Civil-Spotters Google Group

[colinhunn]

See the above has been closed down for the second time by Google. Whatever keeps causing this? Has a replacement been open yet?

[SLXOwft]

Is this what you are looking for https://groups.google.com/g/civil-aviation-enthusiasts/about ?

[SpringHeeledJack]

If you click on the 'conversations' tab you will find it is deemed banned content due to several naughty-step issues.

[janbroe]

Paul Hooper and I have come to the conclusion that it is time to admit defeat - either an individual continues to fire the fatal bullet or Google seriously considers aviation to be improper in some perverse way! Anyway, we think it's time to move away from an organisation that doesn't seem to have a clue about how an online community should operate. Thus, after at least five iterations of the mailing list during Paul's tenure as list owner, almost twenty years, it would seem that resurrecting the list after each occasion that it is hacked down is a fruitless exercise which will no longer be conducted. Therefore the Civil Spotters mailing list will be considered as permanently closed down by the current administration.
The use of Facebook to facilitate the distribution of worldwide aviation information is not the optimum option but is one that we need to experiment with. Should we start a new group or should we utilise the already in-place CAE group? The latter would seem to be the obvious choice even though it might upset a percentage of the current membership.
If you have contact with former members of C-S please advise them that their posts should in future be directed to Civil Aviation Enthusiasts on Facebook.

[janbroe]

Funny thing is, there were never any 'naughty-step issues' on any of the two lists...
But the lists were shut down by Google with immediate effect and it is impossible to appeal the decision - or get in any kind of contact with their support...

[SWBKCB]

If you click on the 'conversations' tab you will find it is deemed banned content due to several naughty-step issues.

What it says is:

Civil Aviation Enthusiasts has been identified as containing spam, malware, or other malicious content.

At a guess it's probably the daily distribution of emails with a similar title that triggered some spam algorithm?

[SpringHeeledJack]

Perhaps I should have said "what Google deems naughty-step issues". A shame indeed for the admins of the spotters group. Perhaps inevitable when some algorithm decides what is ok, or not, rather than a human with rational thought processes.

[DaveReidUK]

A sad reminder that, contrary to the old saying, Google is not your friend ...

[ATNotts]

A sad reminder that, contrary to the old saying, Google is not your friend ...
In terms of collecting data about you "you are Google's friend"!

[MAC 40612]

Funny thing is, there were never any 'naughty-step issues' on any of the two lists...
But the lists were shut down by Google with immediate effect and it is impossible to appeal the decision - or get in any kind of contact with their support...

Jan, this seems to be affecting a number of aviation mailing lists I'm on, with many experiencing similar problems to your list, to the point a number have migrated to other platforms, the two main ones being

groups.io

and mailmanlists

both of which seem to work fine

[SWBKCB]

I believe that neither of those are free, with charges based on the number of members.

[ATNotts]

I believe that neither of those are free, with charges based on the number of members.

If this is the price of a stable host then I think many subscribers of aviation groups would willing pay a small fee. I, and I suspect most of us, are old enough to remember when aviation societies such as LAAS, MCAS, TAS, CSAG charged an annual subscription for a monthly magazine; now and for some years people have been fortunate to get the info they want, in a much more immediate format than a monthly magazine, for free.

Perhaps we are seeing the end of these "halcyon days"?

[dixi188]

Wasn't "Halcyon Days" a Courtline 1-11?

[treadigraph]

Yup, G-AXMI, went to Dan-Air as G-BDAE after Court's demise...

[ATNotts]

Wasn't "Halcyon Days" a Courtline 1-11?
Great! You got my hidden reference:ok:

I recalled TriStar G-BAAA carried the 'Halcyon Days' name, but had it in my head that the 1-11 was the first pink one G-AXMF. Having Googled Court aircraft names I can see I was wrong.

I didn't realise there was another 1-11 named 'Halcyon Days', G-AXMK, which appears to have been with Court at the same time as 'MI. Again looks like my memory is mistaken as I thought all the 1-11 fleet carried different names.

[treadigraph]

I've got 'XMK as Halcyon Star.

I see the TriStars were Halcyon Days and Halcyon Breeze, both names shared with 1-11s. I wonder if this was some kind of ill-omen? :=

[dixi188]

There was also a "Halcyon Daze".
I remember the hangars at Hurn with the colourful 1-11s when they were being built.

[janbroe]

The Civil-Spotters mailing list has been resurrected!
With the kind sponsorship of Air-Britain we have set up a new list at
[email protected]
which we hope will operate in just the same way as previous iterations. Hopefully former members of the list who subsequently joined the CAE group on Facebook will join us by taking up membership of the new list and assist us in returning it to being the successful medium that it has been for the last thirty years! This should be the way to overcome the problems that we experienced with Google Groups.
To start the joining process please send a blank email to
[email protected]
You will then receive an email back to which you should respond to confirm your application. The list owners will do their utmost to approve your membership as soon as they can but please keep in mind that it will be quite a busy time for us so you might have to be patient. The Groups.io environment will be a new one for most of us and we will all be feeling our way around while we familiarise ourselves. If you have questions feel free to ask ([email protected]) but be prepared for a delayed reaction!
We should like to thank Air-Britain for their kind co-operation and assistance in this venture.
Paul J. Hooper/Jan Broe.

[Art Smass]

"Halcyon Days" was also carried by HS.125-3B G-AVRG (25144)