Where have all the ladies gone??

[kevmusic]

Well, if you weren't in command, who the **** was??? http://static.pprune.org/images/smilies/badteeth.gif Good to see you back, Whirls! Where the **** have you and Whirly been, from these poor, benighted PF shores? Some calalmity must have overtaken G-EMMA because not only has she disappeared but all her posts have too. Has PF become a chauvinistic, mysoginistic, men-only club? This particular forum is currently degenerating into a bit of a short attention span, aviation-related lads mag. :yuk: Balance badly needed!

[Whirlygig]

Oi, who are you calling a "lady"? :}

Has PF become a chauvinistic, mysoginistic, men-only club? Whaddya mean, "become"? Perhaps a bit of light-hearted banter should be the order of the day.

However, you're right in that it appears as though G-EMMA has de-registered which is a shame; I liked her contributions.

My very good friend Whirly is quite busy at the moment (and yes, you can infer that I am not) so isn't online so much.

Cheers

Whirls

[Pilot DAR]

I recall thinking that G-EMMA took a few (undeserved in my opinion) slags. No matter who we are, we can take a little nonsense, but each has their limit, and they're entitled to it. Everyone is deserving of a shot every now and again, but was it worth a shot, and a one time "win" to have the other person pack up and leave? Very rarely!

I learned a long time ago, when doing battle, you can win most everything, except a person's pride. Once you take their pride, they have nothing else to lose, and why would they stay to fight any more?

Yup, I post a slag every now again, and have taken my share as well, but I am cautious to be mature about it too. I would not want to feel that the "group" had lost a contributor, because I had pushed someone too far.

Let's hope I'm wrong, and that those posters mentioned are just taking a break, and will come back with their valued contributions, to make the forum what it should be...

Pilot DAR

[IO540]

Can you de-register, or do you have to ask the mods to delete you profile?

But yes pprune has changed in recent years.

[stiknruda]

PPrune has changed, and imho - not for the better. I still browse most days but it takes far shorter than it used to as less interests me.

Lots of the old sages no longer post.

[IO540]

The real Q is where the "sages" have gone.

A few years ago, when everybody (who was in the least tech savvy) was posting in Usenet, there was a mass migration to web forums. So, most posters who used to post in rec.aviation.* have gone to American web forums (ones which few pprune readers will ever come across because they really are 99% American-content).

There isn't another aviation forum in the UK where people from here have obviously gone. The flyer.co.uk forum is where a few people have gone but there is very little real tech expertise there and very few tech discussions get very far.

I suspect that a lot of people simply don't have the time to bother.

[kevmusic]

This could be one and the same question. The gels I referred to were/are themselves 'sages' - always made interesting posts - and their absence en masse could lead one to believe it was just a female thing; but you could be right in that most of the quality has fled, leaving - erm, us. :ooh:

[Fuji Abound]

Sadly I find the threads on PPPRuNe to be of far less interest than was previously the case a few years back. In fact I find myself posting much less and only having a quick glance down the threads to see if a topic is of interest. I sense the depth of experience is not what it was.

[IO540]

IMHO there is a long trend for knowledgeable people to spend less time on forums and that this is caused by the en masse move to web based forums.

The problem is these forums are hugely inefficient. Usenet is about 10x more efficient in terms of time wasted browsing postings, but the aviation "fan club" is not on the whole technically savvy enough whereas anybody can use a web browser.

I have tried RSS feed from pprune but it didn't work very well for some reason.

[Whirlygig]

Much of the problem lies in there never being anything new under the sun. When one has been around for a long time, one sees the same old subjects again and again. One joins in the discussion the first couple of times (and I've even been known to copy/paste from my previous replies on the same subject) but after that, well , it starts to pall.

From my own point of view (at the the very major risk of upsetting/annoying folk on here), I find a faction of the posters here a tad tiresome; possibly the same ones as made G-EMMA leave (or maybe not, I don't know). There are those who have 1,000 hours experience and those who have 1 hour's experience a thousand times. I also feel that there is a danger that some people equate General Aviation with Amateur Aviation; private flying also encompasses those with commercial licences and many thousands of hours of varied military and civilian flying. There are those who appear to be completely intransigent to others' views and those who spout wisdom on subjects about which they know nothing. :}

Sorry if that sounds like a diatribe and if anyone is offended, well, perhaps I mean you! :ok: :E Whoever you are!!

Cheers

Whirls

[Lister Noble]

There are those who appear to be completely intransigent to others' views and those who spout wisdom on subjects about which they know nothing.

Sorry if that sounds like a diatribe and if anyone is offended, well, perhaps I mean you! Whoever you are!!

This is a problem,sometimes I don't feel like posting a reply because of all the flack it generates.
Also I wonder if some of the posters actually have a licence and fly?

I miss some of the old knowledgable posters,also some of the newer ones like G-Emma,maybe they'll come back in the Spring when more flying takes place,I really hope so.

The use of a pseudonym is OK for some reasons but it does mean that sarcastic,spiteful,useless posts can be put on forums with no one knowing where they came from.
Lister

[CMDR114]

Its actually Gemma and not Emma, and I believe she has not been well lately. She has not been to our club for quite a few weeks now and others have been asking after her.

Hopefully she will return to the club and this forum in the near future.
John

[Redbird72]

There are a few "ladies" on here, but speaking for myself, being a student pilot and now a newly qualified PPL I don't really know enough to be able to contribute much, so lurk more than post.:oh:

[Lister Noble]

my post is suitably edited;)

Wish her well from me ,and I'm sure many other posters.
Lister:)

[SergeD]

"Also I wonder if some of the posters actually have a licence and fly?"

Some probably have only a fishermans licence :)

Fly fishing, get it?

Sorry!

:)

[Lister Noble]

Is that wet or dry?:D

[Whirlygig]

Oh for Cod's Hake, some people just Carp on and on. I've got a poetic licence as well!

Cheers

Whirls




PS - Hope G-EMMA gets better soon and starts posting again.

[BEagle]

Perhaps to buy some pink headsets??

That brings back memories!

[kevmusic]

....whilst all the above is true, I stand behind my original point. For my part, the girls do provide a calming influence, a dose of vallium in the bearpit, a sense of 'moderation' which goes beyond what BRL and Keygrip, bless their cotton socks, can reasonably provide. Especially when they are seasoned aviators/instructors/students into the bargain. (Yes, I did mean seasoned students!)

being a student pilot and now a newly qualified PPL I don't really know enough to be able to contribute much, so lurk more than post.:oh: I haven't qualified yet, and it hasn't stopped me! :ok: (OOPS! - just walked right into one of Whirls's persona non grata definitions :O)

As I write I see another old topic has been resurrected, so I'll just perch myself here and watch the dace go by.

[kevmusic]

PS get well soon, GEMMA - if you're lurking ;)

[IO540]

The whole of GA needs more women in it, to counterbalance the vast armies of anoraks debating Air Navigation Order Article 26 (1) (a) (f) (g) as it relates to the 500ft rule when flying at 499ft above the sea with a submarine 6" below the surface.

In almost any human activity, it is the social part of it which keeps many people hanging in there.

[Pilot DAR]

There are those who have 1,000 hours experience and those who have 1 hour's experience a thousand times. I also feel that there is a danger that some people equate General Aviation with Amateur Aviation; private flying also encompasses those with commercial licences and many thousands of hours of varied military and civilian flying. There are those who appear to be completely intransigent to others' views and those who spout wisdom on subjects about which they know nothing. http://static.pprune.org/images/smilies/badteeth.gif


I could not agree more!

When I started flying 34 years ago, I was awestruck by the amount that there is to be learned. I made it my mission in life to learn as much as I could. One vital aspect of that was to make it a pleasant experience for those who might teach me, to do so. Without them, I would not progress far. "Those who might teach me" goes way beyond "instructors" and encompasses all kinds of pilots, maintainers and designers, and others like weather people and dispatchers and many more. If I annoy them, they won't share their wisdom. I loose! I am still awestruck by the amount that is there to be learned, and very dependant upon others to share with me, which is how I stumbled upon PPRuNe, I was looking for wisdom.

So I work really hard to simply demonstrate appreciation for those people (and there were many) who gave that little extra bit of time to tell me something, which would help me learn. Sometimes it was a hard and fast rule about how an aircraft is to be safely flown, other times it was a nugget of wisdom, which just taught me how to learn, live and get along better.

I was recounting just last week, to the son of a former Transport Canada staff member, now long retired, how I was a chance witness to his dad offer 20 minutes of completely worthwhile advice, to a new pilot would would be ferrying a float plane a long distance. This was well beyond his responsibility at the time. All of the wisdom was hard learned, keep yourself out of trouble type stuff. Through his generousity, I learned it too, and use it to this day. What dad shared that day, lives on to this day through me (and I hope the other pilot too), and will certainly be passed on. I certainly been a witness (okay, sometimes it was me) to a lot of really stupid stuff done in planes too, and I've learned equally well what not to do!

Although I "have" this kindly given, hard learned, wisdom from all over, it is not "mine", I am the custodian, and honour bound to pass it along in any way I can to help someone else. It is for that reason, I will offer it, as long as I don't get slagged too badly in the process.

But, I'm not done learning either! For me to sit here and tell people I know a lot of about aviation would be silly, I have a huge amount to learn. Does your average "instructor" know it all? I'm sure they're here learning too!

As I went along with PPRuNe, and read some of the more simple questions posted, I realized that I had a reasonable answer, which might help. This group of unknown people under the banner of "Professional", weren't all the wise old owls I had expected, but a true mixture of all kinds. How nice!

So I try to help if I can, ask if I should, and otherwise be either quiet, or nice to get along with. Hopefully, others can take at least one of those feelings away when they read my posts. Okay, I have slagged a few times, it can be hard to stand still during a riot!

As for but speaking for myself, being a student pilot and now a newly qualified PPL I don't really know enough to be able to contribute much, so lurk more than post.:oh:

You have a lot to contribute! If you were helped by something you read, or enjoyed/agree with it, let the group know. The fact that someone might have more experience with something, does not mean that they do not like being appreciated or agreed with, particularly by a person who could be who they are trying to help with their post!

Speaking beyond my authority, I don't think that anyone is not welcomed here, it's just some behaviour which does not fit in well...

Pilot DAR

[englishal]

The whole of GA needs more women in it
Gawd, you'd never be able to get a word in edgeways to ATC, what with all the natterin' going on :} (joke!)

I agree with you though, women bring a whole lot of class to what is otherwise a bunch of geeks in cloth flying helmets standing around drinking tea talking about "manifold pressure" :8 We need more of them....!

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Perhaps to buy some pink headsets??
I was extremely impressed when she sent me a very well targetted hand-made birthday card ... from her hospital bed, it appeared from what she was posting at the time. (I've never met her.)

Pink headsets, to answer the original question, are now regularly on sale.

[Fuji Abound]

Was it at Gatwick the 47 landed and despite being told to turn right on the Alpha turned left towards another aircraft already on that taxi way.

The lady controller was already at her wits end after bad weather in Europe backing up all the slots and pilots getting irate with her for the delays. She gave the pilot a public dressing down.

You complete ****, I told you what to do, but you ignored me and now it will take me 20 minutes to sort out the chaos you have caused. You WILL do exactly what I tell you from now on, when I tell you and how I tell you - do you understand.

There was a long pause, before someone piped up - "was I married to you once".

You could only get away with that in such a male orientated business.

:)

[poss]

Generally I am a lurker of these forums, I will post if I feel my post could be useful but generally I am just here to read and learn. Pprune is pretty similar to a flying club in that there are a mixed amount of individuals from various backgrounds, with different experience levels and knowledge. You do however find that every so often arguements spout from people with differences in opinion or someone reeling off opinion as fact, which then also ends in an argument. The way people are sometimes approached when they are undoubtedly misinformed can be quite rude and unprofessional and so perhaps it's a combination of the same old topics, arguments and rudeness that occur quite frequently that make the 'sages' of Pprune give up and leave.

Speaking of the ladies of aviation I believe they could have migrated to New Zealand as not a day goes by where I don't hear around 4 - 5 different women on the airwaves... many more than what I used to hear on UK radio. I say get your asses over here, fly over a beautiful country and meet some female pilots. :E

[KandiFloss]

Hi all pruners :)

We are still here lurking! From a personal point of view it can be hard to join in a thread as sometimes they are not relevant to me/us. I try to make a point/comment/suggestion, but only if I think that it is relevant as sometimes I see that threads go off on tangents/people start to get stroppy with one another. After all this website is supposed to be for pleasure/advice and not stress :).

Oh yes ... we don't all want to wear pink headsets :rolleyes: mine is a lovely blue noise-attenuating one from 'Pilot'!

best regards, PC

[Whirlygig]

Oh yes ... we don't all want to wear pink headsets :rolleyes:
The reference to pink headsets was not, for once, an attempt at the typical "gender difference" often prevalent in aviation but to a very famous thread which was possibly before your time and now since deleted. You had to be there :ok:

Cheers

Whirls

[batninth]

Lady Whirls 2,

Thank goodnes you cleared that up, I was worried for a moment that someone had spotted a marketing opportunity for headset covers (not unlike mobile phone or BlueBerry covers).

I was getting quite worried that someone would be getting me the "Mr Blobby" spotted covers for mine, but I can sleep easily once more...

[BEagle]

But the original owner of the said pink headset is alive and well and nowadays presents a radio show on the UK's smallest commercial radio station in her own unique way - as those who know her would expect!

I still have text with her now and then.

Back to lady pilots. When I was in the RAF, I found them more 'polarised' than their male counterparts. A few, very few indeed, were a bit 'girly girly' and didn't like getting their hands grubby doing the pre-flight, but the overwhelming majority were keen to do well. If I told a bloke he'd had an 'average' trip, he'd think "Great, off to the pub tonight!". Whereas a lady pilot would think "I can do better than that - I'll work on it tonight!".

I teased one of my lady students once - if I gave her a simulated engine failure at 1000 ft, she'd sort out a pretty good PFL. Same thing at 10000 ft and she'd spend 9000 ft choosing fields! So I told her "I know it's not in the female psyche - it's like expecting you to go into a shop and come out with the first pair of shoes which fits. Which I know from even my limited experience is almost asking the impossible of you! But honestly, any field which fits will be absolutely fine!!"

Lady pilots should definitely look at joining the BWPA - see British Women Pilots' Association - Home (http://www.bwpa.co.uk) .

[Whirlygig]

Same thing at 10000 ft and she'd spend 9000 ft choosing fields!:D:D

I thought that was just me :O It's a matter of wanting it to be right, by which I mean pretty damned perfect (from the instructor's point of view at least). Now, should I aim for the field that next to the pub or the one that's nearer the road?

And I certainly was not happy at being called "an average pilot" :8

Cheers

Whirls

[WALSue]

and we can all use our pink headsets flying for this airline!
Cherryflava: New airline for ladies only (http://www.cherryflava.com/cherryflava/2007/06/new_airline_for.html)

[atceng]

I've got an inkling now of why my new headset in its pink edged ex-skate bag got such a ribald reception,and I thought it was 'cos I didn't buy from the club shop! :uhoh:

[ChampChump]

Same thing at 10000 ft and she'd spend 9000 ft choosing fields!

Ooh, me too!

In fact, when I did have an engine failure at 1100' I was very grateful it was not higher, perversely, some might say.

Yes, we are still here and lurking, just waiting for the right moment to contribute usefully. Or not, just like everyone else :hmm:

[TheGorrilla]

Who cares. What I wan't to know is where all the dirty, filthy women are?
:E

PM me your phone numbers please.

:E:E:E

[BEagle]

And you wonder why ladies rarely appear on this site..........:rolleyes:

[hatzflyer]

Its not only the ladies. I am a recent browser of this forum and one other forum.I recently posted on the other forum ,information that I considered helpfull.
It is obvious that the regulars consider themselves superior and quickly berated my post, so I stopped posting.
They were quick to point out that they all flew superships and could therefore walk on water .
It was apparent from other posts that some of them are claiming to be experienced pilots with 250 hrs (etc).
Not one of them enquired as to my experience (35yrs 178 types well over 5000 hrs on light aircraft) and I found the experience intimidating.

Later one person posted suggesting that the organiser of a fly-in last Saturday at Tibenham was out of order becase they had advertised it on the LAA website but had not advertised it on "their forum".

Well guess what..it was a LAA Forum fly-in and therefor the obvious place to advertise it was on the LAA forum!

Whats more it was me that organised it! Perhaps if they were a little more welcoming to new people I may have mentioned it on that forum!(as I have done on here for the next one 21st March LT Rissington).;)

[skua]

There are others , former bastions of the forum, who have disappeared - Pilot's Pal and Reddo, to name but 2. I trust they are well.

Skua

[Piper.Classique]

Oh, I am still here, but tend to keep my fingers off the keyboard until I have something I consider worth posting.

If TheGorilla would like to visit me, I could if I thought it appropriate refrain from taking a shower for a few days, but would like to see what he has to offer before I decide :}

BTW, perhaps some male pilot can enlighten me here.......Apart from taking an in-flight weewee while still strapped in, in what way does a penis help in flying an aerodyne?

Ducking, running for cover :eek:

[Mad Girl]

BTW, perhaps some male pilot can enlighten me here.......Apart from taking an in-flight weewee while still strapped in, in what way does a penis help in flying an aerodyne?


That cracked me up... :D:D





Now I've got to wipe the coffee off my keyboard......

[Whirlygig]

but would like to see what he has to offer before I decide http://static.pprune.org/images/smilies/badteeth.gif
Not a lot if he has to advertise the paucity of women in his life.

Cheers

Whirls

[Lister Noble]

It's where some of them keep their brain.:}

[hatzflyer]

Holding the stick while operating throttle with one hand and mags with the other?:rolleyes:

[IO540]

Apart from taking an in-flight weewee while still strapped in, in what way does a penis help in flying

Dynamic W&B adjustments perhaps?

[Pilot DAR]

Fuel dipstick?

[bjornhall]

Tow bar!


message too short

[kevmusic]

A good pilot always keeps hold of his joystick in case he goes into a dive.....

[ChampChump]

Well it (or its cohorts) quite definitely had its uses on occasion:

In response to the admittedly rare comment regarding the gender of their instructor in the glider, I would demonstrate the full travel of back stick with the warning lagging only very slightly behind the deed.

'Now I have your full attention, we will continue....'

[TheGorrilla]

Gaddarn! You ladies don't know what you're missing!

Anyway, I said I was after some real filthy women, not politely spoken mild insults from slightly blushing, too prim and proper, well spoken ladies!

Come on!! I'm unshockable. :ooh:

[Whirlygig]

But I can probaly take a good guess :rolleyes: So what, exactly, do you have to offer? 'Cos charm and sophistication certainly ain't on the agenda :hmm:

Cheers

Whirls

[kevmusic]

Cheers

Whirls

Whirls, I love your unflappable signature. No matter how angst-ridden/bored/angry or fed up your post is, that heads-up for better times, or ironic one-in-your-eye, is always there! Good for the soul. :ok:

[Whirlygig]

Angst-ridden? Moi? I don't have an angst in the world :}

Thanks for the compliment though. It started as a way of getting the Pprune Fraternity to realise that Whirlybird and I are not the same person - sort of stuck after that :)

Cheers

Whirls

[TheGorrilla]

Feisty eh?? marvelous! :)

[WestWind1950]

Perhaps to buy some pink headsets??

That brings back memories!

ah, yes... those were the days!!

I myself don't visit pprune as much anymore. The reasons are similar to those already posted. Real life gets in the way, plus the repeating of entries over and over. When I do get here, I tend to just lurk around and see who is still here, but I don't have much to offer in comments so I don't bother.

Because of the above mentioned thread (pink headsets) I had to priviledge of meeting dear Pinkster and a few other prunners in person! It was a very memorable and fun occassion that I will never forget. I didn't get to meet BEagle, though... pity.

I also met Whirlybird once and also Brockenspectre (is she still around?).

Unfortunately I don't fly much myself anymore.... again real life getting in the way. May I brag and say I now have FOUR granddaughters?

Here I am, with all four gathered around me (picture taken on Feb 23)....

http://www.dorrie.de/reports/2009/pictures2009/230209Birthday019.JPG

I true Pprune never leaves.... just disappears in the woodwork at times.

Westy

[ChampChump]

slightly blushing, too prim and proper, well spoken ladies!


I see you have imagination, anyway.

[wsmempson]

"BTW, perhaps some male pilot can enlighten me here.......Apart from taking an in-flight weewee while still strapped in, in what way does a penis help in flying an aerodyne?"

You're quite right - it's a poor substitute for flaps...:oh:

[Final 3 Greens]

Oi! Mr 540!

The whole of GA needs more women in it, to counterbalance the vast armies of anoraks debating Air Navigation Order Article 26 (1) (a) (f) (g) as it relates to the 500ft rule when flying at 499ft above the sea with a submarine 6" below the surface.

I claim copyright on that, as I wrote it or something similar as a joke on a thread.

IIRC, at least one person took it seriously.

[IO540]

Well, F3G, I made it up on the spot, so perhaps we both subconsciously recalled it from hearing it somewhere, which just proves that UK GA is really like that :)

An instructor of mine told me the submarine story, claiming that somebody got done by the CAA for flying at 400ft over the open sea, because there was a submarine just below the water. I didn't believe him, even at the time...

[Piper.Classique]

Feisty eh?? marvelous!

Well, how sad is THAT ?:confused:

[Airbus Girl]

I'm still here, but to be honest, having lurked on pprune for many years, I think the site has gone downhill because there are hundreds if not thousands of anoraks on here who know nothing about aeroplanes, don't fly them but feel they should make dumb comments. So you get 5 pages of posts with about 10 useful ones. It takes a long time to wade through the total dross to get to anything interesting and much of it has been said before.
In fact it would be good for all posts/ threads to get wiped every 3 months!!

And we never get the same interesting posts we used to get - and what was the Agony Aunt forum called? That was always good for a laugh!!

And wow, haven't things moved on. I work as an airline pilot, but get to wear a cabin crew uniform because "our supplier doesn't do female pilot jackets". I get to wear a nice stripey scarf with an open neck shirt. Just like the cabin crew do. But...I do get stripes on my jacket. Apparently then its obvious to every passenger that I am a pilot. Pointing out that BA do have navy pilots jackets is about as useful as banging my head on a brick wall.

And lets see....what else has changed....passengers making rude comments about women drivers and also parking....nope.....passengers thinking a slightly heavy landing has been made by the female pilot when it was in fact the male pilot.....nope.....people assuming I am cabin crew....nope.

Oh well, what do I care, I have fun flying a Pitts upside down :E and flying my Airbus around, sometimes with an all female crew, which is always fun!

I also think car interiors should have starting changing by now - why are they all so boring? There could be much more interesting interior designs for us girls!!! :ok:

[BEagle]

Airbus Girl, regrettably these days very few passengers actually see the flight deck crew, thanks to the paranoia of the sick-urity dweebs.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a341/nw969/Internet/zxzxz.jpg

Your airline seems to be somewhat in the dark ages if they cannot even provide you with the correct uniform. Hardly rocket science, one would have thought.

I quite like functional car interiors - and hate the move towards interiors which are like something out of Currysdigitalcometdixons with absurdly complex 'interface devices'. I once had to use a courtesy M-B when mine was in for servicing and it took me 20 minutes to find out how to set the clock.... I did laugh at a colleague who tried to show off his BMW :yuk: voice-activated radio - it refused to do a damn thing. "You forget to say 'please'", I told him. That didn't work either - we had no radio for the whole journey as he didn't know what the 'direct law' was for his radio. What was wrong with just volume, tuning and waveband as we had in the old days?

But I agree that some interiors are pretty dull.

[Airbus Girl]

Yes, but the passengers do see me walking through the airport at the start and end of the day and always peer through the windows/ flight deck door once we are on board.

One rude (male) passenger, who we had let visit the flight deck (not knowing he was a chauvinist pig!) said, in a very patronising way "oh, so they let women fly now do they!" so I replied "Yes they do. Why, are you a pilot? No? Thought not. Still, I guess it was a male training Captain that decided to hire me and a male training Captain that passes me on all my base and line checks - or are you saying that he is not a good training Captain?"

That one threw him and he shut up after that. :E

As for uniform, yes, I was pretty gobsmacked. It isn't the first time they've had no uniform for female crew, but it is the first time an airline employer has decided that it is perfectly acceptable for their female pilots to wear cabin crew jackets. If they think it is acceptable then why don't they get the male pilots to wear the male cabin crew jackets? Think of the money that could be saved....

Oh I could write an essay!!! :p

[PompeyPaul]

Whirlygig said:
Whirlybird and I are not the same person
Funny. No matter how many time you guys post that, I never believe it!

[500 above]

Collected any more hostie name badges yet el chimpo?

[TheGorrilla]

umm... No, not name badges 500, just panties, big bridget panties in my flight bag.

[Whirlybird]

Hi folks!

I'm still around, and would like to confirm that my good friend Whirlygigand I are definitely different people. As you've noticed, I don't come here very often these days, so this was the first time I'd seen this thread.

My reasons for not coming here a lot...

1) Simply....lack of time.
2) I've been around since before the Private Flying Forum even existed, and I was getting bored. Time for a change. No, not off to another aviation website; there are other things in life you know.
3) Related to (2)...same old threads coming up again and again. There is a limit to how often I can get excited about hours to first solo, or even first trip to France. Perhaps I'm a bit old and jaded, but I decided to leave it to other people to answer things.
4) I work in aviation - I'm an instructor, I write for several magazines, and I recently had a book published. In my time off, I prefer to do something other than.....write about aviation! Again, there are other things in life.
5) This is probably my imagination, but I think it was more fun on here a few years ago.

However, getting back to the original post, I don't think it's just women who have left. Where are LowNSlow, Rightstuffer, and many others whose names I can't think of right now? People move on. It's natural; get used to it.

It's nice to be remembered, so thanks for asking after me. But bye for now, and I'm not sure when I'll be back...though just maybe in the next day or two to see if there's a response to this post. ;)

[Lister Noble]

Whirlybird,please don't go.
There's so much dross ,pedantry and nitpicking on here it's important to me,and I'm sure lots of others ,that we have balanced input from experienced pilots.
So please give it a bit more time before pulling the plug.
Lister:)

[LowNSlow]

Hi Whirlybird, it's been a while since I soaked your shoes with Avgas in Welshpool!! Still around when work is boring but mostly lurking rather than posting. Haven't been on a Private Flying Bash since the Fly! exhibition in 2004!

PompeyPaul, they really are two different people honest. One likes wine, the other likes beer!!!

[Whirlybird]

Lister, I'm not going anywhere, though on re-reading it does sound like that. I just lurk now and then, and post very occasionally, instead of being a PPRuNe addict who annoyed people because I never stopped posting...that happened at one point, honest! Anyway, it's nice to be wanted, so if you keep asking so nicely I'll definitely stick around. ;)

LowNSlow, great to hear from you! Actually, I thought Whirls and I would both drink anything going, but there you are - learn something new every day. But even though we fly the same type of aircraft, have similar PPRune names, and even look a little bit alike, there honestly are two of us. And she's a lot younger than me. :{ Anyway, LowNSlow, if you ever fancy spraying Avgas all over me again, fly into Tatenhill or Derby or somehere else in that area and we can meet up. Or even...another fly-in?

[Pilot DAR]

Thank you to those experienced and helpful contributors, be they experienced at aviation, or just experienced at helpful contributions. Our industry will be safer and more enjoyable if we contribute to each other's learning, which will only happen if we tell our stories, and answer the questions. I've got a lot to learn, and some to teach, so I'll be around for a while. I hope the other "experienced" PPRuNers will stick around, if for no other reason than to see that some of the wisdom passed along actually made a difference!

I'm off to teach aviation to a class full of 11 year olds this afternoon... Let's see if they slag!

Pilot DAR

[Whirlygig]

PompeyPaul, they really are two different people honest. One likes wine, the other likes beer!!!
That won't help PP at all; I like beer and wine and Whirlybird likes wine and beer :} I am a little bit taller.

However, there are a few people here who have seen us in the same room together and can confirm we are not alter egos!!

Cheers

Whirls

[Whirlybird]

A "meet the Whirlies" fly-in? With lots of wine and beer - or do I mean beer and wine - of course. :ok:

[batninth]

However, there are a few people here who have seen us in the same room together and can confirm we are not alter egos!!

Having watched the debate of the past few days over "How many Whirls?", I concur with PompeyPaul, I'm not so sure about this. Having asked the questions of the scientists at Kings College, Easingwold, the answer is not so clear...

Some say that there are two Whirls, identical twins born of different sets of parents on different days.

Some say that Whirls & Whirly are actually clones (which would explain the drinking habits as per post #71), but they also suggest that there may be a little known third clone, WhirlyRound&Around, who flies <hushed tones>Fixed Wing<gasp!> but has been banished to the far North. However others feel that this was actually Whirly in a F-reg Robin of some sort

Some even say that Whirls & Whirly are actually matter & anti-matter versions of each other (evidenced they say that one likes "Beer & Wine" and the other "Wine & Beer". See symmetry) and that should they ever meet they will cancel each other out.

Either way, Whirls & Whirly, us novices do appreciate your help & comments in these pages so I hope that you do hang around & continue to offer all of that useful advice.

[kevmusic]

Either way, Whirls & Whirly, us novices do appreciate your help & comments in these pages so I hope that you do hang around & continue to offer all of that useful advice.

My thoughts exactly :ok:.

A 'Meet the Whirlies' bash! :eek: What a great idea! (I also like beer - real - and wine.)

[Whirlygig]

Batninth, :ok: :}
that should they ever meet they will cancel each other out.
Er ...we have met ... severral times but I suppose that could explain the gravitational black hole that surrounded us :p

Cheers

Whirls

[stickandrudderman]

No jokes about black holes please Gorilla!

[LowNSlow]

Whirly, maybe another Fly-In to Duxford so that ATC can tell you to park next to the B-17 and you'll know which big, green, 4 engined WW2 bomber it is :E:E

Once the sun has got his hat on again a venture up to the Midlands sounds like a great plan.

Talking about names from the past, have you heard from Aerbabe recently?

[Whirlygig]

Had an email from Aerbabe a couple of months ago so she's still with us!!! :ok:

Cheers

Whirls

[Whirlybird]

I hear from Aerbabe now and then. She's definitely still around.

[airborne_artist]

Aerbabe is now on the staff of the ATC squadron nearest to the secret Oxfordshire heli-base :ok:

It took a while for my plan to bear fruit, but she's been around for a month or so. Pretty busy with work, and also working with the ATC Wing organisation quite a bit too. :D

[LowNSlow]

Please pass on my regards next time you hear from her.

[TheGorrilla]

Giggidy Giggidy Giggidy!!! :E:E:E