I am addicted to PPRuNe

[HighFlyer75]

As someone who has recently come back to flying after a bit of a break, I naturally hit the web and started searching for all things aviation. One constant in pretty much all of my searches was that there was at least one pprune thread that appeared in my search results. So, naturally I joined - on 6 April this year - and I have been addicted ever since.

I have done some training in Australia and I am currently living in Sweden in the middle of planning a trip to the US to do a UK JAA PPL and an FAA PPL. As you can imagine, this has resulted in extensive use of the search function as well as two threads raised by me so far. On top of that, it seems like every time I am near a computer I just can't help logging in and clicking that 'New Posts' button. My renewed interest in aviation (never really went away - just didn't have the time) has left me hungry for any titbit of information....so I pretty much read them all. I am not at a point where I feel I have much to offer in most cases, but I hope this will change soon.

It is clear from reading many of the threads that there is a lot of very knowledgeable people out there who are more than willing to share their knowledge and interest in aviation and for that, I would just like to say thank you. I have also noticed that there are a core group of members who seem to respond to many of the threads with information that can only be described as excellent. Of course, not everyone agrees with each other but the discussions are always entertaining. On the negative side, another common occurrence is the "experts" who seem to want to do nothing but put people down. If these people have half the experience that they brag about (and that I would kill for), it would be nice to see them use it for good rather than to belittle people who ask a question that they didn't like. To all you potential thread starters, by all means use the search function and google the hell out of things but, if all else fails, don't let the haters put you off asking your questions. The good answers will far outweigh the bad.

So there you go....this thread has not much relevance to anything I know, so for that I am sorry. Anyway, more than 5 minutes have passed since I pushed the magic 'New Posts' button and I am starting to get the shivers so I have to go.

Thanks again ppruners for feeding my addiction.

[Sir George Cayley]

I am too. Don't worry 'bout it. Go with the flow. The Priory Hospital Group have an addiction therapy course if it's a real problem. (Other service providers may be available).

Sir George Cayley (Whoops time for me pills)

[Saab Dastard]

Most people can be cured of their addiction.

Those that can't are moderators. :p

:ok:

SD

[BackPacker]

At least you're not in denial. That's a start...:ok:

[Molesworth 1]

On the negative side, another common occurrence is the "experts" who seem to want to do nothing but put people down. If these people have half the experience that they brag about (and that I would kill for), it would be nice to see them use it for good rather than to belittle people who ask a question that they didn't like.


Very well said:D:D:D

I think this sort of attitude is symptomatic of the commercial side of aviation (read "Fate is the Hunter"), which thankfully is not part of the GA ethos.

[renrut]

Don't worry about those so called 'Experts' They are so full of their own self importance that they think they can do nothing wrong. An accident waiting IMHO.
Dennis (with enough experience not to brag about it)

[cats_five]

Switch to photography, then you can get addicted to Flickr. :hmm:

Being serious, it strikes me that Pprune is like the rest of the Internet - caveat emptor. Take everything with a large pinch of salt especially if you haven't the faintest idea who the author is. There are some people whose writings on almost anything should be taken seriously, some who you can take seriously on a few subjects, and a great many you should ignore. The skill is sorting the wheat from the chaff.

[Pilot DAR]

Wheat from the chaff.... If only the originator of that analogy could come to know how fitting it would be for PPRuNe, and the internet, in general!

The role of those who present themselves as "experts" is to temper your addiction, so you feel right about walking away from the screen (probably muttering "pratt", "troll", "jerk", or some similar term) from time to time, to experience what real life is. The internet is interrupting those trips to the flying club, to witnsee first hand, the experts telling much the same tales, only with their hands also flying through the air! At the least, the "experts" have a live audience, and may have to justify what they say in person!

The problem (as already presented) with the posts, is that until you have read thousands (oh, it sounds like you have!) it can be hard to tell if the familiar posters are credible. Wierd is the feeling to read a person's posts for months, thinking your learning something, then read their proud announcement that they just did their first solo! Well, congrats, that's great! (and thanks for letting me know what credibilty to assign to your posts all about IFR Transatlantic flight!)

Your addiction will subside a little on it's own in good time, don't worry...

Now..... I'm late for checking eBay!

[Pace]

Hyflyer75

You have to accept that in any sort of forums firstly everyone loves a puch up, some will encourage a puchup and no one (or very few) would act in face to face life as they do in forums.

Having said that there are some very detailed and knowledgable people around. There are several who know their stuff in different areas of aviation.
One might be in aviation law or all things legal. Another might be in all things mechanical etc. Whatever there are enough experts around and plenty to jump on you if you make a mistake.

I have noticed that most threads start ok then go through various phases before the truth comes out then they die.

You never really know who you are talking to.The guy who claims to be a 747 Captain with 20000 plus hours may turn out to be a 13 year old kid who is good at googling and pasting his answers.

Whatever you do get to know the real deals, their style, areas of expertise and above all their characters even in a faceless text invironment.

A few you get to know for real outside the forums or find out you know them for real outside the forums.

Its a small world!!!

Pace

[IO540]

The upside of the capability of the internet to support "story telling" is that the stories are proportionately easier to verify... as quite a number of former forum posters will know :)

Has pprune ever had a meet-up or a fly-in?

[Keef]

Walter Mitty is alive and well and posting in PPRuNe under various aliases. Don't worry about it. Trust those you've come to trust. Reading in for a while will indicate - as you've already found.

Yes, there have been PPRuNe meet-ups. I've supped ale in London with BRL and a happy group of others on more than one occasion.

[Saab Dastard]

There was at least one PPRuNe PPL fly-in, to Compton Abbas. Must have been 2003.

SD

[HighFlyer75]

Interesting thoughts...thanks everyone.

When I was 13 and pretending to be a pilot it involved sitting on the couch looking out the window and using a broom stick as a joystick while mimicking the appropriate engine noises......but I guess times moves on. Now it seems that it involves creating a profile that says you are a 20000 hour 747 captain and posting on forums.

Still, I think that overall I am better for having my addiction :)