Admin Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I am considering introducing a new field that all users will have to select an option from when registering on the site called "License". Users will have to select one option from a drop down list that contains these: Enthusiast Student RAAus Other Aus Rec Non Aus Rec PPL PPL & RAAus PPL & Other Aus Rec PPL & Non Aus Rec Commercial Commercial & RAAus Commercial & Other Aus Rec Commercial & Non Aus Rec Obviously we can't control honesty. The field can be updated at any time in the User Settings and will be displayed in the user box on the left of posts in the forums as well as the user's profile page. Speaking about the user box on posts, I am also considering dropping the Aircraft field which the "License" field would replace so we don't extend that too far down the page especially when some posts are only a single line or 2. What are your thoughts on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandit12 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I wonder if it might end up devisive Ian. Perhaps just enthusiast, recreational, or commercial would do it? Regardless of what body you do it under, anyone who is doing it for fun is recreational, and anyone who does it for a paycheck is commercial. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Llewellyn Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Well, I'm a retired CAR 35 engineer (i.e. professional), a PPL (with CASA test pilot authority) and I'm a member of GFA, flying for pleasure. How do I answer that questionnaire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 Well, I'm a retired CAR 35 engineer (i.e. professional), a PPL (with CASA test pilot authority) and I'm a member of GFA, flying for pleasure. How do I answer that questionnaire? PPL & Other Aus Rec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 The aircraft are of more interest, so I'd try not to drop them 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinsm Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 agree, good to know the aircraft, types of licence not so much from my viewpoint. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfGnome Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Must admit, I'm more interested in what people are flying than what qualifications they possess. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Llewellyn Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Or should you be interested in where they are coming from, in order to decide what weight to give their comments? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballpoint 246niner Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Many of us hold multiple licences , ratings and positions Ian. Maybe elaborate on what you would like to define amongst members in regard to this proposed change? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greybeard Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 why? It's an internet forum where discussions about aviation occur. For the record, I hold a PPL. But really, unless someone decides to make it known what licenses they hold, it's no one else's business. I judge people on what and how they say something, not on what pieces of paper they have. Is there some reason why such information is being sought? 2 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planedriver Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Having recently finished a day in the SR71A office, and now going for a leasurely fly in my home-built Tyro, i'm not sure whether one is supposed to try and impress others, or hold out a bucket for a donation. I personally think things are fine as they are Ian. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 The main reason for introducing this field was for me to ascertain the audience make up of the site so it can better serve everyone. I can already ascertain the percentages of Australian users compared to overseas however a breakup further to industry segments would be even greater beneficial. A secondary bonus would be for other users to also ascertain the level of a person making a post when considering the post content i.e. a post about RAaus in the governing bodies forum from a non RAus member. For this site to know the audience makeup and tailor itself to suit would be a great asset in improving its services to all and those that think anything done on this site has sinister intentions should perhaps move away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Llewellyn Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 I certainly don't imagine there are any sinister intentions. But the grade of pilot licence or whatever one holds is a rather shallow way of indicating knowledge, except in a rather narrow aspect. It's not so much what aviation qualifications one holds, as what one has done with them that counts. What you are looking for, it seems to me, is somewhat akin to the information necessary to qualify an expert witness in court - and that's hardly practical to condense into a footnote under somebody's avatar. If you base it too narrowly, it is likely to give a false impression. If you expand it, it will sound like bragging. To illustrate, the existing tag "aircraft" is ambiguous - do you mean, the aircraft somebody currently owns, or has owned, or currently flies, or has flown? Which of these would be the most informative? Most pilots - especially LAMEs - with any involvement in the industry will have flown many types; whether one owns an aircraft can depend on many factors. I think perhaps one might be able to draw some significance from a study of the third aircraft that a country doctor has owned, but that is of course tempered by his needs and earning capacity. (The first aircraft well-heeled professional people own is generally pretty similar to what they trained on; the second is a "performance" retractable with CS propellers, a twin if the owner is a lawyer or a doctor; the third is generally a fixed-gear single with a CS propeller and good haulage capacity - e.g. a Cherokee six or equivalent). That pattern is one I have often seen - but you can hardly read it over to the demograph of this website, at least as I see it from the posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff13 Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 I like the idea. As a new user it appears to me that this forum can tend to be fairly adverserial. As such a list of licences or memberships or both could give some indication of where some of the agendas lay. It would mean nothing about qualifications or level of knowledge. A licence does not give a level of knowledge and nor does it assure the ability to pass that knowledge on in the electronic form. It could however give some understanding as to where the bias or lack of could come from. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Llewellyn Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 I like the idea. As a new user it appears to me that this forum can tend to be fairly adverserial. As such a list of licences or memberships or both could give some indication of where some of the agendas lay. It would mean nothing about qualifications or level of knowledge. A licence does not give a level of knowledge and nor does it assure the ability to pass that knowledge on in the electronic form. It could however give some understanding as to where the bias or lack of could come from. Or a misunderstanding - which is the aspect that bothers me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motzartmerv Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Information is king. Theres nothing wrong with people knowing the back ground of the person they are talking to. Doctors still hang their degrees on the wall behind them:) Context is EVERYTHING. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Llewellyn Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Merv, for once, I agree with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandit12 Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 The problem is how verifiable the information is - nothing to stop the shonky types from picking something that implies they know what they are talking about. Or the modest ones from understating their experience. Ian, if the purpose is research for improvement of the site, why not make it part of the user registration to complete some fields about experience/quals, and perhaps set up a recurring survey yearly asking people to confirm their details or make any changes before proceeding to the site. The information doesn't have to be available to the public, and on an individual level is probably of little use either, but if you could run reports by type of licence/experience etc it would surely be useful. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bexrbetter Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Me, I am interested in the technical side so how about fields so indicating how many planes one has built and successfully flying is of more interest to me. People have the choice now of, IMO, arrogantly attempting to put themselves above others by listing their qualifications in their signature box and making it a mandatory item is only going to be destructive to the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgmwa Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 What about keeping it simple and just listing the highest licence achieved. eg, None, RAAus, PPL, CPL, ATPL, Other. I suppose you should add RPL in there too at some stage. Like some others have said, I'm mainly interested in aircraft types built, owned and flown. rgmwa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motzartmerv Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Merv, for once, I agree with you. Point in Case hey Daffyd:).. Surely you dont disagree with everything ive ever said..Unless of course you are just disagreeing because of who's saying it:).. You wouldnt do that now would you?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 What about keeping it simple and just listing the highest licence achieved.eg, None, RAAus, PPL, CPL, ATPL, Other. I suppose you should add RPL in there too at some stage. Like some others have said, I'm mainly interested in aircraft types built, owned and flown. rgmwa Defeats the main purpose i.e. providing me the information needed to improve the site and enhance it for industry segments...it is this continual improvement over the last 10 years that has enabled this site to grow to the point that users use the site rather than me sticking my head in the sand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motzartmerv Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 What about keeping it simple and just listing the highest licence achieved.eg, None, RAAus, PPL, CPL, ATPL, Other. Id rank my RAA certificate Higher than my CPL... Its certainly been more usefull!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Llewellyn Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Point in Case hey Daffyd:).. Surely you dont disagree with everything ive ever said..Unless of course you are just disagreeing because of who's saying it:).. You wouldnt do that now would you?... Where I disagree, I've generally said so. If I don't say so, you can assume I have no particular issue. None of us is right all the time . . . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgmwa Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Id rank my RAA certificate Higher than my CPL... Its certainly been more usefull!! RAAus (Hons) then? rgmwa 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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