On Sat, 11 Nov 2006 15:32:29 GMT, Jim Riley
wrote in . net:

[rec.aviation.piloting added to cross-post. It was mispelled, so that
the message I am responding to did not show up in that group]

On Sat, 11 Nov 2006 01:49:18 GMT, Larry Dighera
wrote:

I would like to see rec.aviation.stories changed to unmoderated.

I think it would be likely that people would include the group in
cross-posts to other groups, or that followup discussion would also be
posted into the newsgroup, obscuring the longer articles the group was
intended to feature.

When the group was originally proposed, the rationale for moderation
was:

A number of netters brought up this group as a very strong desire
at Oshkosh. People felt that one of the greatest strengths of the
net was the "I was there" stories -- stories which are very
different from the semi-sanitized accounts one sees in commercial
magazines. The desire was to have a forum for these longer
stories, one in which (a) it could be ensured that they'd be
easily found, (b) they wouldn't be intermixed with other stuff,
and (c) they wouldn't get drowned out by follow-ups. A moderated
newsgroup makes sense in this case, and also will allow a final
formatting check to be done to ensure that the articles are easy
to read (line lengths, etc.).

The group was expected to be relatively low volume (perhaps one or 2
articles per week) so that it could easily be hand moderated.

Well, my comment was out of frustration. I have submitted stories
over the years, but they are never approved by a moderator. I presume
that is because no one has been performing the moderation function. In
fact, if you look at the articles posted to rec.aviation.stories
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=group%3Arec.aviation.stories&start=0&scor ing=d&num=100&lr=&as_drrb=q&as_mind=1&as_minm=1&as _miny=1981&as_maxd=11&as_maxm=11&as_maxy=2006&safe =off&
date sorted, you find that the last time the late Mr. Peck's machine
posted the charter there was nearly five years ago, and the last (on
topic) story to be posted there occurred Apr. 25 1998, almost nine
years ago. It seems the group was quite active up until about 1996.

So, given the rationale for moderation cited above, and the desire to
see stories actually published in the rec.aviation.stories newsgroup,
what is the appropriate procedure for establishing a new moderator so
that the newsgroup can become functional again? And in the future, if
a moderator should disappear, what is the proper procedure for
installing a replacement to assume that role?