Those words sum up the purpose of the Fly Baby mailing list and Facebook group. For those who don't know me, I'm Ron Wanttaja, the owner/Moderator of the mailing list. Drew Fidoe is the Moderator for the Facebook page. It's our goal to make both these areas valuable but yet fun resources for Fly Baby builders and owners.
This web page attempts to define the acceptable topics, and the limit of acceptable behavior.
Note the word "directly." You can rationalize any statement as being directly connected with the Fly Baby ("People can use my money-making techniques to afford a better engine for their Fly Baby!" or "This policy change will restrict the rights of all pilots, including those who own Fly Babies") but it ain't gonna wash. *Directly* is the key.
Another requirement of participation: All discourse will be civil. Personal flames have no place on these resources. Argue with another person's opinions or actions, but no attacks on anyone's intelligence, morals, or character should be made.
Harmless joshing is OK...that's part of the fun of online
participation with a bunch of friends. Many of us have
known each other for years, and thus a few joke insults are
expected and permitted. But, to me, it's pretty obvious when
a comment is intended to hurt rather than kid.
Note that the site is for public discussion. Anything you
post be made available to the entire world. Do not post your
phone number (unless it's a business number), your mailing
address, etc.
Also, note that the sites provide public discussions, not private one-on-one
chats. If it's not of interest to the Fly Baby community at
large, switch to private email or Facebook Messenger. An
example would be an exchange regarding something for sale.
The public list is fine when asking questions about conditions,
problems, etc. But if you want to arrange a meeting to view
the item, please switch to private contact.
If you read mailing list messages via email, the "Reply" button
sends your message to the entire list. The "To" block on the
email has the person's own email address, copy it to a new email.
If you read email messages via the Yahoo web interface, you can
send an email directly as well. If you're on the "Home"
page, just click the "send email" link. If you're in the
message-reading mode, click the person's email address and you'll
be given the option to send private email.
It's a pretty good guideline for the Fly Baby group, as well. There are thousands of mailing lists and Facebook groups debating religious issues. There are hundreds of thousands of mailing lists and Facebook groups squabbling over politics. And we all know there are millions of ways to ogle women on the Internet, as well.
But there's only one place to discuss Fly Babies.
Let's not muddy the waters with political or religious discussions. We have members from all over the world; discussion of US politics or the behavior of the US FAA will be of little interest to these folks. Similarly, people of particular nationalities in this group are NOT responsible for the policies or behavior of the political leadership of their nations.
Another line I draw is regarding inappropriate language. George Carlin's "Seven dirty words you can't say on television" is a good guideline...even if about half are now OK for TV by this point.
While I like to laugh as much as the next guy, I get enough emails with jokes from my "normal" email channels. Do NOT use the Fly Baby list to forward jokes. Nor use the groups to send out warnings about viruses, gangs-leaving-their-headlights-off, funny pictures, rumors about politicians, nor any of the other messages that you want to send out for wide distribution. This is for Fly Baby discussions.
These sources are non-commercial in nature. If you have a product *specifically* aimed at Fly Babies, postings mentioning it are certainly appropriate. But limit the announcements to no more than once in a month. However, feel free to include your company or product's URL with your name with any *on-topic* posting to the list. For instance, I might end my postings...
"Ron WanttajaIf you've got a non-Fly Baby blog, product, or web page, don't use the Fly Baby list to try to attract new viewers. Feel free to include the URL with any *on-topic* post, as described above.
"http://www.bowersflybaby.com"
Two guidelines here: First, remember the rule for *civil* discourse.
Second, I do not want the list "taken over" by a lot of messages on topics that have nothing to do with Fly Babies.
I like to foster the feeling of community here. Announcing the birth of a grandchild has little to do with our aircraft, but long-term participants in this group count the other members among the type of friends to whom such good news must be told. I don't object.
One question that comes up on occasion has to do the scale models of the Fly Baby. There are dozens of discussion groups and web sites dealing with the construction of model aircraft. If an RC question has do with giving your airplane more-realistic detail, I don't mind it being posted. Questions relative to the physical building of any model aircraft are NOT appropriate. Again, there are lots of RC aircraft sites, but only one Fly Baby discussion group.
For example, this question is an example of an appropriate one:
"I'm working on the flying wires of a quarter-scale RC Fly
Baby. Can anyone explain how the full-scale airplane
attaches the wires to the landing gear?" On the other
hand, asking "What is the best engine to use on a quarter-scale RC
Fly Baby" is NOT an appropriate question.
If someone posts an off-topic message (such as a political statement) to the mailing list, I'll place the list in the Moderated mode and reject any posting that attempts to continue the discussion. The Moderated mode will continue until I feel the counter-flames have been quenched (typically a couple of days), then I'll return the list to the normal state.
I realize this will mean the original poster gets the "last word," that statements some might disagree strongly with will not be countered. I consider that an acceptable price to pay.
Note that I may not announce that I've taken this action. Such an announcement often fans the flames. But the moderation status is very easy to determine; it's on the Yahoo entry page for the list. Often when folks post a message and they don't realize the list is in the moderated mode, they'll post it again. Do not worry about this...since things are in the moderated mode, I'll just let one copy through. When I have things in the moderated mode, I do check my email more often to try to minimize the delay on messages getting out.
In these cases, once I take the list off moderated status, I'll put the original poster in the "postings much be approved" mode.
The ultimate action I can take is to ban someone from the
list...but heck, it's easy enough for someone to sign back on with
another "handle." I operate the list in the "New Members are
Moderated" mode... the messages generated by new participants are
always passed by me first for approval. After it's apparent that a
new member isn't a troll, I take them off moderation.
I've been online for more than twenty years. I've seen how the usefulness of mailing lists and newsgroups can be destroyed by those with sufficient ill-will. As long as I'm the moderator of the Fly Baby list, that isn't going to happen here.
Like a long-ago judge commented about obscenity, "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it." Similarly, following the letter of the above guidance won't prevent me from popping someone into Moderated status if I feel they're violating the spirit.
I want this list to be useful; I want this list to be fun; I want people to be able to open a [flybabylist] email with a good assurance that the contents will be of interest to them as a owner, builder, or just someone interested in the Fly Baby homebuilt design.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
Ron Wanttaja
February 2004
Updated May 2016