated to me throughout all this is, ‘that life is for the living…’ And that it urges us to get past our tragedies, losses, and problems, and build a better future in its stead. To live.

Message received.

And that's where were at… There are a number of things that have really bugged me throughout the past year, but keeping our head above water has been primary -- and we’re just starting to breathe a little bit easier thanks to what was a surprisingly intriguing year that provided us with the beginning of some tremendous opportunities as we gaze at the specter of 2022.

There will be lots to say in the coming weeks, but for right now I wanted to address a project that we have put on the front burner, finally, now that we've identified some technologies and vendors necessary for it to be all that we wanted it to be – and that project is the all-digital, next edition, of the Sportplane Resource Guide. In the past, the previous editions of the Sportplane Resource Guide wowed the industry by providing an unparalleled resource and an extraordinary amount of information to people who wanted the insight and expertise that it presented.

The last time we did one, the book was 1100 pages and nearly 6 pounds… And the first 5000 books, (of many to come), filled up an entire semi-trailer load. NOT FUN.

And let me tell you, I'm not unloading another damned semi in my life… No kidding.

For this and many other reasons, the next Sportplane Resource Guide will be all-digital, and with the advancement of technologies in digital publishing, (especially over the last few years or so), we are not only excited to FINALLY be on a proper course for the next SPRG, but to be ready to unveil a vast new toolset that will come with it, tools that will make the Sportplane Resource Guide far more valuable than it's ever been.

Mind you, the last couple editions sold thousands of airplanes simply by providing credible, detailed, and reliable information to people who really didn't know what where to turn – especially in a time when there was a tremendous amount of misinformation – a situation that unfortunately continues to this day.

There are three things that we’re particularly excited about for the next Sportplane Resource Guide –

• The fact that online capabilities will allow us to keep the book up-to-date on as much as a daily basis,
• The fact that we’re going to bring all kinds of multimedia technologies to bear including video, audio, specialized databases, motion graphics, and other technologies,
• And finally, since the book will be updated regularly, we will now be able to build a user community of book/update subscribers. They can use the SPRG and depend on it for timely information, regular updates, and a number of community building resources and activities that will allow the Sportplane Resource Guide to be the focal point for how the sport and general aviation community can finally get the airplanes they've always wanted -- affordably, safely, and with the knowledge that we are there to back them up -- ALL the way.

The previous editions of the Sportplane Resource Guide contained dozens upon dozens of "how-to" chapters that provided background and resource information on owning, building, maintaining, and flying all manner of sport aircraft, as well as numerous directories to aircraft, engines, avionics, and accessories – and yes, all that will be included over the next year, and expanded as we go forth – but with extensive multimedia and other resources allowing us to flesh out even the extraordinary dimensions of the Sportplane Resource Guide, what we envision next will be far bigger and far better than anything we've done to date.

And we ALL need that…

The amount of misinformation converging around this community right now is stunning, disturbing, and growing like wildfire. You’ve got all manner of YouTube and Social Media ‘experts/jerks’ who have neither the expertise to evaluate, or even the flight experience, to be able to accurately and qualitatively present the subjects they’re promoting – and in many cases they not only haven't flown the aircraft they are talking about, but they’re also simply unqualified to do so.

We are very concerned about how the sport and general aviation industry is being represented by instant experts all over various social media outlets, it's even worse in certain flight training communities, and don't get me started on the rest of aviation and aerospace. The Sportplane Resource Guide will start with the sport, light sport, and ‘affordable flyer’ segments of general aviation and attempt to build the kind of credibility, detail, and value that is sorely missing from all the "Bravo Sierra" type nonsense we see growing by the day.

It's not enough to have a good presence on camera, or some video skills, or the ability to steal B–Roll from other websites to put together clickbait aviation stories and videos; You simply have to know what you’re talking about… along with the experience/education to back it up. Aviation can be a critical business where the quality, veracity, and credibility of the information takes on a criticality that can be crucial to one’s safety and well-being. This instant/self-proclaimed expert nonsense has to stop. If these idiots haven’t harmed, even killed, someone yet I’d be greatly surprised.

Still, rather than tilting at windmills and throwing rocks at the instant experts and self-appointed influencers, we simply propose to make sure that the material that we’re presenting is the real deal… Credible… Accurate… Detailed… And published with your safety and well-being firmly in mind.

Over time, that may be enough to keep the idiots at bay… we shall see.

There's a lot more to this than we’re detailing here… In the next few days we will be contracting with the technologies and vendors we have decided upon, and getting earnestly to work.

The last edition of the Sportplane Resource Guide took the better part of a year to complete, and because we’re on so much new ground, and have so many venues to work with, we have no doubt it will take at least as long, this time around.

However; the nice part about the digital format is that once we get past a certain point, even though the full work may not be complete, we will be able to start rolling portions of the book out sometime early next year, and hopefully we’ll have a really serious chunk of it done by the time we reach Oshkosh.

A part of that I like the most, is that we can start providing material fairly quickly rather than waiting for all four phases of this project to be complete, and in that process we can get your feedback, your comments, your criticism, and utilize those as we build this behemoth up.

That excites all of us here, because we've had such great input from our readers and viewers over the course of many years, and on the cusp of ANN’s 25th anniversary (barely a month away), we know how valuable your input has been. Oshkosh 2021 proved that to us... again.

One of the things that really grabbed me about being at Oshkosh this year, outside of the fact that it had just simply been too long since we walked the grass of Wittman Field, was how so many of you reached out to us throughout the week.

A number of you talked about ANN and how our various efforts and projects affected you, and you gave us suggestions for things that we should be considering – ALL that has been extraordinarily valuable. One of the more interesting events this year, occurred as a fellow brought a 20-year-old, thoroughly beat up, copy of a previous Sportplane Resource Guide to Oshkosh so that he could get me to sign it… And I sure appreciated the fact that even today that old book was still having an impact on him and so many others… Though, I'm amazed that somebody would drag that monster book all around Oshkosh looking for me to get a signature. It was a highlight of the week…

Throughout the week, in conversations with you all, and others in the industry, we know that we are way past due to get off our butts and get this project rolling long. And so we are.

As soon as we get back from NBAA next week, we will be designating timelines, initial topics, contributors, and reaching out to a number of folks that will be aiding us in building this monster. Once we complete design and template work on the various types of chapters and directories, we will start filling in the blanks, and we will keep you up-to-date, and will no doubt have many many many requests for information, assistance, and expertise from the industry to back up what will be yet another monumental work.

This monster will be my 21st book, though it may actually be presented via a couple of separate editions in order to organize the program with all the multimedia, as well as some other cool features.

But; as I approach an age in which most people are looking at retirement, that it is the LAST thing on my mind -- all I can think of are all the cool things that we can do for you, the effects we can have on an industry that we love for all manner of good and bizarre reasons, and to maintain our faith with the extraordinary people that we have been serving for nearly a 1/4 century under the guise of ANN, and several decades before that via other programs.

If you have ideas, if you have requests, if any of you have unique expertise in the general and sport aviation industry that may be helpful, we'd love to hear from you while we build a number of new programs to reach out to you, keep you informed, keep you entertained, and maintain the faith that you had in us for so long.

I cannot wait to show you all the things we have up our sleeves…

We will announce an SPRG web portal, subscriuption info and the final format decisions, publicly, soon. In the meantime.... ANYONE with credible sport aviation expertise who may have some advice to offer, is urged to reach out to jim@aero-news.net, ASAP.

More to come... a whole lot more... we're going to blow you away.

FMI: sprg@aero-news.net