Zane's comment on a recent thread got me to thinking, he mentioned people from old threads that are no longer with us. We have lost a few in death, both by natural causes and accidents, some left because they were not team players. What about the other's? Lost interest in aviation, could not afford to support the plane or flying habit, divorce, health? Did we scare a few off? Are some still out there lurking? I miss hearing from some of those from the past, but enjoy reading the enthusiasm of the new ones just getting started.

Another observation is on the evolution of the Skywagon on this site. Some of you old timers of BCP will remember in the early days, when talk of the Skywagon seemed to center around how pompous most of the owners were. Wow, has that changed, we Wagoneers can now feel free to come out of the closet and pronounce our ownership proudly.

Zane, since I joined in 2004, you have managed to bring together a wide array of interesting people, from the guy with the J3 to the to commercial jet pilot, people from all walks of life and locations throughout the world, sharing knowledge, creating friendships. I know it was all a balancing act for a while, trying to get all the personalities to play together nice had to be a major one, but you have figured it out nicely. What a great service to us all that you provide. Thank you.

Steve

steve wrote:Zane, since I joined in 2004, you have managed to bring together a wide array of interesting people, from the guy with the J3 to the to commercial jet pilot, people from all walks of life and locations throughout the world, sharing knowledge, creating friendships. I know it was all a balancing act for a while, trying to get all the personalities to play together nice had to be a major one, but you have figured it out nicely. What a great service to us all that you provide. Thank you.

I ran a political website for a few years and also appreciate, first hand, the balancing act of creating a community. I'm very new here (a few weeks) and somewhat new to aviation (a few years), and am impressed with general level of respect that is displayed on this site. Keep it up Zane and everyone else.

Thanks for the thread Steve. I really don't know why this time of year prompts most of us to reflect on things. It does though, and it's as good a time as any I suppose. In my misspent youth I would often put off doing any reflecting at all until I had made my way progressively around to the beginning of another new year. "I'll think about that after Super Bowl", or, "maybe after my birthday", or, "we'll worry about that after the holidays". Strange isn't it? There's more urgency though on the far side of 60. Trust me boys.

This here is a great bunch. I too think the board's gestalt is a reflection of management's commitment and personality. I envision Zane and Matt as being grizzled old farts with steely resolve and a flinty wisdom born of hundreds of years of gazing into the distance....and then I see pictures of these guys. Hell, they're just kids!

Anyway, I spent most of the last year taking care of one impediment to renewal of my Class III. In that process we uncovered another one. Grrrrrr Patience grasshopper. This too will pass. But that's it right now. That's what I going to do in the coming year. I'm going to get the damn thing come hell or high water. And, I'm going to stay on the rowing machine. Those are resolutions though, not reflections.

When I first showed up here, as usual I was the smartest son of a biscuit in the room. I don't know exactly when it happened but as time went along I realized I was just another swinging Dick. You know? For any who haven't figured it out yet this bunch ain't amateurs. And they ain't stupid. I'm grateful to have found the place and I hope to learn a bunch of good stuff in the coming year. Carry on.

EB

Very well said, Steve!

Even though I have not flown and the plane has been sitting in the hangar the last couple of years, I'm still proud to be part of this balancing act here. We really do all come from all walks of life and the combined knowledge from everybody here is endless. And that's what makes this the best flying community anywhere in the flying community.

Happy New Year!!

Pat

Great thread Steve.
As a fairly young man (26), and fairly low time pilot, its great to have a place like this where ideas and ways can be discussed. I appreciate how you more experienced guys treat us young folk with a level of respect that we sometimes don't deserve. And the wealth of knowledge here is just great.
Thanks Zane amd Matt for putting up with us and keeoing a great thing going.

David

Can't believe you've stuck around this long, Steve. I appreciate the sentiment of the post.

Allow me to work my windbag for a few minutes... I can only take some credit for how our little community has turned out after 8+ years. Mostly it is a reflection of the good people in this corner of aviation, and their desire to be an actual community, apart from just the internet. That's what makes this so fun; Probably 90% of us endeavor to meet each other in person, to meet or fly together, buy each other's junk, or lend a hand where needed. I can only take credit for the medium, the rest of the good things are just part of the package with friendly people. And then there are those users with 10,000+ hours of experience as actual bush pilots, or decades of airframe and powerplant work, who lend their voices and provide the invaluable knowledge and wisdom (or salty perspective) that we younger guys seek, and make this a true resource. Hell I learned all my backcountry flying knowledge from the guys here!

Those that are no longer with us, but still breathing out there somewhere, would probably attest to me not being the best team player. I don't enjoy the sometimes confrontational duties, in fact I crave stability and everyone getting along, which is why I have moderated some aspects of this forum so heavily. Some things can't be decided by committee, and I really appreciate everyone sticking around, or simply tolerating my style of managent of the forum. Sometimes I wish I had made a fictitious alias user to be the bad cop, from the beginning. The irony of it is that if some of these interactions were limited to real-life, in-person encounters, everything would probably go a lot more smoothly. There's something about the freedom of the web medium that lets people speak more freely, for better or for worse. That's why the fly-ins and meet 'n greets are a really important element. Many of my good friends, the people I most enjoy hanging out with, I met here.

We should all thank MountainMatt, who has been a great help in keeping the site running. He helps keep the bad guy porn spammers and hackers out, and lends a hand where needed. He's also responsible for nearly $10,000 worth of donation money to the RAF over the last 2 years. I really appreciate his help and commitment, and he's a good, level-headed guy to talk to.

2013 in particular is going to be very exciting on the website end. I've been a little less busy at work the last few weeks, and have begun work on BCP 3.0. What happened to 2.0? It was abandoned in 2010 just shy of its launch. I've started fresh, with tools more geared toward 2013.

Initially (shooting for end of January,) it will just be more fun to read and experience, but the forum will remain the same. I'll introduce more features over the next 6 months, with a big upgrade to the forum and photo gallery software. Hopefully I can finally make it easier for the newbies to post photos. I also want to make it easier to find people close to you to fly with. Suggestions for other features are always welcome.

BCP will always remain free of charge, at least in the forum sense. I'm still trying to come up with some ways to increase privacy reliably. You may see more advertising on the site, but those few bucks every month really help to remove any financial burden, and pave the way for improvements, like better hosting (also forthcoming.)

Lots more to say at a later date. I'm just glad we're all here now.

Happy New Year!

Thanks Steve for this post.
As a few of you have learned, I am new to this site, and I am new to flying. I still am a student, however, I am one of those 90% who genuinely want to meet people in person and not just the internet and enjoy their friendship and their knowledge resources.

When I first found this site, I was like a kid in a candy store. The only way I keep up with all the posts currently is through RSS feeder but I try to look everyday to keep up with it. Some things don't really apply to me...yet...however, I want to learn.

I am grateful to you few who started this site and I too can appreciate the task of maintaining this site. I am an IT profession currently trying to escape my job type and get into something more enjoyable, but I have managed several sites over the years and I know what a pain it can be with the spammers and the hackers. This site helps me to keep "the Dream" alive.

Thank you

I agree!

I'm a new member of the site and don't have a lot to contribute yet, but it's neat to have a place like this for this community to get together. Growing up around general aviation, the grass-strip crowd was always my favorite group of people.

Z, great site and community atmosphere. I've been a member of a few forums and have seen a few go from great to crap. Keep up the good work, the atmosphere is what draws the best members!

Everyone, I really enjoy your posts, pictures, and videos. They help keep me motivated to get my fixed wing sign-off and own my own plane!