Originally Posted by Danny
Looking for input for an idea I have about a new forum where flight safety reports etc. can be discussed. For example, there are quite a few issues raised in each issue of CHIRP that would warrant debate.
My initial thoughts are that the forum would only be accessible to current airline pilots. The main reason for that is because experience has shown that input from those with little or no experience only serves to inflame emotions and detract from the main topics.
Sorry, Danny. Speaking as someone who would be eligible, I probably wouldn't take part.
CHIRP is already effectively in the public domain - that's why they go to all that trouble to dis-identify contributors. You can talk about CHIRP issues openly here. That's what PPRuNe is all about.
It's always attractive to be in a group that excludes others - until the thrill wears off and everyone wants to go back and join the party! Private forums nearly always turn out to be boring forums. They can be just as emotional and irrational as public ones and can also be dominated by a vociferous few who know less than they think. In any case, sensible discussion of CHIRP issues needs input from non-licence holders and that would be almost impossiible to control - unless you're planning a Danny's Cronies Forum (and I've nothing against that - it's your party).
You say input from those with little or no experience only serves to inflame emotion and detract from the main topics. I think there's plenty of evidence here of those with a _great deal_ of experience doing just that all the time. It's human nature, unfortunately.
Nevertheless there is also plenty of evidence that when people of great experience also choose to talk great sense, everyone else listens. The problem is it doesn't happen as often as it should.
No. Anything we've got to say on safety issues should be said here, open to debate, cross-examination and challenge. Sometimes it's the outsider who asks the most revealing question.