I want to thank the likes of DaveReidUK, Squawk7700, physicus, junior.VH-LFA and jabberwocky82 for their attempts to keep this thread professional despite the intrusion of people who are neither knowledgeable nor considerate. I find I don’t have the patience I used to have, when I would try to explain to newbies on this site that there are a great number of ppruners who are true professionals, with vast experience and knowledge in the various sub-disciplines of aviation.
I wish these forums could be more like the discussions one has with one’s aviation colleagues and friends – informed, challenging, diverse, and thought-provoking. Alas, the threads are often more like the discussions one overhears in a pub, among people who have “a little knowledge” (a dangerous thing, we know…) and seem to need to prove the point.
I spent an hour or so yesterday composing a factual response to some of the more outlandish suggestions by a person who had seized on this thread, seized on a theory re the accident, and didn’t want to let go -- but I simply gave up after realizing that his / her reactions to other responses were not those of someone who could engage in a professional exchange of views.
I truly enjoy it when people who are not aviation professionals ask questions, as it’s clear they simply want to know more and are interested in the subject at hand, as opposed to those who post on pprune as if they were posting on a sensationalist news or chat site. As one of my first instructors said half a century ago, “Grizz, there’s a time to transmit and a time to receive.”
Old Fellow Rant Mode off -- and thanks again to those who are patient enough to try to keep these threads deserving of the term “professional”.
Last edited by grizzled; 24th Jan 2020 at 22:00.