– Steve Hitchen
When James Whittington and Stanley Brogden launched Australian Flying in February 1963, they probably had no idea they were starting something that would still be going strong 60 years later. Most publications begin with the best intent, but peter out when the support isn't robust enough to keep the magazine alive. This wasn't the case with Australian Flying; we are still coming out with metronome regularity in 2023. The Australian Aviation Hall of Fame (AAHOF) has recognised the effort this year by awarding us with the 2023 Southern Cross Award. This means Australian Flying will be enshrined at AAHOF with a permanent display that will be seen by generations to come. May I be permitted a bit of understatement by saying this is huge for us and we are very proud.
To us, the Southern Cross Award demonstrates that the magazine has succeeded in its original intent: to be a magazine dedicated to the general aviation community; to educate people about what GA is and what it can do for Australia. That's something we've never stopped doing, and it seems over the decades we've become an integral part of the GA and wider aviation communities. For that we have a lot of people to thank.
We'll start with the Yaffa family, who bought a stapled paper newsletter in April 1969 and made it a GA icon. They believed in the potential of a magazine only six years old and nurtured it into what it is today. But it would have faltered if not for the dedication to professional journalism by a constant string of Australia's best aviation writers and editors: Lawry Cohen, Paul Phelan, Doug Nancarrow, Shelley Ross, John Pearce, Peter Ricketts, John Spiers, Jim Davis, Angela Stevenson, Owen Zupp an so many more. Then there have been many regular columnists over the years that have delivered expert advice, people like medico Olga Ward and the late David Bell. Their work is as important to the make-up of the magazine as any.
The current team are also exemplary in their work and passion: Kreisha Ballantyne, Paul Southwick, Angela Stevenson, Tony Self, John Absolon and Jim Davis keep a standard that is as good as any of their predecessors. Along with the current crop of columnists, we thank them for their efforts in keeping Australian Flying at the forefront of aviation journalism in Australia. And behind them come the artists and production staff whose efforts are seen, but not necessarily lauded. Presentation is everything, and the presentation of the magazine is as slick and professional as you can get, thanks to this hidden team.
Credit also is due to a generally nameless team of pilots that are always up for an adventure that has resulted in some spectacular cover shots. They know what it takes to get the relationship between aeroplane and camera just right, and time and time again have done the job when the job needed to be done.
But all efforts would be for nothing were it not for the most important contributors we have: the advertisers and the readers. Australian Flying has a healthy readership and works as a conduit for advertisers and customers to meet on common ground. When either of these two fall away, a title will falter despite the passion and professionalism behind it. Making the twain meet are good people like Chris Yu, Andrew Murphy and John Viskovich, who understand the advertiser as much as they understand the readership.
That we are here after 60 years shows that Whittington and Brogden were right all those years ago: a GA magazine was desperately needed and would thrive with the right support. And now all of us as a collective spirit are to be enshrined at AAHOF later this year. Congratulations is due all around, for anyone and everyone that has been involved with six decades of Australian Flying.
If you're reading this, give yourself a pat on the back.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch