Dear Northern Pilot readers,

As an avid backcountry pilot and Cessna 185 owner, I am pleased to announce the acquisition of Northern Pilot by Pilot Getaways magazine. Since 1998, Pilot Getaways has brought a wide range of information about having fun with an airplane—everything from 1,300-ft. strips in narrow canyons to 12,000-ft. runways served with ILS and GPS approaches.

When I'm not out researching articles for Pilot Getaways , you'll often find me camped next to a mountain stream or landing at a remote beachside strip. I am an ardent supporter of the backcountry groups that protect our freedoms and make this all possible. I often donate time and magazine space to organizations like the Idaho Aviation Association, Utah Back Country Pilots, and Montana Pilots Association, all of which have made substantial progress in protecting our access to the backcountry.

Until now, the backcountry content—my true interest in aviation— in Pilot Getaways has been limited to about 5–10% of the magazine, in the regular sections Bush Flying and Flying Tips. I would often get requests to increase our backcountry content. It's funny how most of those requests came when I would be at Cessna 185 fly-ins.

Now, with the acquisition of Northern Pilot , we have the resources to substantially increase our backcountry and Alaska-oriented content, as well as add technical content. A new regular section, entitled Backcountry Report, is written by former Northern Pilot staff, and features technical content on backcountry aircraft, floats, and other equipment that Northern Pilot readers have grown to love. Three regular Northern Pilot columns, Up Front, Out of the Blue, and Rag & Tube, are now regular Pilot Getaways columns, and we're investigating adding further columns. In the front of the magazine is AV News & New Technology, another section familiar to Northern Pilot readers. This section keeps readers abreast of recent developments in aviation.

Since the acquisition, I have received letters expressing concerns that Pilot Getaways is not 100% dedicated to backcountry and Alaska flying, the way Northern Pilot was. I understand that concern and truly sympathize. However, there is a certain economy of scale that is necessary for a magazine to be successful. A 100% backcountry magazine would not have sufficient readership to support the quality demanded by our readers. Merging the two publications allows us to continue to deliver the same backcountry reporting that Northern Pilot has built its reputation on, without compromising either price or quality.

The new, merged Northern Pilot/Pilot Getaways magazine has the resources to be successful, and both reader groups will benefit. You'll notice the magazine is larger. The current issue of Pilot Getaways is 84 pages, compared to the pre-merger sizes of 64–72 pages for Pilot Getaways and 48 pages for Northern Pilot . This increased size allows us to dedicate sections of the magazine to both topics.

Since Northern Pilot was bimonthly, and Pilot Getaways is quarterly, we have added 50% to the subscription terms of all current Northern Pilot subscribers. Therefore, if you had 2 years remaining on your Northern Pilot subscription (12 issues), you were credited with a 3-year subscription to Pilot Getaways (12 issues). For readers who subscribed to both publications, we added the number of remaining Northern Pilot issues to the existing Pilot Getaways subscription.

We hope that both Northern Pilot and Pilot Getaways readers will be happy with the merger and will benefit from the additional content. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions. Please don't hesitate to contact us at info@pilotgetaways.com or info@northernpilot.com.

See you in the backcountry!

John T. Kounis
Editor, Pilot Getaways magazine
Cessna A185F, N63MG