Every day close to 1000 people read our site.
On average they read 7 pages, so they are real people, and probably pilots or other aviation-interested people and not just people who found EuroGA after searching for a holiday to Italy and found a thread mentioning Italy. They also aren’t bots. Actually there are not many bots these days anyway.
Obviously only a small % of these people post here.
The Q is… why not?
Obviously this is a huge general issue in all of our society. But that doesn’t mean one should not ask the Q.
I suspect “because reasons”: it’s not atypical. When I ran a forum the lurker:poster ratio was usually about 10:1 or more. I think that’s pretty typical regardless of the subject matter.
I sometimes don’t have the knowledge to contribute but I want to learn so I read a lot. Also sometimes I don’t have the time to write posts ;( But I keep trying.
Peter wrote:
The Q is… why not?
My main reason for not posting – even if I think I could contribute to a topic – is no access to a proper computer. On most working/flying days I have lots of time to spare between flights, but I find typing on tablets and especially smartphones (which I both carry with me all the time) more and more annoying. To an extent that I really only read. And when I’m back home in the evening (or the next day), some of the most interesting threads have grown to a size where a contribution would get either lost or reapeat something that has already been written. An example is the latest “fuel totaliser” thread that I followed when it was less than one page long but had grown to 5 or 6 pages by the time I had comfortable typing access to the internet!
I am much more a reader than a feeder (if that is the correct expression). I think this is a great forum, with people who are much more knowledge than me. I would feel like a bit of an imposter for the most part if replying to a post for which I knew little about.
It is a great forum and one can get a huge amount of useful information which I think is the main point.
It is a credit to the forum that a small number of very knowledgeable pilots (especially Peter) spend a huge amount of time posting and answering questions.
As someone who has never posted before this forum a few weeks ago, my impressions so far is that sometimes it feels like the threads are kind of a “private” session between a small group and when someone else (me a few times) contributes, you get jumped on and made to feel silly. I have a thick skin so am persevering but for most people, they would just stop posting but keep reading so they can garner the useful information. Clearly, that is not in the best interests of the development of the forum so I think we all need to recognise that when you see a post from someone who is new or rare, we should be a bit more “easy” on them to encourage them to be a part of the conversation.
I also sometimes think we forget what brought us all to Aviation….our love of flying. We need to remember that is something we all share as aviators.
I think that the physical meeting is a great idea since I think a lot of barriers come down when you meet in person. More of these impromptu flyins even if only 3 or 4 turn up for a £100 hamburger is great.
Nothing can stops me 
I can type on mobile, tablet, while driving, while flying
Cirrus_Man wrote:
my impressions so far is that sometimes it feels like the threads are kind of a “private” session between a small group and when someone else (me a few times) contributes, you get jumped on and made to feel silly.
Strangely enough I find this forum free of the cliques found elsewhere. Why don’t I post more? Often others have said what is on my mind, sometimes I feel I do not have the knowledge to make a meaningful contribution and sometimes I am pre-occupied with more important things than flying ( they do exist ) and occasionally I just do not want to make a fool of myself so I tend to read and learn.
People shouldn’t feel intimidated.
I’ve moderate VFR experience coupled with a UK IMC (IR restricted) on basically one model of aircraft – PA28 variants.
I’m at the top end of the age range and only average intelligent (in my opinion) and grasping and retaining all the information on EuroGA is not easy.
I don’t mind appearing stupid (ignorant should I say), only hope my betters don’t ‘rub it in’.
I say ‘get in and post’. The one rule at EuroGA seems to be that you won’t get ‘shot’.
Spellchecker
I’m a bit dyslectic and my spelling is not good – I compile in MS Word (spell check works), then C&P to the site.
How do I re-connect EuroGA back to my Windows (Word) spellchecker ? – it did work at one time, but seems I’ve done something to my Win PC installation to kill the ‘checker’ while on this site.
On the one occasion I did receive a bit of criticism (ignorance and inexperience about crossing The Alps) a post soon arrived saying in effect ‘take it easy on him – we all had to start somewhere’.
