Just thought I'd add that perhaps some of you need to get out a bit more and read how the rest of the world does professional aviation. If you want to discuss flying instructor issues then you go to the Flight Instructors forum. If you want to discuss how you think Qantas or Jetstar should be managed and run then you either go to the Spotters Balcony forum or the Airlines, Airports & Routes forum. If you want to discuss Steve Irwin then you go to Jet Blast.
It has become very apparent to me over the years of running this website that one of the main problems facing you Antipodeans when it comes to professional aviation is that you have become too insular. You have come to believe that you are somehow special or so different from everywhere else on earth that you are a special case. Well, perhaps it is time to wake up and smell the coffee. The problems you have with airport closures and the difficulty getting that first paid job as a pilot or believing that you know better than the owners how to run an airline or in this case a professional pilots website are not exclusive to Godzone people. They occur all over the world and the only difference is that the scale is different.
Please tell me how can a country with an aviation idustry the size of Australia's warrant such an exclusive forum. You seem to think that because you are tucked away in a huge continent that you have in some way evolved differently when it comes to our profession and everything associated with it.
I have met and flown with enough Australian and New Zealand pilots during my career to understand that those of you who have never had to venture outside of your area to fly professionally seem to think that what you do, the problems you face and the environment you fly in are somehow exclusive and different. Well, let me tell you, you need to get out more often and experience how the rest of the world do it.
As for the spotters, enthusiasts and anyone else who has an interest in professional aviation, you can use this site and the areas dedicated to your enthusiasm or hobby. However, just because something has wings does not mean that it has to be mentioned on here. The numerous threads I have seen that go on about an accident or incident involving some private aircraft just go to show that some of you obviously don't understand what is meant by PROFESSIONAL PILOTS website!
To assist you in coming to terms with the planned changes to this and other forums, and this is by no means comprehensive, you should consider the following categories of professional pilots and associated jobs as they rank for inclusion as topical on this website:
Airline pilots of medium and heavy jets; Airline pilots of regional jets and turboprops over 20t; GA professional pilots of other multi-engined aircraft; Military pilots; professional helicopter pilots; professional pilots of other a/c types including lighter-than-air (powered).
Next we have:
ATC; Cabin crew; Flight engineers; Ground engineers; Flight Dispatchers; Operations; Crewing; Rostering.
Next:
Flight instructors; Groundschool instructors; Wannabe professional pilots.
Finally:
Private pilots (only insofar as they relate to those staring out on their professional training).
Anything else goes into the other forums. Steve Irwin, if you have the urge to say anything then go to Jet Blast. Another more relevant example, if you want to discuss the closing of an airport, even if it affects the jobs of anyone in the previously mentioned categories then you use the Airlines, Airports & Routes forum. Likewise for all the budding airline tycoons who want to debate the ins and outs of which a/c type is better suited for a particular route or the scheduling of a particular city pair or whatever, then use the appropriate forum. It never ceases to amaze me that you somehow think that you know what is best yet you want to keep it insulated from the outside world of professional aviation. If you listened a bit more and stopped preaching so much perhaps you'd get a few more solutions to the "unique problems" that you think you have Dunnunda!
If some of you think that I'm advocating censorship then you need your heads examining. Have you ever tried getting an article or even just a letter published in a newspaper with your views on something? Do you call the editor accusing him or her of censorship because they didn't publish something? Well, I retain the right to decide what does and doesn't get published on here. It isn't your liveliehood or home that is on the line. Far too many posters are under the misguided impression that just because they are anonymous they can make unsubstantiated accusations about named individuals. Well, it is high time that those of you who are under that misguided impression get off this website because I will not protect anyone who makes libelous or defamatory statements without substantiated proof. Too many times individuals on here have tried to use this site for their own personal agendas and been oh-so-brave insulting others when we all know that they'd never use such language or allegations if they were face to face with their target.
I'll repoen this thread so that the discussion can go on but please spare us the semantics and martyrdom speeches. The issue is PPRuNe and how the content is going to be related to PROFESSIONAL PILOTS and the associated areas mentioned above.