Me too were sick of pprune (one day I might post the ultimate PM I got from an admin) - but shouldn't I introduce myself in a more positive way?
Like some others, I prefer to not publish my identity as I am self-employed and do not want potential customers to know about my aerial frolics. Of course a bit of serious internet research will soon find me out. Especially when I give away that I fly my own 2-seat ultralight, 80 hp Rotax powered, from EBZH Kiewit.
I post under the name 'fattony' because a) I'm not fat, and b) my name's not Tony :)
I agree that PPRuNe has gone downhill. I stopped hanging out there not long after Genghis the Engineer got banned and all his posts got pulled. They have since seen some of the error of their ways and reinstated his posts at least. But it's a place i dont frequent too often now.
Anyone else intrigued by the PM to which Jan referred? :)
For me the reasons why I rarely contribute to 'the other place' anymore.
1: The management of the Genghis situation was poor (in many aspects). I accept the Private Flying section is just one section, but it was pretty popular and little attention was paid to that.
2: Since the above situation, what seemed like a decent GA community spirit (most of the time at least) effectively got broken up.
3: Little trust in the moderators and the apparent behind the scenes collaborations with personal witchhunts / agenda's of some other kind.
Whereas this place has at least what I want in a forum, and that is decent debate or discussion, a place to come and learn things, and a community spirit even though some of us are semi-anonymous.
Hello all
Thanks for the invite Peter, and congratulations to you and David on what you have achieved with the site so far. I really hope this forum takes off - and with the names that I recognise on here from PpRuNe, I have no doubt that it will.
I will admit to being more of a lurker than a poster generally as I don't feel I have enough knowledge or experience yet to share an awful lot.
I fly from the South East and am a PPL(A)/IMC(r) with night qualification.
I seem to have lost interest in the PpRuNe forum recently, and I feel pretty confident that this site will fill that void nicely in the future.
Nice to meet you all :-)
Evening Gents.
Hi Peter, many thanks for the intro to this forum. Hope I can make a useful contribution from time to time. Great photos on the home page. Best regards.
Congratulations Peter, excellent site and I wish you good luck with it.
I also decided to use my real name!
I contributed on rare occasions to "the other place" and found such a lot of idiotic responses that I gave up. I am really pleased this forum is up and running and I hope to be reading, if not contributing, for many years. By way of an introduction: I fly a Cessna R172K, have about 1500 hours, have private 800 metre strip and find the costs somewhat intolerable these days. Keep smiling all!
A common theme of the postings on here seems to be that people used to post on other forums. I am really pleased to see so many civilised and like minded souls on this forum, and it has started really well.
The most depressing thing on the other main forum is that when someone posts to ask a simple question there will be a predictable response:
There will be around 10 amateur lawyers posting reasons that what the questioner wants to do is illegal, complete with references from the ANO or Part-FCL.
Mixed in with that there will be another 5 on why the N-Reg is the root of all evil.
Then another 2 or 3 saying it is illegal Public Transport and the perpetrators should be disembowelled, and finally a few more ridiculing the original poster for asking such a question that could have been answered by using the search function, or suggesting they must be a PC Simmer.
That is before all the witch hunts start, with certain "elite" forum members accusing some person or organisation of being crooks. Of course this "elite" have access to IP addresses and use them as "proof" that certain posters are the same person under different aliases. This must show official backing from the board owner. Then records from Companies House are proudly revealed to show that heinous crimes are being committed. Of course anyone who questions the crusade is immediately set upon by a baying pack who accuse the doubter of being complicit in the scam.
I can think of one individual who seems to start most of these charades, and just hope he will never be allowed to sully this altogether more refined place!
I agree with you Neil. The other place was my first venture into forums. I saw it as the internet equivalent of chatting around the clubhouse when the weather was too poor for flying. I used to do that as a kid, and was at least tolerated by the many wise old pilot's whose conversation I could learn from. But, you were fact to face, and got branded if you stepped over the line too often. Everyone was trying to be nice anyway....
Now, there really aren't clubhouses around, and my flying happens from home, and my wife and kids are not interested in chatting planes - so on to the 'net. What I find is the same mix of wise old pilots, and eager wannabes, with the newly experienced in the middle. However, like driving anonymously in traffic, people seem to thing it's acceptable to blast away on the horn when they don't like something. You'd never do that to the other driver if you were face to face with them, so why do it now? It seemed similar at the other place.
Like the clubhouse, if you are turned off by some in the group, quietly leaving is a choice. Then the group gets smaller, and perhaps a little less collectively wise!
Happily, this group seems to have drawn from a difficult time in forums, to pull together delightful people with a common mindset. Let us slowly grow into a respected foundation....
