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Subject:Re: Perfect binding vs. 3-ring binders From:Laurence Burrows <burrows -at- IBM -dot- NET> Date:Mon, 28 Sep 1998 11:23:16 +1000
Richard Mateosian wrote:
--------------snip
The first rule reminds me of the trauma I go through each year when
the new Yellow Pages book arrives. My wife invariably makes notes in
the old one. I imagine pilots make notes in their manuals too.
--------------/snip
Rarely. Most of the information is used as an aide-memoire before
commencing an action, viz. 'I wish to taxi to the active runway at a
non-towered airport (I almost always fly from a towered airport): what
radio calls should I make and to whom?' -or- for operational reference,
viz. 'What is the take-off run available (TORA) on runway 13 if I can only
achieve a 1.9% climb gradient with my critical engine out?'
This information constantly changes, so notes are not an issue.
--------------snip
The problems I see with the second rule are: If pilots don't have
the time or inclination to insert the new pages, what makes you
think they will read the summary? Furthermore, the summary must
recreate the context of each change, making it hard to write and
lengthy to read. You can try to find a balance between restating and
referring to the changed material, but all such choices involve
tradeoffs.
--------------/snip
Pilots are conditioned to read change summaries: ever notice to airman
(NOTAM) comes with one, viz. 'RWY 13 NA DUE WIP 0000281098-2359291098'
tells me not to bother worrying about Runway 13; it's closed due to works
in progress today and tomorrow.
Writing the summary is difficult, but by making it succinct and on coloured
paper, we can avoid the unhappy alternative where the pilot grabs and uses
the loose-leaf binder (because it's there!), hoping that the unfiled
amendments (which are in date sequence, not subject order), won't affect
his query. Some hope.
This comes from my special knowledge of pilots and publishing. Which is my
main point--without a thorough knowledge of your market, you may as well be
'pissing into the wind.'
