I started this thread because I thought we had a silent majority of wannabes who felt WWW was doing a good job, especially considering it was voluntary and unpaid. Judging by the number of responses, that has more or less been proved. But there are over 39,000 people registered on PPRuNe, and you're never going to please all of them all of the time.
But the main issue seems to be an opinion among some that moderators should be impartial and always polite. This has never been the case, at least since I've been on around. Read some of Danny's posts! As WWW said, some moderators have a different user-name to express opinions; some don't. And they,like the rest of us, post what they think, sometimes when tired and not thinking clearly, and are sometimes right and sometimes wrong. That is PPRuNe for you. If you don't like it, go elsewhere.
There also seems to be a semi-unstated feeling among some wannabes that the shock of Sept 11th means they should be treated with kid gloves, encouraged, pampered, and protected from what may be the hard reality of the future of aviation. I disagree. Life isn't like that. We want, and NEED, everyone's opinions of the possible future of the industry, whether they're right or wrong, and however painful it may be. If you're going to be a professional pilot, you need to be able to look at possibilities, weigh up facts, and make the best decision in a situation you don't like. You might have to do that at 35,000 feet some day, and hiding from facts or abusing your co-pilot won't help you then. Any of you read "The Naked Pilot"? One of the commonest reactions to a crisis is to pretend it isn't happening, to refuse to face it. It's caused accidents before, and could again. Flying isn't just about learning to manipulate controls; it's about learning to cope with difficult situations. Maybe some wannabes would be better off elsewhere, or waiting till they grow up!
And before anyone says this doesn't affect me, the helicopter industry is quite likely to be flooded with airline pilots with rotary qualifications who go back to helicopter flying - which won't leave much for us rotary wannabes either.