Vance, I am calling you to the carpet!!!!

[Sv.grainne]

I tried to get Todd to transfer the forum when it nearly fell apart and he would not answer my emails. I even registered and paid for a new domain just in case.

 

[GyroRon]

Then describe it correctly and we are all happy.

He does seem to have an intuitive feel for what will and what won't work with the machine he is flying at the time...and, that his, is not your average gyro.

I didn't come into this thread and start talking about tail slides, and then describe how some certain pilots do them well, etc... That was someone else. Then once " tail slides " started being discussed, all I did was describe what the maneuver being discussed actually was. And truthfully, whatever you want to call the maneuver of dragging the tailwheel only down the runway.... Calling it a tailslide is not far fetched. You are sliding down the runway on the tail...

And yes, Barry is very intuitive. He has extremely good " Seat of the pants " feel for whatever it is he is flying. When he flies a plane, or a gyro, or a helicopter, etc... he flies it by feel, not by instruments. I am the same way. Judging by feel alone, he isn't doing a lot that doesn't " Feel " relatively safe and or doable.

 

[GyroRon]

I tried to get Todd to transfer the forum when it nearly fell apart and he would not answer my emails. I even registered and paid for a new domain just in case.

I highly doubt this forum puts any profit into Todds pocket financially.

I believe Todd's reasoning for continuing to hold ownership of it, is his lack of trust of others, that they would insure preservation of the forum as it is.

You have to consider that in a lot of ways, this forum is like a national library of one of a kind single print single edition important books. If anything happened to this library, those books would be lost forever.

It already happened once. The original rotorcraft forum that was owned by " Norm " eventually the plug was pulled and years and years of important discussion was just simply gone. Same as if a fire burnt down some important library...

People like Chuck Beaty are no longer with us. There is stuff on this forum that you can not find anywhere else, period. You could argue that for social networking purposes, Facebook is a better place... But if you want to research certain topics, this forum is the place to go, and for the foreseeable future it will continue to be the place to go.

So Todd might not really give two craps about gyros on a personal level anymore ( and that is just my guess, for all I really know he might be back to flying gyros ).... But he does care about preserving this bank / library of knowledge. I think that is why he hasn't tried to pawn it off to just whoever else would want it.

 

[rcflier]

Gyro flying is such a niche and that makes this forum invaluable.
For the lives of new pilots - and would-be builders - to come.
Like you write Ron - this is our library of much needed knowledge.


So what if it's not kept perfectly - as long as it's kept at all.

There are many other places to discuss anything else than gyro subjects.
I know it must be annoying to not being able to discuss any and every subject,
because this feels like an extended family - really!

But I suppose it's moderated to be on the safe side of Todd's rules - with a safety margin.

Let's act like grown-ups and say "well, hmm" and then send off a PM or join the other forum also for that purpose.

Because if this place start looking like a FaceBook group, it will be the end.
And so much will be lost...

Live long and prosper...

Cheers
Erik

PS: I read France is todays homebuilder heaven - but how many are proficient in french? I'm not...

 

[GyroRon]

Yeah, I mean in theory, if we had a true off topic area where people could come in and talk about anything and everything, that would be fine. And we have had MANY good off topic subjects that many here have really enjoyed. Stan Fosters stair building posts for example, great topic and a real showing of artwork, and many of us have spent time in his threads over the years.

The problem comes in when the topic is something that might divide us. Politics is one that can really divide us. Could be almost any issue, from Covid... to men using the women's restroom... to should the USA be supporting Ukraine... to any of a high number of political topics. Many people here have very strong feelings about the things they believe in, and they will think anyone that doesn't hold the same beliefs or values to be wrong and it's just too easy over a keyboard to attack people that don't believe in what you believe in. Then feelings get hurt, friendships are broken, and it trickles into other parts of the forum. And even worse is these topics become the only topics that seem to get any activity, all the flying topics seem to get put on the backburner when everyone is too busy arguing with each other over some political discussion.

And funny thing is... go to any gyro fly-in and there it doesn't matter if you are liberal or conservative, doesn't matter if you fly a trump flag or a Biden flag over your tent, at the fly-in politics almost never come into conversation and we are all just a big happy group of people with the same passion for rotorcraft and flying, and drama is minimal or nonexistent.

This is why politics were banned from here many years ago. You can still post off topic stuff, but we just don't want things posted that will stir the pot and cause anger or distraction.

And with so many other avenues out there to discuss that stuff, there shouldn't be any reason for folks to complain about it not being allowed here.

 

[Andino]

As I see it, it's not really an issue of "there are other avenues to discuss politics" but that it's nearly impossible to separate political matters from aviation and life of pilots. Even discussing the FAA can be banned, depending on nebulous "context." That has a "chilling effect" on some posts, and IMO tends to stultify the forum.

I think a more logical moderation policy would focus on volatile dissension vs. a particular subject. I've seen many cordial political discussions here, but steel cage fights over aviation technical issues. To me, the real issue is decorum, not politics. Thus my 2 shillings.

 

[Mayfield]

To me, the real issue is decorum, not politics. Thus my 2 shillings.

To me, worth much more than 2 shillings.

 

[GyroRon]

As I see it, it's not really an issue of "there are other avenues to discuss politics" but that it's nearly impossible to separate political matters from aviation and life of pilots. Even discussing the FAA can be banned, depending on nebulous "context." That has a "chilling effect" on some posts, and IMO tends to stultify the forum.

I think a more logical moderation policy would focus on volatile dissension vs. a particular subject. I've seen many cordial political discussions here, but steel cage fights over aviation technical issues. To me, the real issue is decorum, not politics. Thus my 2 shillings.

I agree with you 100 percent.

Just as bad as any fights were ever had here over politics, we have had worse fights over things like thrustlines or horizontal stabilizers.

I stepped down as a moderator, because I just wasn't willing to spend the time to dig into every thread and every post made each day. Gyro mike I think also did the same for the same reasons. The new moderators I would hope would use some common sense to let some political discussion happen if its at least on topic such as FAA matters or other matters that impact aviation. Regardless of Todds blanket statement of " NO POLITICS " I think the main objective is just to not get into discussion that pits us against each other or have the focus of the forum drift from flying topics into talk about who can use the girls restroom etc... Hopefully Vance and the other moderators can use their brains and some common sense here when it comes to that.

 

[Doug Riley]

Yes, I saw a certain rather outspoken poster from the old Forum nearly get a gang beatdown at a flyin over the subject of horizontal stabs and thrustlines came up. Back in the day, that discussion was as ugly as any political one.

Regulating "decorum" is great in theory. It's so subjective, though, that it's impossible in practice without accusations of commercial bias, personal animosity, and other "unfairness."

.. and, as for tail slides (the negative-airspeed kind), those were discussed on the old Forum, too. Birdy had done them, and talked through how to survive the reversed-control confusion. The closest I ever came to negative airspeed was putting my taildragger Kolb on its nose while facing downwind on the ground. When the tailwind started to lift the tail, Sir Idiot Pilot pulled the stick back. The reversed control of course finished the job of nosing into the dirt. Fortunately, she was a pusher, so no prop break ensued. Just crimped the pitot tube so the ASI no longer worked.

 

[500e]

The mods could perhaps agree about removing posts that appear to be contentious.
There seems to be a difference of opinion and that is not a good place to be, personally I think if a agency is not doing its job you should know.
I await incoming

 

[okikuma]

Vance,

David Volker says hello. I had lunch with David yesterday.

Wayne