Site Name...For the last time

[Admin]

Hi All

 

Since NatFly and due to the feedback I received at NatFly from many of you, I have been waiting for the right time to finalise the site name to either back to Recreational Flying or stay with Aircraft Pilots.

 

Yes, I personally prefer Aircraft Pilots and have held on to that for as long as I could however there has been some underlying pressure to completely move back to Recreational Flying. I personally think that things like Aircraft Pilots Chapter sounds better then Recreational Flying Chapter or headsets labelled Aircraft Pilots sounds and looks better then Recreational Flying...and on it goes. To me Aircraft Pilots is more professional, broad and much much better from an Internet Search Engine perspective (SEO). Aircraft Pilots is recognised all around the world for what we all are and no matter what we fly. We also have the interest of the new GA license that will soon be upon us which is a type of in-between of RAAus and full PPL.

 

Recreational Flying is a name that came about after the site had been going for its first year (it was previously Ultralight.net.au) and a list of names was thought up by you people and then put to a vote for you to choose. Amongst them all was Recreational Flying which ended up being the preferred choice of name by the then site users. The site was known for many many years as Recreational Flying and this term is really only recognised here in Australia simply by reference to RAAus. However, even though PPL pilots fly for recreation they don't like the association that Recreation has with RAAus. We have products that are still labelled Recreational Flying, flags already made up of Recreational Flying, business name registered as Recreational Flying...so the infrastructure is already in place and is what the site has always been known as.

 

So as you can see there are a lot of pros and cons to argue for either choice but at the end of the day this site is all about helping you by the exchange of experiences no matter what you fly in the hope that it can assist you in staying as safe as possible. So with this in mind you could even say "so what's in a name anyway?" and rightly so but it is also what will get as many users here as possible, enticing as many aviators to register and join in helping each other as possible etc etc etc and the name is the first thing they see and what they say to others that will help the site but then again the name is also what they feel most comfortable as belonging to.

 

So please, once and for all, like we did all those years ago when changing from Ultralight.net.au, what say you in the name you think will do best for the site and its future?

 

 

[turboplanner]

I see recreational flying as all non-commercial flying

 

 

[David Isaac]

I personally prefer 'Aircraft Pilots'; however, I recognise the power of branding. Everyone I know who knows this site refers to it as the 'Rec flying' site ... 'Rec Flying' is a strong brand. However I did vote for AP.

 

 

[rgmwa]

Sorry Ian, but I voted for Recreational Flying because as a bumbling amateur that's what I do (although I try to do it with a `professional' attitude). Aircraft Pilots is fine too, and I can see the search engine advantages, but it justs sounds a bit stilted to me. Honestly, I think you should just pick whichever name will benefit the site the most and give it the greatest exposure. Or how about `Plane Pilots', or maybe just `Plain Pilots'.

 

rgmwa

 

 

[TK58]

Aircraft Pilots doesn't work for me - makes me think it's an ATPL community, which it clearly isn't. If it's between the two, Recreational Flying gets my vote.

 

 

[Admin]

Sorry Ian, but I voted for Recreational Flyingrgmwa

No need to apologise mate, this is what polls are for...and judging by the poll at the moment I should be the one apologising for changing it but it is still early days...I am just always "trying" to do what I think is best for the site and you the user, and polls tell me if I am wrong or not...we have a great diverse range of people here

 

 

[petetheprinta]

IMHO Recreational flying conjures up images of people enjoying themselves, camaraderie...a club with a common thread (pun intended)). Aircraft pilots (to me) is bland, no sense of fun just a job to get on with.

 

 

[mAgNeToDrOp]

Aircraft Pilots for me. I don't like the whole "us and them" mentality. I wouldn't want to discourage any pilots who have more than a Raaus cert joining and contributing on the forum. That's just my 2 cents.

 

 

[eightyknots]

I have thought about the issue carefully and I have voted Aircraft Pilots for a number of reasons:

 

1. After initially preferring Recreational Flying the name has Aircraft Pilots name has "grown" on me to the extent I now have a slight preference for it;

 

2. If you were to turn the clock back and re-name the site Rec Flying, you would create an implied demarcation between ultralight/microlight/RA-Aus pilots on the one hand and GA/PPL pilots on the other. I'm currently training for my PPL but I only want a PPL for recreational flying. The problem is that "recreational flying" now has an implied connotation which favours non-PPL pilots and I think keeping the name Aircraft Pilots would prevent any such confusion;

 

3. For Ian's business, Aircraft Pilots is a more "universal" brand.

 

 

[Guernsey]

I see recreational flying as all non-commercial flying

I'm with you on this one Turbo. I have flown many different types of aircraft including GA and Gliders and they were ALL for recreational purposes.

 

Alan.

 

 

[damkia]

One from left field - "Pilots Australia" given the number of Aussies on the forum. "Whatever you fly...", being the slogan to go with it.

 

Retain the international stuff you already have, but align it more with the majority of the contributors.

 

Going forward this will include all varieties of flyers from the RA-Aus through to the new Recreational pilots license (CASA) and also the traditional PPL's, without sounding too specific to one particular subgroup, and in fact cater to all those (aspiring) commercial pilots too. The one thing we share is the desire for flying as a pastime.

 

It would also score a few more "free hits" from Google search too, being two very common words used in searching for similar items if interest

 

 

[Guernsey]

Let's not forget there are also Boat Pilots.

 

Alan.

 

 

[damkia]

Let's not forget there are also Boat Pilots.Alan.

...as in maritime naval pilots? Not something you do for fun though, and most searches would be looking for "Skippers" (who rather ironically are an aviation company that works out of Perth LOL)

 

 

[Admin]

Let's not forget there are also Boat Pilots.Alan.

and as I have found many many many "Pilot" programs for this that and everything else however when you put it together with "Aircraft" it cuts all other "Pilots" out and becomes specific to aviation.

 

 

[terryc]

recreational flying for my vote too Ian.

 

 

[eightyknots]

Let's not forget there are also Boat Pilots.Alan.

I worked in the marine industry for some time and the place I worked for employed a few dozen "pilots". They went on a "pilot boat" out of the harbour until the reached the large ship outside the heads. The pilot would climb a rope ladder on board and then take over from the usual captain to "pilot" the ship safely into the harbour and to the intended berth.

 

These pilots existed before Wilbur and Orville ever thought of powered flight. So, Aircraft Pilots is a very appropriate name for this site.

 

 

[Admin]

It is great that there are some very interesting and informative posts and please be assured that I will be abiding by the poll if there is a substantial difference, as it is looking at the moment, in what you want your site to be called and referred to.

 

I will note that if the poll shows a change back to Recreational Flying then it will be fairly painless for you in changing back:

 

1. Site will close for about 1hr whilst the files are moved across to the Recreational Flying domain (I will try and do that in the middle of the night)

 

2. I will redirect the Aircraft Pilots domain to automatically go to Recreational Flying so it won't matter which address you go to

 

3. The only impact is for those that are automatically logged in to the site when they visit it to simply log in to the site again using your username and password

 

4. At some time, at your convenience, you will need to update any links or shortcuts you use to go to the site from Aircraft Pilots to Recreational Flying

 

I like Pete's post when he says:

 

IMHO Recreational flying conjures up images of people enjoying themselves, camaraderie...a club with a common thread

[sfGnome]

Ian, I haven't voted, not because I'm lazy or apathetic but because I'm happy with whichever you choose (and there wasn't a button for that ).

 

 

[Tecsar]

The name doesn't matter much to me. It's the content which is important and it's been great under past and current names.

 

 

[eightyknots]

It is great that there are some very interesting and informative posts and please be assured that I will be abiding by the poll if there is a substantial difference, as it is looking at the moment, in what you want your site to be called and referred to.I will note that if the poll shows a change back to Recreational Flying then it will be fairly painless for you in changing back:

 

1. Site will close for about 1hr whilst the files are moved across to the Recreational Flying domain (I will try and do that in the middle of the night)

 

2. I will redirect the Aircraft Pilots domain to automatically go to Recreational Flying so it won't matter which address you go to

 

3. The only impact is for those that are automatically logged in to the site when they visit it to simply log in to the site again using your username and password

 

4. At some time, at your convenience, you will need to update any links or shortcuts you use to go to the site from Aircraft Pilots to Recreational Flying

 

I like Pete's post when he says:

Ian, when will the poll be closed? [i think it is important that as many Forumites get to have a say in the [i]name change[/i] ...or the Aircraft Pilots status quo].

 

Personally, I hope that it remains Aircraft Pilots. For my reasons, see post #9 above.

 

 

[Bubbleboy]

You know, I could be a real bitch here and say why are we even debating this? Im going back out to the garage to make the next piece of my control column so I can one day soon, enjoy some "Recreational Flying"!

 

 

Wine glass in hand and heading out to my man shed.....

 

Scotty

 

 

[Wayne T Mathews]

You tell us, Scotty... Don't pull any punches, just tell us like it is...

 

 

[Guest nunans]

I'm a bit confused, (but hey that's nothing new) I must say I had a hell of a time finding this forum when the name changed and the name of the mag changed too just to get me even more in a muddle.

 

I did some google searches looking for the forum and found all sorts of sites but not this one. I even tried searching for the new magazine name looking for the RAA forum and I got sportpilot.org which i thought was promising but no.

 

For me "Aircraft Pilots" was a result every time but the name was so generic that I thought that can't possibly be it.

 

I was looking for the RAA forums, somewhere I could read posts from other RAA members about the in's and out's of flying, building, fixing or buying recreationally registered aircraft here in Australia. I have no interest in the never ending woes of airline pilots, if i did i'd look at PPRuNe.

 

I say call it what it is, as someone said earlier the content is more important than the name. If it's an all round aviation forum and includes everything (airline, military, comercial, private, experimental, recreational etc) then aircraft pilots makes sense. If it's supposed to be somehow connected or affiliated with Recreational Aviation Australia then keep recreational in the name.

 

 

[pudestcon]

Recreational Flying for me Ian. This to me means a 'Club' of like minded people coming together to further their interest in flying for fun, and to provide a means of obtaining and giving information.

 

Aircraft Pilots just does not have the same meaning for me, seems a tad too 'starchy' for my liking.

 

Pud

 

 

[Mick]

I have not liked "Aircraft Pilots" purely as it does not roll off the tongue as easily as Rec Flying did.

 

As far as concerns that "Rec Flying" might discourage any PPL's out there, I think it will only discourage the ones with an "Us & Them" attitude. Any that don't have that attitude will come and look regardless, and they will be the ones that find that we here at "Rec Flying" welcome anyone who flies for fun.

 

.