I'm sorry these groups have deteriorated the way they have. *It's
gotten to the point where I no longer recommend (or even mention)
these groups to newbie pilot wannabees anymore, for fear of the
impression they'll come away with. *Quite frankly, it's embarrassing.

Holy Cow Jay, talk about the pot calling the kettle black. You
probably top the list when it comes to OT threads. In the short time I
have been here I have read several derogitory posts from you about
politics, people from other countries, parenting advice, advertising
your bisiness, etc. etc.. Quite frankly, you are causing much of the
embarasment .

Nothing could have illustrated my point more, or better. Yet another
anonymous poster ("F. Baum" is neither "F" nor "Baum") polluting a
thread with bitterness, inaccuracies, misspellings, grammatical
errors, and just plain bad karma.

I've posted on these groups thousands of times over the last nine
years, and have made many good and lasting friends here. I started
here back when I was a new aircraft owner, and have learned more about
aviation than I could have ever learned anywhere else.

To say these groups were a marvelous asset to any pilot was an
understatement. There was simply no better source of information
available, anywhere.

How far we have fallen!

Over time, I came to know most of the regulars here, both on-line and
in-person. I created our "Rogue's Gallery" of Rec.Aviation pilots
(See it he http://www.alexisparkinn.com/rec_aviation.htm) to
provide a place for everyone to show off their planes and where
they've flown, and everyone used it -- back when I used to promote its
existence here.

Our annual "Fly-In Pool Party" and "Rec.Aviation HOPS Party" at
Oshkosh became fixtures with many, many pilots who heard about it here
first. We were one big, happy family, and EVERYONE was welcomed with
open arms -- especially non-pilots.

Sadly, sometime in early 2007, things started to change. The level of
cordial collegiality and downright brotherhood here -- formerly the
best part of this group -- began to deteriorate. Suddenly we had non-
pilots posing as pilots -- and real pilots responding to them with
such brilliant responses as "****wit!" -- over and over and over
again, ad nauseum.

As the level of dispute grew, regulars (like Steve) began to drift
away. It simply wasn't worth the effort to wade through all the BS to
find the nuggets of gold. And without their input, the level of noise
to signal continued to rise, to the point where we find it today.

And all that's left are the "F.Baums" of the world, to pound that
point home.

Now, it's simply impossible to start a thread -- on any topic -- that
doesn't end up a ****ing match between MX and Bertie, or with bitter
lies from other anonymous posters. Sure, we can set up kill-files
that eliminate their posts, but not the inevitable answers and counter-
points -- and before you know it the original topic is lost, and
everyone is an "idiot" or a "****wit"...

It's all terribly sad. But, again, I keep hoping the trolls and
unhappy souls who have found this group will eventually get bored with
it all, and we can get back to piloting.

Merry Christmas, all. May 2008 be a better year here.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"