Editing Aviation Week & Space Technology

{{short description|American magazine founded 1916}}
{{redirect|Aviation Week|the company|Aviation Week Network}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox magazine
| logo            = Aviation Week Space Technology logo.svg 
| image_file      = Aviation_Week_Space_Technology_cover.png
| image_size      = 
| image_alt       = 
| image_caption   = ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'' cover, April 24-May 7, 2023
| editor          = Joseph C. Anselmo
| editor_title    = Editor-In-Chief
| editor2         = [[Bill Sweetman]]
| editor_title2   = Editor
| previous_editor = {{Unbulleted list|[[Philip J. Klass]]|Anthony Velocci}}
| publisher    = Gregory D. Hamilton
| frequency       = Weekly
| circulation     = 
| category        = [[Aerospace]]
| company         = [[Informa]]
| founded         = {{start date|1916}}
| country         = [[United States]]
| based           = [[New York City]], U.S.
| language        = English
| website         = {{URL|http://www.aviationweek.com}}
| issn            = 0005-2175
}}
[[File:AVIATION WEEK MAGAZINE COVER - MAY 28 1979 - NARA - 17473066.jpg|thumb|''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', May 28, 1979]]

'''''Aviation Week & Space Technology''''', often abbreviated '''''Aviation Week''''' or '''''AW&ST''''', is the flagship magazine of the [[Aviation Week Network]], a division of [[Informa]]. The weekly magazine is available in print and online, reporting on the aerospace, defense and aviation industries, with a core focus on aerospace technology. It has a reputation for its contacts inside the [[United States military]] and industry organizations.

''Aviation Week'' was a favorite conduit for defense-related companies and labs to leak information to the public as part of their [[policy by press release]] efforts. This led to it being informally referred to "Aviation Leak and Space Mythology".<ref name="avleak">{{cite web |title=The Mystery Continues |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/continue.htm |website=GlobalSecurity.org |access-date=21 September 2021}}</ref>

==History==
The magazine was first published in August 1916. Early editors Ladislas d'Orsy and Donald W. McIlhiney (1921 to 25) were [[Quiet Birdmen]]. Publisher (1927 to 29) Earl D. Osborn was also a Quiet Birdman. With the coming of the [[Space Age]], the current title was adopted in 1960.

Other titles the magazine has held include '''''Aviation & Aircraft Journal''''' (1920–1921),<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Concentration of Effort |magazine=Aviation and Aircraft Journal |date=1 November 1920 |volume=9 |issue=7 |page=215 |url=https://archive.org/details/Aviation_Week_1920-11-01/page/n1 |access-date=21 September 2021}}</ref> '''''Aviation''''' (1922–1947),<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Aviation |magazine=Aviation |date=2 January 1922 |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=5 |url=https://archive.org/details/Aviation_Week_1922-01-02/page/n1 |access-date=21 September 2021}}</ref> '''''Aviation Week''''' (1947–1958),<ref name="awrename">{{cite magazine |last=Foster |first=John |title=To Our Readers |magazine=Aviation |date=June 1947 |volume=46 |issue=6 |page=5 |url=https://archive.org/details/Aviation_Week_1947-06-01/page/n2 |access-date=21 September 2021}}</ref> '''''Aviation Week Including Space Technology''''' (1958–1959),<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Martin |first=Robert W. |title=A Message from the Publisher: Our 1958 Program |magazine=Aviation Week Including Space Technology |date=24 February 1958 |volume=68 |issue=8 |page=21 |url=https://archive.org/details/Aviation_Week_1958-02-24/page/n10 |access-date=21 September 2021}}</ref> before settling on its current title.

Starting in August 1943, McGraw-Hill published a weekly magazine called ''Aviation News'' to accompany the standard monthly issue.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=McGraw |first=James H. |title=About Aviation News |magazine=Aviation News |date=2 August 1943 |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=7 |url=https://archive.org/details/Aviation_Week_1943-08-02/page/n3 |access-date=21 September 2021}}</ref> In 1947, its staff was reincorporated into the then-renamed ''Aviation Week''.<ref name="awrename" />

==Editions==
Once a month the magazine publishes an edition targeted at the [[Maintenance, repair and operations|maintenance, repair and overhaul]] business.

==Ownership and related products==
''Aviation Week & Space Technology'' is published by [[Aviation Week Network]], a division of [[Informa]]. The magazine is headquartered in [[New York City]], and its main editorial office is in [[Washington, D.C.]]

Its longest run of ownership came when it was owned by McGraw-Hill. It was sold by McGraw Hill to Penton in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |title=McGraw Hill Financial to Sell Aviation Week to Penton |url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mcgraw-hill-financial-to-sell-aviation-week-to-penton-216800071.html |website=Cision |access-date=21 September 2021 |date=24 July 2013}}</ref> It became part of Informa when Informa purchased Penton in 2016.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hussain |first1=Noor Zainab |title=Britain's Informa to boost U.S. presence with Penton deal |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/us-penton-m-a-informa/britains-informa-to-boost-u-s-presence-with-penton-deal-idUSKCN11L0HP |access-date=21 September 2021 |work=Reuters |date=15 September 2016}}</ref>

Aviation Week Network also publishes ''Business & Commercial Aviation'' and ''[[Air Transport World]]'' magazines.

==Notable stories==

===Nuclear bomber hoax===
The 1 December 1958 issue of ''Aviation Week'' included an article, "Soviets Flight Testing Nuclear Bomber", that claimed that the Soviets had made great progress in their own nuclear aircraft program.<ref name="soviet">{{cite magazine |title=Soviets Flight Testing Nuclear Bomber |magazine=Aviation Week |date=1 December 1958 |volume=69 |issue=22 |pages=26–29 |url=http://aviationweek.com/site-files/aviationweek.com/files/uploads/2014/10/1958-%20Soviet%20Nuclear%20Bomber.pdf |accessdate=21 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216204037/http://aviationweek.com/site-files/aviationweek.com/files/uploads/2014/10/1958-%20Soviet%20Nuclear%20Bomber.pdf |archive-date=16 December 2017}}</ref> This was accompanied by an editorial on the topic as well. The magazine claimed that the aircraft was real beyond a doubt, stating that "A nuclear-powered bomber is being flight tested in the Soviet Union. ... It has been observed both in flight and on the ground by a wide variety of foreign observers from Communist and non-Communist countries." In reality, however, the article was a hoax.<ref name="Norris-3">{{Cite web |last=Norris |first=Guy |url=http://aviationweek.com/blog/false-starts-aviation-s-atomic-age |title=False Starts For Aviation's Atomic Age |work=Aviation Week |date=14 October 2014 |access-date=17 October 2014}}</ref> The aircraft in the photographs was later revealed to be an [[Myasishchev M-50|M-50]] bomber and not a nuclear-powered plane at all.

===Soviet reusable space shuttle===
After finding a December 1976 [[Titan IIID]] launch was for a secret [[KH-11]] spy satellite, ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'' editor Craig Covault agreed with the  Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. [[David C. Jones]] to hold on the story, but received details on the [[Buran programme]] which were published on March 20, 1978. It revealed progressively the KeyHole Story after [[William Kampiles]] sold the KH-11 manual to a Soviet spy.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://aviationweek.com/space/behind-scenes-scoop |title= Behind The Scenes Of A Scoop |date= May 4, 2016 |author= Craig Covault |work= Aviation Week & Space Technology}}</ref>

===SR-72 (Son of Blackbird) revealing===
The [[Lockheed Martin SR-72|SR-72]]<ref name="martin">{{Cite web|last=Martin |first=Lockheed |url=http://www.lockheedmartin.co.uk/us/news/features/2013/sr-72.html |title=Meet the SR-72 |work=Lockheed Martin |date=1 November 2013 |access-date=16 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101061641/http://www.lockheedmartin.co.uk/us/news/features/2013/sr-72.html |archive-date=1 November 2014 }}</ref> is the proposed successor to the [[SR-71 Blackbird]]. There were unconfirmed rumors about the SR-72 dating back to 2007, when various sources disclosed that Lockheed Martin was developing a Mach 6 plane for the US Air Force. Such a development was confirmed on 1 November 2013, when the Skunk Works revelations were published about the development work on the SR-72 exclusively in ''Aviation Week & Space Technology''.<ref name="norris-2">{{Cite web |last=Norris |first=Guy |url=http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_11_01_2013_p0-632731.xml&p=1 |title=Exclusive: Skunk Works Reveals SR-71 Successor Plan |work=Aviation Week & Space Technology |date=1 November 2013 |access-date=2 November 2013}}</ref> The magazine dubbed it 'The Son of Blackbird'. Public attention to the news was large enough to overwhelm the Aviation Week servers.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Rupa|last= Haria |url=http://www.aviationweek.com/blog/day-spy-plane-broke-aviation-week |title=The Day A Spy Plane Broke Aviation Week |work=Aviation Week & Space Technology |date=1 November 2013 |access-date=2 November 2013}}</ref>

===New, classified unmanned aircraft flying at Area 51 uncovering===
In a December 9, 2013 cover story, ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'' revealed<ref name="paur">{{Cite magazine |last=Paur |first=Jason |url=https://www.wired.com/2013/12/new-stealth-drone/ |title=New Stealth Spy Drone Already Flying Over Area 51 |magazine=Wired |date=6 December 2013 |access-date=6 December 2013}}</ref> details about a highly classified intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance stealth unmanned aircraft – the [[Northrop Grumman RQ-180|RQ-180]] – that has been developed in secret by Northrop Grumman. The aircraft is currently flying at [[Area 51]] in the Nevada desert and will become operational by 2015.<ref name="butler">{{Cite web |last=Butler |first=Amy |url=http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_12_06_2013_p0-643783.xml |title=Exclusive: Secret New UAS Shows Stealth, Efficiency Advances |work=Aviation Week & Space Technology |date=9 December 2013 |access-date=6 December 2013}}</ref>

=== Lockheed Martin's secret Compact Fusion Reactor project details===
In October 2014, Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works research lab gave ''Aviation Week'' editor Guy Norris access to a previously secret initiative to develop a [[Lockheed Martin Compact Fusion Reactor|compact fusion reactor]]<ref name="norris">{{Cite web |last=Norris |first=Guy |url=http://aviationweek.com/technology/skunk-works-reveals-compact-fusion-reactor-details |title=Skunk Works Reveals Compact Fusion Reactor Details |work=Aviation Week & Space Technology |date=15 October 2014 |access-date=17 October 2014}}</ref> that is small enough to power interplanetary spacecraft, ships and ultimately large aircraft that would virtually never require refueling. If successful, the groundbreaking project could shake up the global energy industry.<ref name="diaz">{{Cite web |last=Diaz |first=Jesus |url=http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2014/10/lockheed-martins-new-fusion-reactor-might-change-humanity-forever/ |title=Lockheed Martin's New Fusion Reactor Might Change Humanity Forever |work=Gizmodo |date=15 October 2014 |access-date=17 October 2014}}</ref>

===Vladimir Putin named Person of the Year===
On its January 16, 2015 cover, ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'' named Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] "The Notorious Mr. Putin - Person Of The Year." On its website, the magazine said <ref name="haria">{{Cite web |last=Haria |first=Rupa |url=http://aviationweek.com/POY |title=Putin's Impact On The Aerospace Industry |work=Aviation Week & Space Technology |date=15 January 2015 |access-date=15 January 2015}}</ref> that "no other person has had a more sweeping impact on aerospace and aviation—for better or worse—than Russian President Vladimir Putin. And for all but the most cynical of observers, Putin's far-reaching impact has definitely been for the worse. Because of this, he is Aviation Week's 2014 Person of the Year." The controversial issue caused a backlash among readers on its comments section and on social media.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

==Past editors==
The editors-in-chief of ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'' (and its past titles) have been:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Name
! Tenure

|-
|align=left| Lester D. Gardner
|align=center| 1916–1921
|-
|align=left| Ladislas d'Orcy
|align=center| 1921–1925
|-
|align=left| Donald W. McIlhiney
|align=center| 1925
|-
|align=left| W. Laurence LePage
|align=center| 1925–1927
|-
|align=left| Earl D. Osborn
|align=center| 1927–1928
|-
|align=left| R. Sidney Bowen, Jr,
|align=center| 1928–1929
|-
|align=left| Edward P. Warner
|align=center| 1929–1935
|-
|align=left| S. Paul Johnston
|align=center| 1936–1940
|-
|align=left| Leslie E. Neville
|align=center| 1941–1947
|-
|align=left| Robert H. Wood
|align=center| 1947–1955
|-
|align=left| Robert B. Hotz
|align=center| 1955–1979
|-
|align=left| William H. Gregory
|align=center| 1979–1985
|-
|align=left| Donald E. Fink
|align=center| 1985–1995
|-
|align=left| Dave North
|align=center| 1995–2003
|-
|align=left| Anthony Velocci
|align=center| 2004–2012
|-
|align=left| Joseph C. Anselmo
|align=center| 2013–present
|-
|}

==Publishers==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Publisher
! Dates

|-
|align=left| Lester D. Gardner
|align=center| 1916–1927
|-
|align=left| Earl D. Osborn
|align=center| 1927–1929
|-
|align=left| McGraw-Hill Publishing Company
|align=center| 1929–2013
|-
|align=left| Penton Media
|align=center| 2013–2016
|-
|align=left| Informa Plc
|align=center| 2016–present
|-
|}

==See also==
* ''[[Air & Cosmos]]'', a similar French-language magazine from France
* ''[[Flight International]]'', another aerospace sector industry journal
* ''[[Jane's Defence Weekly]]'', another defense sector journal
* ''[[Air Transport World]]'', sister publication of ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', focused on serving the airline management community.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.aviationweek.com}}
* [https://archive.org/details/aviationweek Aviation Week Magazine] – Digitized issues from 1 August 1916 to 30 December 1963 on the [[Internet Archive]]
{{Informa}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aviation Week and Space Technology}}
[[Category:Aviation magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:English-language magazines]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1916]]
[[Category:Magazines published in New York City]]
[[Category:Military magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Weekly magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Space Age]]