Replies

I hope Pukin Dog reads this thread and realizes how much we would appreciate his return and consider this proposal to see if it would help preserve the asset of patience. From a humble and contrite spirit... a sampling of another thread:

"Pukin Dog... being the most well known resident expert on fighter topics, he frequently found himself having to explain things like why the triplane is no longer the greatest threat in the sky".

***That was probably the best insult I ran across during this thread: Just the right amount of hyperbole, dry humor, easy to understand, pointing out exactly how foolish I was appearing to the experts, even making me feel a little guilty. Good work. It was the insult that keeps on giving. With your comment in mind, it would make sense that the Fighter Pilot fan club might consider starting a Rules Of Engagement page that would list the current vetted primary source authors, the secondary authors, and the rules for arguing with these particular guys on matters relating to Aviation & defense policy (wouldn't apply to other matters such as religion or pothole filling policy). If their patience is even starting to wane, they direct the arguer to the ROE thread, the very next post from the arguer would be required to be "yes, I have read the Yingman FAQ and the ROE, and agree to discuss matters on these terms" with no qualifications whatsoever (no "yeah, but"). If the arguer doesn't post that, and continues on with the argument, time for a ZOT. If the guy wants to argue about the ROE, feel free to send them to me -- I'd be willing to perform this service as an act of contrition. I was tuned for primary source material and I found it here, in spades. It is an extremely valuable resource that needs to be properly guarded. No one should be able to come in and cause so much disruption. We freepers can't allow the current lack of structure to exasperate these valued commentators to the point that they stop coming. Between the Yingman FAQ and the ROE, there should be enough structure in place to have freewheeling discussion without the exasperation.

[snip]

One further thing. This ANNOYING MAN thing really rankles the pilots, and the solution seems obvious to me. Build an FAQ thread on Free Republic labelled something like, "Jet Fighter Technical Tips, Tricks, and Updates". We certainly have a good start with this thread material, although I would clean it up when we transfer it over there. You'll attract Inquisitive Man Looking for Source Material as well as his bitter cousin, ANNOYING MAN, maybe even High School Kid and General Public. Anyways, you pass the word to all your buddies to send ANNOYING MAN to Free Republic. Rokke could sign up with an additional screen name -- Annoying Man would scare off too many, I'd suggest something like Yingman and we could all laugh at the inside joke. All the Primary Source fighter pilots who are vetted would get Yingman's password, so only those few Alpha Freeper Pilot guys could post & answer all the ANNOYING MAN questions they ever come across. They tell their friends to send ANNOYING MAN to Free Republic. If ANNOYING MAN ever shows up on another thread, they send him over to the Yingman thread, and if the guy still persists, bore him a new orifice. In the meantime, ANNOYING MAN becomes a new freeper and the pilots build a solid FAQ. That's what I would do. The material would probably make a good book when all is said & done.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1342535/posts?page=108#108

Sorry it has taken so long to reply. It is unfortunate this thread became as ugly as it did. Everyone is an expert at something, and all of us have a passion for things we aren't experts in. The great thing about FreeRepublic is that it seems to have a very large mixture of both. Unfortunately, that mixture doesn't always mix very well. I think that is why so many threads on FreeRepublic end up just like this one. The trick is to not take it personally. But of course that is exactly what I did when you tried to get USNBandit booted as an fraud. I don't think there is any need for an ROE thread any more specific than the one listed on the homepage of this site. In the impersonal world of the internet, there is bound to be a certain amount of arguing by people who would probably behave with a lot more maturity if they were speaking face to face.

With regard to ANNOYING MAN, every profession is faced with the same problem. Imagine being a doctor who is constantly "informed" by his patients what the correct treatment is. Or the stockbroker who is given investing advice by his clients. Or racecar drivers who have to explain that being good at X-Box doesn't really mean you are ready for the track. Or football coaches who are told in no uncertain terms why all their decisions were wrong...etc, etc, etc. And in almost every case, the "ANNOYING MAN" is someone who has absolutely no practical experience in the subject they are offering their opinion in. I have been the ANNOYING MAN many times in my life. I'm a type A personality fighter pilot. What could be more annoying than that? But again, that is part of what makes this site so great. I can be the ANNOYING MAN to any number of experts. I can spout my opinion to my heart's content. I can take hits from them, and toss a few back. And then I can step away with no real damage done, and maybe just a little new knowledge. If all people are looking for is information, they can go to Goggle. If you want to discuss and argue about that information you come to a site just like this.

By the way, I flew in a large exercise today off the coast of North Carolina. We had four Harriers join us. I thought about this thread and had to laugh. Of course, they did great (they were on a strike mission). They made it to the target area and back again without engaging a single bandit. And that is just the way it should be.