AN SLF's perspective
Rainboe/PJ2,
I think you both raise very valid points over the quality of post's by unqualified people - after 8 months or so of reading this even I can pick out the quality from the dross. As from the title you can see I am such a person, however I do find it a bit off that you tar all of us with the same brush - there are quite a few of us that only post when it is sensible to do so, make our status known when we post and engage in what we consider to be sensible discussions raising valid quiestions/points to hopefully further the ongoing discussion.
I myself am a little irked such as you both are when people make comments out of hand clearly displaying a lack of understanding or even of having read the thread. I think the policy should be if it is not going to add value dont post it (regardless of one's status) and mods delete it if it does not.
What I would say is that if you restrict this to only true professional pilots then you will be missing out on the different perspectives other people from other walks of life can bring - i.e. what about maintenance staff, cabin crew and flight engineers ? Your status being professional pilots is one to be respected however it could be in some situations your training and experiences lead you to think along particular lines whereas it may take someone unskilled such as SLF to pose different questions that then prompt you to consider other items (I am not saying that happens but it is a possibility).
My final point about clamping down on the forums is that it provides a great service to the populous. In reading this I see past the dross reported by SKY/BBC, the sensationalist junk printed in the press and get to view a balanced discussion of events in aviation. These forums provide an avenue that should there be a valid question, I can ask it and typically a professional pilot will answer it completely and factually - this is invaluable as you dont often meet a professional pilot down the pub and you cant exactly go bang on the cabin door when in flight saying you have a question.
In summary, whilst I agree there is a problem, I would hate to see a clamp down to address this - I would much rather people made their status known and were encouraged to consider what they were saying before hitting the submit button. I would much rather have to ignore the chaff rather than lose the use of a valuable resource.
Well I said my bit, have a good day - I am going back to reading rather than writing now.
Cheers
Jofm5
p.s. No Flight Sim or PPL - just fascinated since visiting a B737 flight deck.