Jay Honeck writes:

Pilots are an interesting breed. I've met dozens (hundreds?) of them over
the years who will state something as fact, but will not (or can not)
explain themselves when questioned. The whole attitude is that they are so
incredibly experienced that no one should deign question their authority on
the matter.

Pilots are not unique in this respect. Many people are this way. It is a
common personality characteristic, but not a universal one.

I don't understand this characteristic fully, as I do not share it. If I tell
someone something I know, I rather expect him to look it up, as I would. It's
surprising if he takes it as gospel. I am not offended if he choses to verify
what I say.

Trouble is, MX, I'm afraid you have burnt too many bridges behind you to
expect any further cooperation here. This thread is evidence that your
message is no longer important to many posters here, even when what you're
saying precisely parrots Bob Gardner's excellent book "The Complete
Instrument Pilot".

Bob Gardner is occasionally on this group himself (or at least someone
claiming to be him is). I wonder if he would feel compelled to argue with me
as well.

The stuff I have from Bob Gardner is so well-worn that the pages are starting
to fall out, and I still have more on my wish list at Amazon.

Anyway, I'm not worried about burnt bridges. All newsgroups have a steady
turnover, so there are always new people to talk to. People with the attitude
you describe are generally incompetent, so if they choose not to enter into
discussion, so much the better. And there are always a few people who don't
suffer from these problems and _do_ know what they are talking about, and will
discuss aviation objectively no matter what the brat pack does.

Since you're already semi-anonymous, you might try laying low for a few
weeks and coming back under a new name? Hell, you might even try using
your own?

I've been using this pseudonym for years and I don't see any reason to change.
I keep it to be slightly more anonymous, although anyone who expends even a
modicum of effort can find out who I actually am. I originally adopted it to
protect my erstwhile employer.

I find that, over time, a gradual filtering process occurs: the stupid people
stop talking to me entirely (which is fine) as they exhaust themselves with
their own tantrums, the average people get over their emotional reactions and
become more civil and eventually engage in useful interaction, and the smart
people never suffer from these issues to begin with. Sometimes people who
behaved foolishly at first become embarrassed by their initial behavior and
tell me "well, you've changed," when in fact _they_ have changed in their
interactions with me (I haven't changed in decades).