I completely agree with John Benario’s comments about the foul language in the LZ. It gets pretty tiresome. I also will not bring family members to the LZ. I can and do swear with the best of you all but I do try to be aware of who the unintended audience might be. I think that you all and I can mange our mouths well enough to let our LZ be family friendly.

I think we need to ask ourselves what type of people take up HG or PG as a hobby and hang out in the LZ. They’re the kind willing to push their boundaries to the limits, the kind that get super stoked after a flight, the kind that enjoy a cold beer after a day of flying, and sometimes the kind that will scream at you at the top of their lungs, because you didn’t land where they wanted you to land. It’s an emotionally-charged place. If we tried to make the LZ a quiet and proper place, we’d have to kick a third of our membership to the curb. Even the quiet ones have had their moments.

It’s probably fair to say that most of us do our best to watch our language if we see young kids around (which doesn’t happen very often at the LZ), but since most of the time we’re surrounded by adults, we might let a word slip here and there, because that’s part of our ‘normal’ in this environment. Maybe I’m wrong, but if I were to guess, other LZs with our size of membership probably experience the same occasional emotional turmoil and drama.

I don’t like censorship. If I don’t like the way someone handles a conversation, I don’t engage them, because I can already guess how it might go for me. All I can do is urge people to think before they speak or yell and try to figure out how to get the message across without placing the other person in impenetrable defense mode.

I still advocate the 3 strikes rule, and think it’s a good compromise. There is definitely a difference between “colorful language” and repeatedly dragging down the rest of the forum with insults and threats. There has to be a limit and if a warning followed by a 30 day suspension aren’t reaching that individual, then it’s likely that they have no intention of changing their ways. This forum has got to be welcoming and usable by as many in the community as possible.

Sorry – I just don’t see what dragging it out accomplishes? I want everyone to be included and participate, and I take the censorship thing very seriously, but 3 strikes for posting in a forum is more than enough. This isn’t a case of someone blurting something out and then regrettting saying the moment after. There is ample opportunity between getting mentally fired up, typing out a reply, and clicking “Submit” to exercise a little self control. I think the fact that this is the first instance since the new website went live that anyone has even considered banning a person from the forum is testament to just how open it is. I’ve only heard of one other instance on the old site where this was necessary and I’ve yet to see any posts from any other participants (no matter how much I might disagree with them) that made me think “ban this person.”

I’ve wondered why we allow any non-members to post in the forums, other than the “Marketplace” and “Rides” areas?  This is a club forum, paid for by club member dues.  There is probably value to CSS members from external posts on gear and rides, but the other forum areas?  Why?

Just my opinion, but I don’t see anything wrong with letting anyone in the flying community post here. As long as we can all behave ourselves, I think there’s value in letting folks who may not fly here regularly (and might not be regular members) join in on discussions. To my knowledge, we’ve really only had an issue with a couple of people in the entire history of the site’s forum (both the old one and the current one) – that’s actually surprisingly good.

Many thanks for the thoughtful and respectful discussion on this difficult issue. It seems only common sense our forum is for free flight issues and should be open to a wide audience in order to share the collective experience of pilots for the benefit of others. Discussions outside of free flight topics are more appropriately addressed in other forums.

I don’t understand why things often regressed to personal attacks or why the language could be so foul. It just doesn’t make sense if you’re goal is to persuade.

I was a minor victim of a Mitch rant and it seemed so silly. He has no knowledge of my background or experience, did not know the facts of the incident I posted on the forum, yet concluded I was emotionally incompetent. It made me wonder about Mitch’s emotional health.

I don’t know Mitch, but I looked him up and found amazing videos of his flights. He is clearly a gifted pilot with experience and insights we could all benefit from. I agree with a three strikes rule, and hope it is very rarely enforced. I also hope we find a compassionate way forward with respect and forgiveness. Our sport is always at risk of regulation from government or insurance companies or even public perception. We do not need division. We need to “hang” together.

Billie:

Sorry, I should have been more clear.  I was agreeing that we have some non-member, regular contributors who add value to the forum.  You were an excellent example.

Guess I owe you a beer :-)

– Alan