I am a current member, but the forum has one or two “strong personalities” on it, and I have hardly posted since a skirmish with one of them. I don’t need the hassle in my life, so I doubt I’ll renew.
All forums have personalities where run ins can occur. I think PPLIR does excellent work representing IFR flyers in Europe. The forum is perhaps a little more serious and less chatty than here but that isn’t always a bad thing. I am a member and think I get good value from it.
I have hardly posted since a skirmish
It takes two to have a skirmish 
Don’t let one person on a forum, that you have probably never met, ruin it for you. There are some people both here and there that can appear somewhat abrasive, but that is something that we should learn to deal with. Once you meet them in person you might actually turn out to actually appreciate them.
Aviathor wrote:
It takes two to have a skirmish
Two and a moderator actually!
Life’s too short, I don’t need to bother so I won’t.
I get on with everyone I know in flying, from the powered parachutists and microlighters to heavy bizjet types, and I’m well aware that the keyboard is no way to get a delicate message across so I’m pretty thick skinned.
I am always amazed how well it works on here, we are all a little abrupt at times but we all rub along. I sometimes wonder if the fact there are so many forumites that are using English as a second language makes everyone more tolerant. I can barely order a coffee in a foreign language let alone converse on technical aviation topics, so I am full of admiration for those who can, and would also probably just skip over anything that might be considered abrasive as a subtlety which was possibly lost in translation.
Hey, i can order a COFFEE in japanese now! :-) But it took me three weeks …
Neil, I’m going to put my neck out here and guess that the person you skirmished with on PPL/IR had the initials ML?
If so, he’s skirmished with just about everybody, so I’d forget about it and move on!
I want to keep out of this but the only candidate for “ML” is a really nice guy who doesn’t fit that description at all.
I’m not sure we’re talking about the same person then…
As you of all people know, it’s really hard moderating any forum when there are strong personalities about. There’s a very fine line to be trodden which is sometimes difficult to judge.
PPL/IR do a huge amount of good work for the IR flying community, and it seems a shame that someone is considering not renewing their membership over a pretty minor spat that happened on their forum.
There is only one “ML” in the current member list.
As you of all people know, it’s really hard moderating any forum when there are strong personalities about
Not at all Steve. Most pilots have relatively strong personalities (you have to be, to hang around long-term in GA) but my mod workload on EuroGA is extremely low. Of course the main reason for that is that people here are smart enough to not get aggressive and personal, and they know that if somebody posted something like what recently posted on PPL/IR, it would be deleted instantly – especially as it contained an extract from a private email. Instead, it was left largely in place, with the apparent support of the Exec Committee (to whom I complained). If that happened here we would have a revolt, and rightly so.
There’s a very fine line to be trodden which is sometimes difficult to judge.
People rarely get excited over “fine line” cases, however. It is how the blindingly obvious cases are handled that can drive people out.
I don’t enjoy engaging in this debate (as a PPL/IR member, for the time being, anyway) but PPL/IR manages to shoot itself in the foot from time to time, via certain individuals rising to the top and doing a lot of damage there. Most volunteer organisations have the same problem.
If it’s the ‘ML’ I’m thinking about, no need to cancel just because of him.
I find PPLIR very good. Huge amount of knowledge, best IFR airport reports anywhere, and the lobbying effort is well organised (and great value for money, given how much time some extremely knowledgeable members dedicate to it on their own dime).
