ORIGINAL: combatpigg
To be realistic and practical about it, I can see that including fold out plans is a waste 99.9% of the time.
//snip//
Nowadays we have Kinkos and you can spit out a 1 page plan for $5. I think having the plans available upon request makes sense, I would hate to think that 149,998 out of 150,000 fold out magazine plans go up the stove pipe.
Definitely agreed that fold-out plans are a waste, not only time but money, as printing and postage will skyrocket.
It costs a lot of money for AMA to maintain the stock of plans that they now do. Why should all members have to pay for the items that a few want, like they now do for the MA magazine? Cheap plans to those ordering them will be the same or worse than AMA's current advertising policies for the mag.
Flying Models sometimes has full size plans for electrics, HLGs, small rubber power, etc. Great magazine for the real modelers. If one likes CL the relatively new
Control Line World has eons of plans. Now if you are a real modeler, 90% of those CL designs can be converted to RC, electric or glow or spark. They can be enlarged at Kinkos for a few bucks. The opportunities are bountiful.
Now there is an older quarterly magazine, that has no plans, yet it is bounding back in all areas, unbelievable, and has many ads for plans. Some are cheap, such as Wally Zorber's 88" 1911 Sommer Monoplane, $30, and some are very expensive at $100 or more. Many in-between. IMO, IMAA's new direction with
High Flight mag. is now going to set the standard for a model airplane magazine, albeit just big birds. The spring issue is simply fabulous.
IMO, right now AMA is on the right track with the plans dept.