The death of Fighter Control

[Gary]

If you look at 'The team' link at the bottom of the page then you'll see that Dunk has returned as Admin and SamP has moved from being a Mod to being Admin, so it looks like the issue has been resolved.

There will likely be more mods added too, moving Sam to an Admin was just the first bit. It was the easiest one to do while stuck on a long night shift.

[ChrisCwmbran]

Would it not be sensible to get regular long term members to "moderate" the sections about their local bases?

And is it not true that certain sections on the board are far more prone to disputes than others?

I've been admin and moderator of a lot of forums over the years including one which had 22,000 people spread across the globe, including a lot of people from the USA, on Sept 11th 2001, and I can assure you the whole admin team were stretched to the limit on that day.

I've found over the years that getting rid of sections more prone to argument/disputes is one useful solution. Otherwise its to take a policy that people shouldn't post in those sections if they don't like the flack it generates.

[Mike]

Would it not be sensible to get regular long term members to "moderate" the sections about their local bases?

And is it not true that certain sections on the board are far more prone to disputes than others?

I've been admin and moderator of a lot of forums over the years including one which had 22,000 people spread across the globe, including a lot of people from the USA, on Sept 11th 2001, and I can assure you the whole admin team were stretched to the limit on that day.

I've found over the years that getting rid of sections more prone to argument/disputes is one useful solution. Otherwise its to take a policy that people shouldn't post in those sections if they don't like the flack it generates.

I was the only member of FC staff online when Sean Cunningham sadly died at Scampton in the ejector seat accident in 2011, a member who saw the whole thing happen posted the aircrafts serial on FC and said it was the aircraft that a certain member of the Red Arrows regularly flew - and named him. He had actually named the wrong pilot long before the news had even hit any of the news channels on a website that anyone in the world could see.
His reference to the (wrong) pilot's name was quickly deleted by myself and I locked the thread with an explanation until the news became official.....................then all of the other threads started appearing all over the forum - several more in the Scampton section, the Mess, General Chat, the OTT section, etc., etc........sigh!

I wouldn't say any sections are more prone to disputes than others as disagreements can happen in any section, I also wouldn't advise having regular long term members to "moderate" the sections about their local bases - that is really not a good idea!

[Tally-ho]

This has been on my mind for a quite considerable amount of time and i've finally snapped.

Firstly, thank you Steven for your time, effort and contribution in keeping this forum going.
Secondly, you did the absolute right thing to speak your mind and to speak it clearly and openly, shooting from the hip as it were.

Jobs, tasks and responsibilities in modern society have become blurred and slacking (laziness) has become a fine art. Work ethic is very rare these days and the 'Covid syndrome' has become the new benchmark for doing as little as possible.
The solution? A start has been made by StevenNFFC by speaking out openly. Collectively, if there is enough goodwill and work ethic by whomever wants to come forward and volunteer, the death spiral of FC can be reversed.

FC has some very fine contributors, written word and pictorial input, and I hope the forum survives the current cleansing process.

[scousefowler]

This really sad news, this forum is brilliant, i`d do anything to help.....

[plmc135]

I think Mike has exposed one of the big problems with FC, there are too many sections. There is an urgent need to review the whole layout to try and ensure that information is only posted in one topic and not in several.

If needs be take the site down for a week to work through any changes.

[andygolfer]

It's not necessarily a case of too many sections but maybe a need to re-arrange the layout and introduce or remove sub fora to make it easier to follow. It takes a lot of scrolling down to see the whole forum content. Mike and I did a re-vamp of the Civilian Aviation forum layout a couple of years back to make it easier to navigate through and although it's still not wholly visible on the screen with out a bit of scrolling down it's not far off. We also introduced some new ideas and combined other bits. After a bit of discussion first on what to change it only took a couple of hours to change. What took longer was when we split forums into sub forums and then had to move each topic to the new sub forum - that was the slowest bit so I started at the top and worked down and Mike did the opposite until we met in the middle, it was surprising how much we found that was clearly in the wrong place. We have had hardly any subjects duplicated in more than one topic so it certainly worked and was worthwhile

We did it without taking the forum down so I certainly don't think that is necessary, we just planned it before we started moving things and then tweaked it as new ideas came to mind.

One last point, this has gone far from the original rather dramatic topic tile so would it be worth starting a new topic for example called ' Ideas and offers of help'?

For example Mike did contact reaper when he bit the bullet with taking on the photo comp offering our help from our experience in running the CA photo comps. We've tweaked that over the years and it works well now - one particular suggestion I did make a while back that I was disappointed wasn't taken up was to extend the closing date to 7th of the following month rather than the 1st so that it allows time for people who have been away to an airshow for example on the last day or so of the month to go through their pics , edit and enter them. Our entries increased markedly when we did that and several members said how useful that was. Imagine if for example you've been at RIAT for 3 or 4 days right close to the end of the month and arrived home knackered, you're hardly going to prioritise getting a photo in to the comp the next day but if it's a week later then you're far more likely to - only problem then could be we end up with more than 50 entries and the voting poll has a maximum of 50 (I wish!).

Andy

[Gary]

I think Mike has exposed one of the big problems with FC, there are too many sections. There is an urgent need to review the whole layout to try and ensure that information is only posted in one topic and not in several.

If needs be take the site down for a week to work through any changes.

You're never going to stop people posting in multiple areas. Or stop people posting in random areas. Sadly having to mod through at least 3 fatal crashed (HH-60, F/A-18 and the F-15C). People post without thinking or stopping to look.

I've been saying for years the whole forum could do with slimming down whole sections. It's having the time etc to implement it

[XWP29]

My view is that FC is in fact very healthy and reflects the broad church of interests in military aircraft, numbers, photography, with some very knowledgable members who often contribute some amazing information. With 20K + members one of its strengths is that it is inclusive and helps those coming into the hobby and whatever the out come of the current review I hope that continues. Thanks to the FC team

[Gary]

FC will not die. Steven was right though. Far to many of the staff needed a kick up the butt. Far to much effort was put into the AR side. When they were getting the benefits of the forum. Trip to the carrier, press days etc. Without contributing to the running of the forum. Without the forum AR would have just been yet another aviation page which was set up for the perks and wouldn't have got the access.

[garyscott]

Glad to hear that, at least for the here and now, FC will stay.
FC has become an indispensable link for me to the world of Mil-Air as a whole, seeing things through others lenses is a joy, keeping abreast of recent happenings via the widespread link of people on the ground.

Indispensable.

Beholding the modelling endeavours of the talented few, the lighthearted banter (which seems to have died a little), and seeing other parts of the world that I and others may never get to see in the General Photography section.

If anything, now FC is a must more than ever.

FC has always been at the forefront, and known by many - we’ve even had tannoy shout outs at RIAT!

Let’s stay, the rewards are many.

[MR TERRY GREEN]

I cannot imagine this Forum ever being run of the mill there is always a lot going on and something of interest for everyone.Thanks to everyone for the hard work it is appreciated.

[Mike]

I think Mike has exposed one of the big problems with FC, there are too many sections.

The 'multi-posting' problem when something 'big' happens is caused by members not viewing the forum in the 'New Posts' mode - it's best to log onto the forum and click on the 'Quick links' link at the top left and then click on the 'New posts' option, then save that link to your favourites and remove your existing link to the Index page. Once you've read a post from the list of new posts then refresh your browser - there is little point in viewing the forum from the Index page.

[andygolfer]

The 'multi-posting' problem when something 'big' happens is caused by members not viewing the forum in the 'New Posts' mode - it's best to log onto the forum and click on the 'Quick links' link at the top left and then click on the 'New posts' option, then save that link to your favourites and remove your existing link to the Index page. Once you've read a post from the list of new posts then refresh your browser - there is little point in viewing the forum from the Index page.

And to make it completely unmissable on Civilian Aviation we have added a facility so that when you're logged on the first forum box on the menu says 'VIEW NEW POSTS SINCE YOUR LAST VISIT' with a link to the new posts in the quick links so one click gets you there, if anyone misses that then they probably shouldn't be trying to read a computer screen

I'd post a link to illustrate it but there's not much point unless you're a logged in member otherwise it's invisible (only the Active Topics link in the quick links is of any use unless you are logged in as it doesn't know what posts are new to you).

Andy

[C24]

There is a lack of people to run the Forum, so why waste effort in changing what already works?

Quick links? I only logon if I require one of the otherwise hidden sections, how many others do the same? (And I still wonder what some of the little symbols mean)

As previously stated, define the role of each staff appointment and ask for volunteers.

There seems little wrong with the Forum, just too much work for the willing and, it seems to me, the perks stick to just a few hands.

Please don’t shoot the messenger

🛰

[page_verify]

I think Mike has exposed one of the big problems with FC, there are too many sections.

The 'multi-posting' problem when something 'big' happens is caused by members not viewing the forum in the 'New Posts' mode - it's best to log onto the forum and click on the 'Quick links' link at the top left and then click on the 'New posts' option, then save that link to your favourites and remove your existing link to the Index page. Once you've read a post from the list of new posts then refresh your browser - there is little point in viewing the forum from the Index page.

A big problem I find which I suspect doesn't help is that the web site doesn't view nicely on mobile devices, so I can imagine some people may just click "new topic" rather than try to scroll around the tiny little menus.

I used to moderate a web site about a USAF base back in the early 2000s - after the internet had became popular but before social media had arrived. I imagine what I had to manage was nothing like the challenges which exist today, peace protestors and mothers who demanded I tell them when their deployed 'child' was coming home were my biggest problems. I avoided the arrival of the scammers and spammers. What ever happened to the peace protestors....?

[andrewn]

Echo all the previous comments about the great work by the admins and mods, without whom there wouldn't be a forum. Just checked my profile and I've been a member since 2009, and certainly had plenty of enjoyment out of the forum

Despite being an avid enthusiast for nearly 40yrs I've never had a press pass, nor am I on the inside in terms of being privy to useful information but I've always tried to contribute constructively whenever I can. I do think the minimum posts count is one option, for example auto suspending members that don't contribute for 6 months or more, not so much as a penalty but more to encourage people. And on the opposite side a stricter approach to weeding out the troublemakers, whom I suspect play a big part in the reluctance of the large majority of non-posters. Not that FC is especially bad on that front in my opinion.

If there's anything I can do too help, please feel free to PM me.

Regards, Nick

[GWJPhantom]

Fellow FCers

I have been here before , as an Admin of a large aviation enthusiast site that is no more , I can attest to the unbelievable amount of work , time and money that is required to keep a forum like this going .

Promises of help will be greeted with thanks from the gents that run (in their spare time) this forum , but they and only they will have the final say on which way this forum will go... I wish them well

Regards
Gareth

[dai]

It will be so sad if FC closes. I do not post on it often now, but that is because I do not get out to catch aircraft on the hills these days because of ill health and covid of course, but I do look on here regularly to keep up withe the fabulous photos. Like several others here it will bring back sad memories of the Fox2 demise.
As said I am sure Covid has helped to lessen the post count with restrictions on travel also fewer aircraft about in general, plus I suppose Facebook has taken some of the members. If I was able to help Iwould but ill health prevents this, but I really hope some new helpers can be found, it will be a great loss.

[Morseman]

Sorry for the slow delay, at 77 the memory slides sometimes. I saw your post but forgot to reply. I love this site and all the information it provides is invaluable. Thank you all for the work you and the other moderators put in and just hope that FC can continue to provide such illuminating information. Regards Mick