Welcome to your new Rotor & Wing International. We have been briefing you since mid-2015 on ongoing plans to provide rotorcraft business intelligence in formats that are cleaner, fresher and more readily accessible in print and online. This issue is the latest milestone in those efforts.
A year ago in June, we introduced all of you to a redesign of our print pages as an initial step toward that goal.
In July of this year, we unveiled a new digital edition of the magazine in an immersive reading format that makes our text and striking images easier to take in — whether you do so on your laptop or desktop computer, tablet or mobile phone.
Just last month, we expanded our electronic newsletter, distributing The Rotorcraft Collective twice a week rather than weekly. Now each Wednesday and Friday, this popular and well-read e-letter brings its 82,000 subscribers the latest news and R&WI insight and perspective of news related to helicopter and vertical-flight developments from around the world. (In October, we plan to add a third edition each week on Mondays.)
The issue in your hands embraces a bolder look, starting with our new cover logo. We remain Rotor & Wing International. Professionals in rotorcraft management around the world know us well. We feel the more familiar name R&WI is appropriate on the cover for these readers as well as new ones who aspire to be this industry’s next generation of leaders. Very shortly, we will enhance our service to readers with a redesign of our website.
This month, we will host our latest event for vertical-flight leaders. The Rotorcraft Technology Summit, set for Sep. 19 and 20 at the Hilton Fort Worth in that delightful Texas city’s downtown, will kick off with a special presentation: a keynote speech by NASA Astronaut Tim Kopra. A retired U.S. Army colonel and helicopter aviator, Kopra most recently commanded the International Space Station orbiting Earth. You can find out more about him and register for the event at www.rotorcraftsummit.com.
Speaking of next-generation leaders, the changes we’ve executed in the last year would not have been possible without Amy Kluber.
A University of Missouri-Columbia graduate, she joined our team a year ago in August as assistant managing editor and has kept us moving forward every day since. She is the key liaison with our contributing writers and the speakers at our events and drives our presence in social media and the digital sphere. I’m very proud to tell you that she now serves as our managing editor, a title that reflects her critical role in our operations.
Please congratulate Amy on her well-deserved promotion and let her — and me — know your thoughts on the new R&WI. R&WI
