CEO’s Message

The readers of the AAHS Journal enjoy the talents of many engaging authors that, with their research and writing, give us fascinating insights into the development and use of aviation here in these United States. The depth and breadth of aviation topics brought to life in the AAHS Journal’s pages is a stunning testament to the enduring interest that aviation holds in our culture. It would be hard to find another publication that routinely speaks to such diverse topics as the use of material substitutes in aircraft production, women’s aviation fashion, aviation toy collections, and how commercial airline routes were developed.

At the Editor’s office however, we see far fewer members of late volunteering up their histories, memories, or their documentation for publication. The AAHS Journal exists exclusively to educate, illuminate and preserve our aviation stories and photos, whilst also being a darn good read. But we don’t make our material up out of internet headlines; old blogs or tweet topics – it comes from our readers! And if our readers don’t provide article material, then the journal, and thus AAHS, suffers.

More and more often in recent publications, our stalwart Editor has had to pull AAHS archive material and take time to shape it into article material, wheedle additional articles from authors already submitting works (and we thank them heartily for their generosity!), contact other organizations for reprint permissions, and look to early AAHS article topics for update potential, to fill the pages of the AAHS Journal.

What does this portend for our future? Is there no more ‘new’ aviation history to record, discuss and illuminate with photos? Is our format no longer viable in today’s digital downpour, with information available by verbal query to Siri over a cup of tea in the garden? Are there no longer sufficient aviation enthusiasts who take the time to document a topic they find interesting to share with others?

We have to consider that many of these questions may be answered in the affirmative. AAHS has to adapt our output according to the input we can expect to receive. Those adaptations aren’t clearly defined yet, but we need to remind ourselves that member-driven publications RELY on the membership to keep the wind under our wings! Is there interesting topic material you might submit for one of our authors to write up for you? Do you know an individual that has had a unique aviation tale that deserves to be documented? We’ll do as much as we can to give the readership what we all expect from the AAHS Journal, but at the end of the day, it does come down to you.

We look forward to hearing from you,

Jerri Bergen
AAHS CEO