This guide has been compiled to establish some guidelines for forum and group protocol. Please read this in earnest to help us create and maintain a fun and positive experience for all.

This guide also constitutes a Terms of Use for the website. If you do not accept any of the below stated policies, do not register.

Disclaimer of Liability

Flying is an activity that can result in severe injury or death. Backcountry flying poses risks to an even greater extent. The articles and forum posts on BackcountyPilot.Org are simply the opinions contributed by authors and forum participants, and should be regarded appropriately. Just as often as these opinions are correct and helpful, they are also inaccurate and sometimes simply wrong. A discussion forum is not an official source of information regarding flying, aircraft maintenance, or lawful practices, however useful it may be at times. Any and all information provided on this website is done so at the reader's discretion. The forum is not a substitute for instruction from an FAA certified flight instructor or FAA certified airframe and powerplant mechanic. BackcountryPilot.Org and its members are not liable for damage to your property or health resulting from material or statements found in this forum. This site is for entertainment purposes only.

Always be cautious, safe, and vigilant. Seek proper training and certification before attempting any of the types of flying suggested in our articles, videos, photo gallery, or discussion forums.

Membership

Backcountrypilot.org is for pilots and certificated aviation mechanics. Prospective pilots are welcome to read to their heart's content, but discussion is required to be of a nature related to piloting, maintaining, or building manned aircraft. If you wish to join the discussion by posting, it is expected that you have at least a student pilot certificate and are actively taking instruction, or you possess an A&P certificate.

Membership at BackcountryPilot.org is completely free of charge. We believe that the access and sharing of information and knowledge should be unimpeded by paid membership. The site does have significant operational costs however, so if you're appreciative of information you've found here, or sold something thanks to our Marketplace, please donate. You'll get a badge next to your username in the forum showing you've supported us. The link to donate is in the footer.

Registration

After you've read this guide completely, you'll find a link at the bottom of this page to start the registration. For both reasons of system security related to spambots and automated hackers, and to provide an orientation to our community, you are required to provide the registration keyword found within this document in your registration form. Read carefully.

Usernames

As a rule of thumb, it's a bad idea to use your full name as your username. The world views this forum, and it's in your best interest to conceal your actual identity as much as possible. Avoid using N-numbers, as they are just as revealing as your full name and can be tough to remember for others. Politically oriented usernames are not allowed.

Privacy

Representatives of the FAA and other federal and state law enforcement agencies can and will read your posts. Backcountrypilot.org is very popular and has a very large audience, and many parts of this site are open and visible to the world. Please use discretion as necessary.

Submitted content policy

First and foremost, BackcountryPilot.org is an aviation website. All topics submitted are subject to evaluation, moderation, or removal at the discretion of moderators. Administrators and moderators reserve the right to move, edit, or delete user-contributed forum posts and images.

To maintain a focused community, only backcountry/off-airport flying and closely related topics are allowed in the discussion forum. No politics or off-topic threads are allowed, and will be moderated swiftly. Use of politically-charged names or slurs is not allowed. Forum user signatures with political messages or links will be reset.

Subjects that are closely related to backcountry flying like: firearms and hunting, bushcraft and survival, products and technology related to aircraft and piloting, photography and videography, etc are well within the charter of this website and remain welcome conversation. While airline/military/heavy metal/history are interesting aviation topics, please leave them to other forums. This site is general aviation backcountry flying only.

In some cases, when products like books or electronics are mentioned, links to affiliates may be added to posts for revenue generation, e.g. Amazon.com, etc.

Posting new forum topics

If you are going to post a new topic, try to follow these guidelines:

• Search first to make sure you're not posting something that's been posted before. If your question has already been answered in a previous thread, do your best to find it before posting. Sometimes it's better to join a conversation already underway, but not always. If your question warrants a new thread, go for it. Google can be a very powerful tool for searching this website by just adding "site:backcountrypilot.org" after your search (in Google.)
• Choose the appropriate category/forum. Does it pertain to piloting, aircraft, a physical place, or this website? Make sure you're within the appropriate forum before you click the New Topic button. This helps future users browsing by category.
• Name your topic descriptively. For instance, instead of something ambiguous like "Garmin," use something like "Any opinions on the Garmin GTN650?" It makes searching for existing threads much easier.
• If posting a news article from another website, always cite the source and include a link to the website.
• Make some effort to make your posts readable. Use paragraphs, spellcheck, and avoid using all-capital letters, which indicate yelling.
• If you notice a mistake or typo, just edit your existing post by clicking the edit button (pencil icon) at the bottom of your post.
• Duplicate topics in different subforums are not allowed.

Conduct

Most people have a good idea of what is appropriate conduct in a real-world social setting. The Internet should be no different, but it often is due to the luxury of anonymity. BackcountryPilot.org is unique in that its members often meet in person, and many members are aquainted outside the site. Do your best to consider members as real people, and exercise politeness and discretion.

• Profanity is tolerated as long as it's used tastefully, strategically, and sparingly. That may be an oxymoron to some, but some words have their place in our everyday vernacular. Once again, pay attention to your tone if profanity is used when addressing another user.
• No porn or offensive imagery allowed in galleries or forum.
• Political topics are not allowed.
• Be respectful of the discussion. Make an effort to not derail or "hijack" a topic with unrelated posts.
• Consider whether your post will actually contribute in a meaningful or useful way, or whether it will just add "noise."
• Users who continually engage in the practice of "trolling" by posting intentionally inflammatory statements, or mockery of the forum to elicit emotional response will be deactivated. Our mission is to maintain a genuine, constructive, and positive community, and trolls are a waste of everyone's time. Moderators will act to warn and remove repeat offenders.
• Debate to your heart's content with passion and conviction, but direct assaults on individual users in the form of name calling, harassment, posting personal information, and rude private messages will not be tolerated.
• Remember that you're on a stage in front of thousands of readers/members, even though it may feel like a small room.

Discussion of accidents

While accident discussion is a very important part of aviation safety awareness and learning, it must be handled with care and regarded with respect for those who've suffered loss. There are a few typical scenarios that determine to what extent it is appropriate to discuss accidents; here are the guidelines:

• If the accident/incident is one of our own members, please exercise the respect and discretion you'd like bestowed upon yourself in a difficult situation. Rushing to report that someone has had an accident generally is frowned upon, and forum threads to this effect may be heavily moderated. Digging for information that you're not entitled to is poor form.
• If the news stations/websites are already reporting the accident, the cat's out of the bag and discretion is no longer possible. Discuss freely but do not contribute to misinformation or wild speculation.
• Speculation and heresay do not help, and may cause the FAA to exact unnecessary investigation.
• Condemnation or villification of a pilot, alive or deceased, is extremely frowned upon. The families and loved ones of deceased pilots often turn to this community looking for answers, and they should only see positive and supportive commentary, despite circumstances.
• Accident discussion should be a learning experience but also remain as respectful as possible.

Solicitation and Promotion

Since the release of BCP 3.0, advertising is available for purchase here at BackcountryPilot.org. This is the recommended method for official product and services promotion. Please read on for information about classified postings.

The Marketplace (classifieds)

Free use of the Marketplace is reserved for standard site members who have prior established genuine, non-promotional engagement in the BCP community for a minimum of 4 months. If your first post is promotional in nature, or a classified for-sale post, it will be removed. If you're only interested in posting an item for sale, see the Commercial classified section below.

If you plan to buy/sell/trade items in the Marketplace forum, please read the Terms of Use/Required Reading at the top of that forum prior to doing so. Improperly formatted posts are automatically deleted from that forum. If you sell something using the free service, consider donating a small percentage to help fund the site.

Commercial classified posting

Commercial use of the forum Marketplace is available for non-members. Please contact classifieds[at]backcountrypilot.org for information and enrollment. There is a fee to post. The r.egistration k.eyword is "Lima Foxtrot".

Solicitation of donations

Solicitation of donations without an official organization is frowned upon. We require that you either represent an established advocacy group like the RAF or a localized pilots association. The power of our small army of aviators on this site is great, and we can effect nearly immediate change on focused efforts like airport and airstrip facilities. However, history of fraud and abuse in similar scenarios make it something that we are forced to scrutinize. The first time someone collects a bunch of donations and then does not follow through on their promises, all future campaigns are tarnished and I personally will be hearing from those who consider themselves defrauded. Consult user Zzz or email support[at]backcountrypilot.org if you're unsure.

Ads keep us running

This site is free for users because of advertising. We usually break even, but often run at a loss. The only income that supports the server hosting, developer time, and software costs is the advertising that you see around the site. Occasional donations are a huge help, but these are not predictable or reliable. If you run ad blocker software, please consider making a donation to us using the link at the bottom of every page.

Welcome

Thank you for taking the time to read the orientation guide. If you have any additional questions, visit the Help section or ask a question in the Website section of the forum. Enjoy our community and please fly safely.