The End?

[RichardV]

I notice the domain for rcheliaddict expires later this week on the 17th. Normally it gets renewed a month in advance, so I'm wondering if this is the end of the road.

https://who.is/whois/rcheliaddict.co.uk

Obviously a sad day if it does, but it would be weird if it quietly disappeared with no warning.

[Mike Sanders]

I have noticed that the forum is used very much less nowadays. I look at it every day even though I don't post very much.

I would be very sorry to see it go.

[RichardV]

It costs money to keep it going every month, so unless it's covered by advertising or goodwill, it can't carry on forever.

The newest member is HalioTor, who registered in January 2021, which says it all. It was epic at its peak though, funflys, insurance, thousands of members and posts.

I don't know what happens when domains expire, Does the site just stop working, or is there a bit of leeway before it becomes available for someone to buy? If it comes up, I'm tempted to buy the domain and point it at the Flybar so there's some continuity.

[trillian]

It costs money to keep it going every month, so unless it's covered by advertising or goodwill, it can't carry on forever.

The newest member is HalioTor, who registered in January 2021, which says it all. It was epic at its peak though, funflys, insurance, thousands of members and posts.

I don't know what happens when domains expire, Does the site just stop working, or is there a bit of leeway before it becomes available for someone to buy? If it comes up, I'm tempted to buy the domain and point it at the Flybar so there's some continuity.

Before the domain expires, the registrar will have sent emails to Stuart reminding him. He may have it set to auto-renew anyway. But if it did expire, they would still try to get him to renew it and usually they keep it open for a week or so. Then if he still didn't renew, there would be a further week or two before they would release it back to the public for someone else to grab if they wanted. I would think that even if Stuart didn't want to keep the site going, he would probably renew the domain and try to sell the site.

It would be sad to see it go. I was helped so much when I was starting out, and there are some good memories associated with this place. However, it is a bit of a ghost town at the moment, so, hard to say what the solution is. :-o

[Sheldrake]

Like Mike, I check the site almost everyday. I have not posted for a very long time but I really value the guidance and support it has provided over the years. It would be a very sad day if it closed.

[p4ddy]

I just don't get it when people say the scene is very alive on Facebook....F...Facebook!! Post on here, have a nostalgic bun fight too. Info stays here and is easy to find.

Strangely I've now just thought of Tosh who was one of the first with a Logo 500. This was when the site was a bit anti large electric. Ivorbiggin stopped posting because of it as he was a proper logo fan with his logo 14 and very knowledgeable on them so it was a big shame he felt he had to go.
?????Who remembers Ash's infamous words of a large electric will never win the masters, the noise and smoke are a big part of it. Oops lol.
Just looked and I think it was more with everyone being pro Align and very anti Mikado. Oh how things change.

[RichardV]

FB is f'in awful. Lots of groups, very fragmented, hides posts/comments based on whether it think the post will be popular, defaults to showing relevant instead of all, simply horrible. Basically if you don't add a pic to a post, or you post very little, it won't even bother showing your post to the group. Great for those with big mouths, but no so much for the little guy.

It was a thousand times better when all you had to do was come here and got everything in one place.

I've just seen the BMFA has a forum with an area for helicopters, but the last post was February, so that's no good either.

It's all very odd because there is still loads of flying going on, but you don't see it because everyone is in their own private groups. Perhaps that's the issue. It's just too easy for someone to create a group and ignore the rest of the world.

[RichardV]

Hey, the domain got extended. Maybe change is on the way

[Mike Sanders]

I have never been on face book so I can't say anything about it.

This forum has always seemed to me to be very helpful, friendly and relevant. I am pleased that it is going to continue.

I don't know why forums seem to be declining in popularity. MK heli club has its own forum. It has been popular for years but nowadays nobody posts on it except me. I don't think our new committee will be interested in maintaining it.

What has bucked the trend is Richard's Discord group, the flybar. Could it be that this is because it is so much easier to do on a phone rather than requiring a computer?

[p4ddy]

??? Never had an issue using any forum on my phone. The only time it was an issue is when I first joined and didn't have a SmartPhone. Always had it set to desktop so it looked the same.

[p4ddy]

Whatever happened to Rachael? Last I knew she was sponsored by Matt Botos

[trillian]

I see Rachael on Facebook. She is flying SABs now.

I find that whole sponsorship thing in general a bit silly. It gets so over-dramatised from both directions. The pilots (well some anyway) act like they're F-1 drivers or something and take it all ever so seriously, which on the one hand I have no problem with, but if that's really what your whole life revolves around--- weeeell (unless you made a living at it, like, none of them). And then on the other side of the coin, there's the cynical 'you're just touting xxx because you're sponsored' and it's all negativity.

[RichardV]

I don't know why forums seem to be declining in popularity. MK heli club has its own forum. It has been popular for years but nowadays nobody posts on it except me. I don't think our new committee will be interested in maintaining it.

What has bucked the trend is Richard's Discord group, the flybar. Could it be that this is because it is so much easier to do on a phone rather than requiring a computer?

I guess forums lose out in ease of use. The Flybar is very active (200 posts a day), but the member numbers are low in my eyes (160 members, 70 active in last 30 days). It's got some top pilots and decent discussion, but there are thousands of heli pilots in the UK community who will never see it.

Newer forums are much better and have mobile apps to make it easier. Perhaps it's time to ditch this interface and start complete fresh.
I understand it'll lose the history, but at the moment it's unusable and no point in keeping it.

[p4ddy]

Perhaps it's time to ditch this interface and start complete fresh.
I understand it'll lose the history, but at the moment it's unusable and no point in keeping it.

[RichardV]

Too far?