FLYING Acquires Plane & Pilot Magazine

FLYING and Plane & Pilot have been the top two independent aviation magazines for decades. While the brands have been viewed as competitive at times, the focus of the two magazines has also differed. 

FLYING is an aspirational brand, featuring the latest and greatest in general aviation, spanning the most advanced light sport models to the fastest business jets. Plane & Pilot, on the other hand, has had deeper coverage of the piston community and the world of recreational and private pilots.  

Craig Fuller, the CEO of FMG, said, “The piston market, once thought to be dying out, is now making a robust comeback with new aircraft models, avionics, gear, and many new pilots. Plane & Pilot has developed an incredibly strong following over the past 50 years among pilots that fly piston aircraft and experience their love of aviation through the cockpit. We plan to build on this and dive deeper into the specialized segments of the piston market with expanded investment in Plane & Pilot.”

Plane & Pilot will continue as a monthly print magazine and will be available via subscription and on the newsstand. Current subscribers to Plane & Pilot will receive their magazine and membership benefits, without interruption. 

“Our goal is to keep Plane & Pilot focused on its roots, while expanding the depth and quantity of content that serves the piston community,” Fuller explained. “Therefore, FLYING and Plane & Pilot will continue as separate brands, with differentiated coverage and editorial teams. While there is an overlap in their audiences, our data shows it is quite small. Plane & Pilot goes far deeper into the piston and recreational aviation market than FLYING does. FMG plans to keep Plane & Pilot’s focus on pistons and recreational flying, while FLYING magazine will remain an aspirational brand, covering all aspects of general aviation.”

Fuller added that FMG plans to expand the Plane & Pilot print and digital platforms with deeper coverage of the piston market. FMG is also exploring ways to offer bundled subscriptions for Plane & Pilot and FLYING. “Our hope—especially among the piston community—is that subscribers will see the value in subscribing to both FLYING and Plane & Pilot.”

This is the second acquisition announced by FMG in a week. On March 27, FMG announced the acquisition of ByDanJohnson, the leading source of news and content serving the light sport aircraft (LSA) category. 

The LSA market is poised to see an explosion in investment, innovation, and new products over the next decade, as the FAA overhauls its regulatory standards for light aircraft  through its Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certificates, or MOSAIC. 

ByDanJohson will be rebranded as Affordable Aviation, with LSA content featured throughout FMG’s brands, including FLYING, Plane & Pilot, and FLYING’s new classified aircraft listing brand and marketplace, Aircraft for Sale.