I don't generally visit often because I get frustrated by the politics where the rules are discussed more than the topics in hand.
I was made aware of this discussion by a friend. I visited to see if anything incorrect was being said about my helicopters so that I could protect my interests. I am not fully conversant with the rules, but I tend to respect principles rather than rules. What I mean by that is that I realise you and I don't want to see adverts with people trying to sell us stuff when we are after sensible discussion.
In this case, I really was answering a question that could easily be of interest to others on the group (as others had shown an interest in the thread). To that end, I didn't consider it advertising because you already knew they were for sale, I was just giving more information as it was requested. If I advertise a car, then someone asks me questions about it, I don't consider that to be advertising.
If anyone really thought I was trying to get them to buy my aircraft (as in advertising) then I am sorry for that. I understand that the moderators have got to do their job and I don't criticise them for that as the group will come down on them if they don't.
Then there was RPM_AWARE's sarcastic reply
"I've got some stuff I was gonna put on eBay....can I advertise it on Rotorheads now "
My answer would be that if you are advertising somewhere else and someone on here wanted to discuss the items, then that would be fine. To censor it would be on the safe side of the rules, but that would be to the detriment of the enquirer.
Looking at other threads, there is one in 'Private Flying' called 'Credit crunch and cheaper flying' . In there, they detail flying clubs and their prices. Now this is far closer to advertising than anything I wrote, yet I guess that because it was written by someone other than the proprietor, it is acceptable.
So in summary:
I didn't consider it to be advertising in the offensive sense.
(after subsequent reading) There are other threads that are far closer to advertising than mine.
It disappoints me that this thread is more about the rules than helicopters and that (some vocal) people are more excited about rule breakers than real discussion.
BTW my two consecutive replies above were because I thought the first of the two had been censored. - Sorry!
I hope that clears this matter up.
Best Regards to all.
Steve