As Kev35 says there seems to be less of a sense of community and tolerance on here than there was when I first joined, and more people seem to take offence more quickly, or seem unable to accept that other members may have views and opinions that differ from theirs, and that others are fully entiled to hold those different views, ….but that seems to reflect modern society (unfortunately).

The gentle self-mocking humour generally seems to be less obvious, and many “younger” users seem more earnest, less “chilled”, and less able to see the difference between good natured “banter” and a truly barbed comment – again this seems (IMHO) to reflect modern society?

I remember how I could be a little sensitive and a little short in the wit department some years back. I guess things such as life experience, development of self-insight and social competence play a big part. Some of the younger members might have a way to go.

At times I find the inability of newer members to use the forum “search” function, or to have used web-based search engines, a little frustrating, particularly when a simple search would probably have saved them incurring the wrath of older members who may well have seen the same question asked more than once before.

A familiar issue in multiple forums, I think.

I think MSR777 might have a few valid points.

As I understand it, there is also some concern about sectarian tensions. A military intervention can stir things up even more, and the current government might benefit from that.

Obama doesn’t want to do anything…he’s too busy courting friendship with the Islamic world. I think he thinks if we’re nice to them, they’ll be nice to us.

I don’t really know much about it, but I’m not sure the “us and them” approach is reasonable. The Islamic part of the world doesn’t exactly speak with one voice about everything, as far as I know.

Perhaps the situation in Syria may in some ways warrant an international military intervention, but it might seem that the conditions for it are questionable. What about possible involvement by al-Qaeda and/or other extremist groups? The threat picture? The cost/benefit outlook for intervening powers? Regional consequences?

I for one wouldn’t put all this on Obama’s shoulders. He might be acting wisely, for all I know. I can’t read his mind, but I doubt he is OK with the situation.

Anyone else been here a fairly long time? I feel like I don’t post here as much anymore and I am wondering to myself what has caused that. Anyone else feeling the same way?

I’ve been around for a while, but my posting rate has been relatively low for years. For long periods I haven’t been eager to read much, either. The main reasons for this include a slight change of interests and other things in life which take up my time. I can also say that I’m pretty tired of the endless speculation fests taking place in the Modern Mil section, but of course it’s easy to just avoid those. I could be wrong about the level of quality in some cases, though. I also wonder if and to what extent this forum might serve as an open-source intelligence spot for interested parties.

I do pop in occasionally to read and sometimes comment on issues of interest, but it’s a rare thing these days. It would have been fun to catch up with some of the old breed, though. That includes some of you guys as well as Arthur, SOC, GarryB, GeForce (?) and probably a bunch of others I don’t remember at the moment. And I surely miss Steve with all his wit and warmth.

Am I crazy?

Definitely. 😉

I have my doubts that modern military missiles would even be able to acquire and hit a light plane. Are they not designed to go after turbine engine heat sources? And cannon would only work if a jet fighter could slow down enough to near-match a light aircraft’s airspeed.

I feel this is all bluster and show. I wonder if we could actually stop a determined pilot who intended to fly a plane packed with a fuel-air bomb and the 40 us gallons of avgas in the wings.

I don’t think it would be a good idea to put your assumptions to the test.

I think one of the arguments against this system, was that pilots might be tempted to use it
as the first resort, rather than the last.

Perhaps. Cirrus Aircraft puts weight on that in the POH, if I remember correctly. If possible, a safe forced landing is usually the way to go. The CAPS is primarily meant for emergencies involving a loss of control which is impossible to recover from, i.e. spin, midair collision etc. Of course it can also come in handy if the conditions for making a forced landing are unacceptable for some reason. I realise that this might not be clear to everyone flying the SR20. It’s important to focus on it during training and checkouts.

It’s also of limited use, you need to be at a suitable altitude to use it. Most accidents happen at low altitude i.e. during take off and landing. No amounts of parachutes will help there.
How many accidents happen above a few thousand feet?
The rare “At altitude accidents” that do happen usualy involve some sort of structural failure too so it would be questionable IF it delpoyed at all wether it would save lives.

I still feel it’s a good thing to have for some added safety, even for rare situations.

http://www.cirruspilots.org/Content/CAPSHistory.aspx

Yep. The Cirrus SR20, for example.