Been Banned From Rocketry Planet

[Porthos II]

I can't beleive it, Rocketry Planet, that has such great moderation , and has hosted many complaints about the moderation of this site, banned me because of the post below. I can't beleive that a site with such liberal moderation has me banned!

Darrel's reply was:

Forum Message

You have been banned for the following reason:
Come back when you can act your age.

Date the ban will be lifted: 01-08-2010, 07:00 PM

All times are GMT -8. The time now is 07:24 PM.Archive - Top



Here was my post:

As the owner of this forum has displayed, AT does not have thick skin either, and allowing people to upset them and post things they wish they can take back, but do not own the forum and have the capability to remove their posts, I think they have decided to not post on forums where a select few can attack them.

FYI below is my disclosure, much like Darrel’s, and stolen much from his, I wish those to know that what I post is my opinion, and not that of the TRA BOD.


Who is Porthos II?
I am Porthos II, and my name is Erik Gates. I presently sit on the Board of Directors of the Tripoli Rocketry Association. Porthos II is also my user name on various rocketry websites, and belongs to a Level 3 certified Tripoli Rocketry Association and National Association of Rocketry member, and LIKE YOU, I enjoy this hobby immensely. I live it, I breathe it, I eat it every day.

Because of this fact, that I fly, that I build, that I get my hands dirty, it is impossible to not form an opinion. Just like it is impossible for people not to share an inside secret with me, to not let me in on something new that's coming soon or something that happened that probably should not have happened. I am faced with a myriad of decisions every week on whether or not the information I encounter is something that would be beneficial to share with you.

Why I am telling you this?
There are those individuals, primarily people who not only disagree with my opinions but who also disagree with my postings of those opinions, who do not think that Porthos II, the hobbyist, should have a voice on a rocketry forum EXCEPT to post the facts. That is akin to saying, "Hey, you! Since you sit on the TRA BOD, you can't saying anything publicly unless is it proven fact, and oh yeah, keep up the hard work."

That is an affront to me. This is MY hobby. And if I want to post my opinions about a given topic, then I should be able to without being crucified for doing so by the few individuals who want to cry foul every time someone questions anything they may feel is uncomfortable or unpleasant.

I wished our hobby wasn't susceptible to cronyism, to nepotism, to favoritism, just like I wished our hobby could operate without experiencing the appearance of impropriety, but we are all humans and those elements are always going to be a part of our society, even such a small slice as hobby rocketry. As an individual who thinks we as a hobby should avoid situations where the appearance of impropriety could be discerned, it is within my right as an individual that if I want to voice that opinion, that I should be able to do so without constant bickering and complaining.

So that is why I am posting this, to let you know, the reader, that when you see posts under the name Porthos II, you are witnessing the voice of me, the hobbyist, and not as the official representative of Tripoli Rocketry Association, and what I post is my view, and may contain fact and/or it may contain opinion, and it shouldn't be taken as any official representation of anything unless I so choose to disclose it.

This is MY opinion, the opinion of Porthos II, and not the opinion of the Tripoli Rocketry

Erik

 

[Chrisn]

Thats something I would expect to get banned for on here rather than rocketry planet. Tried a proxy?

 

[dave carver]

As far as disclaimers go that is a good one and I see nothing offensive about it.

Probibly ticked off one of the ones you were speaking of

 

[dixontj93060]

Erik, sorry to hear and certainly must be frustrating. As Wilde said some time ago:

“In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.” - Oscar Wilde / 1854-1900​

-Tim

 

[DAllen]

I have a hard time believing there isn't more to this story than just that. If there isn't, just remember that RP is Darrel's toy and he gets to play with it the way he wants. By the way, was this post the start of a new thread or a reply? If it were a reply, what thread was it in?

Did you ask Darrell what specifically was wrong with that post? A friendly, "Hey man, what gives?" message might be in order here. I know I would...

Also, I am curious as to why you might be bringing this up in a public forum. Is there a specific reason for that? :confused2: Sorry but this kinda sounds like an issue between you and Darrell. :2:



-Dave

 

[shreadvector]

I have only one question;

Why are there two "s"'s in "Porthoss II" ? Isn't it "Porthos II"?

 

[Porthos II]

I have only one question;

Why are there two "s"'s in "Porthoss II" ? Isn't it "Porthos II"?

When I joined I mistyped, and asked how to fix it. I can't find where you can change your user name without deleting the account. Anyone know how?

Erik

 

[WiK]

When I joined I mistyped, and asked how to fix it. I can't find where you can change your user name without deleting the account. Anyone know how?

Erik

As far as I know it can't be done from the user control panel.

I've gone and changed it for you - let me know if anything else needs changing.

Phil

 

[Porthos II]

As far as I know it can't be done from the user control panel.

I've gone and changed it for you - let me know if anything else needs changing.

Phil

Thank you!

Erik

 

[ddmobley]

I can't beleive it, Rocketry Planet, that has such great moderation , and has hosted many complaints about the moderation of this site, banned me because of the post below. I can't beleive that a site with such liberal moderation has me banned!

Readers: form your own opinion about the "victim" in this situation, read the full 17 pages of the thread and judge for yourself.

https://www.rocketryplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5221

 

[DAllen]

I'm just curious to see if anyone is going to answer my original questions. Was I unreasonable? :confused2: If I was, let me know.

-Dave

 

[kelltym88]

I can't believe that went on for 18 pages. But, after the in depth discussion we've had here, and the autopsy of one on RP, any AT failures from now on should be documented. Fill out a MESS report. Only then can we see if it is user error or a manufacturer one.

 

[tquigg]

I can't believe that went on for 18 pages. But, after the in depth discussion we've had here, and the autopsy of one on RP, any AT failures from now on should be documented. Fill out a MESS report. Only then can we see if it is user error or a manufacturer one.

Whole-heartedly agree! If in fact there are this many issues/AT failures, then DOCUMENT them by sending in a MESS report! Our club has hard copies of the MESS forms at the LCO table. When someone comes in from the field after suffering a motor failure, the LCO hands the flyer a MESS report and requests they fill it out. Our club will even mail them in for the flyer as a courtesy.

Best Regards

 

[kelltym88]

Whole-heartedly agree! If in fact there are this many issues/AT failures, then DOCUMENT them by sending in a MESS report! Our club has hard copies of the MESS forms at the LCO table. When someone comes in from the field after suffering a motor failure, the LCO hands the flyer a MESS report and requests they fill it out. Our club will even mail them in for the flyer as a courtesy.

Best Regards

That's a good idea. Fred, you see this...

 

[GuyNoir]

Fill out a MESS report.

Easy to do:

https://www.nar.org/NARmessform.html

 

[shreadvector]

Easy to do:

https://www.nar.org/NARmessform.html

We need an iPhone app for the M.E.S.S. form.

 

[Wild Doogie]

Remember: We are visitors at any forum. Respect goes a long way. If you are a owner and pay the bills then you know the answer....play by the rules.

 

[WillMarchant]

We need an iPhone app for the M.E.S.S. form.

Why not just use the iPhone browser? Or do you want something that will work if you're out of a service area?

 

[shreadvector]

Why not just use the iPhone browser? Or do you want something that will work if you're out of a service area?

I was just kidding. I use my cell phone to talk - period. No texting, no web, nothing. I do use the camera once in a while and I did hack into the file system to load my own ringtone.

View attachment FlintPhone.zip

 

[Initiator001]

...I did hack into the file system to load my own ringtone.

The first time I heard Fred's cellphone ring I recognized what it was and thought, "That's pretty cool..."

 

[shreadvector]

The first time I heard Fred's cellphone ring I recognized what it was and thought, "That's pretty cool..."

It's gone off twice at work when I was in a meeting. At the first one, someone ran into the room to find out who had the ringtone on their phone - he had been trying to find it for a long time. I had to e-mail it to him (since I could not send it via phone).

The second time it was during a meeting with one of our UK suppliers and their VP of North American sales was in the room and he started convulsing in laughter because he loved it and recognized it. We then explained the campy James Bond/American rip-off thing.

 

[ben_ullman]

Dangit Erik! You and your freaking opinions! You know what their like, and it sounds like your boasting a few extra :roll:

Ben

 

[dlb]

so far as I know we're on at least (3) forums with this, maybe more.

I say rockets at 1000 feet, "M's"! :headbang:

 

[DAllen]

so far as I know we're on at least (3) forums with this, maybe more.

Which part? The complaining about AT delays or the complaining about RP moderation? I am still looking for answers to the questions I asked in post #5 of this thread. I think the lack of response by the original poster indicates to me that this is nothing more than a poor attempt to smear Darrells reputation. Maybe I am wrong. If I am, please explain why.

-Dave

 

[Porthos II]

Which part? The complaining about AT delays or the complaining about RP moderation? I am still looking for answers to the questions I asked in post #5 of this thread. I think the lack of response by the original poster indicates to me that this is nothing more than a poor attempt to smear Darrells reputation. Maybe I am wrong. If I am, please explain why.

-Dave

In the past when a poster on TRF was banned, they went to RP and complained/bragged. The thread would go on for awhile trashing TRF and the moderators on TRF. I would go as far as to say the owner of RP enjoyed and encouraged it as he promoted his hands off/ very light handed moderation.

They laughed and poked fun of the owners of TRF if/when they came over to RP to defend themselves.

I thought it was very hypocritical of me to banned from RP for expressing my displeasure in the owners moderation style. Since I have been banned, one would think the thread would be locked, as I could not defend the resulting posts, but that once again is not the owner’s moderation style.

I found it funny though that although I voiced my displeasure in the owner’s moderation, that the owner has now twisted it to be an attack on his other moderators, which I think, they do a great job.

There were no personal attacks against the owner, just a question on his style of moderation. When questioned, he went off on a tirade and completely cussed me out, and posted some very slanderous comments.

The owner has a posting disclosure. As the owner he wishes to be able to post and disclose that it is his personal opinion, and not that of RP. Anytime I post something that is not to his or others liking, I am told that as a TRA BOD member, I too cannot have an opinion. I decided to take the very disclosure that the owner of RP has made, and change the wording to represent me. I will probably continue in the future to use a disclosure of sorts to separate official TRA posts from posts of Erik Gates, the hobby rocket enthusiast.

So to answer your question, I thought it would be amusing to post this here, and it is usually the other way around, and a form of entertainment on RP.

Erik

 

[shrox]

I will side with whomever calculates pi to it's last decimal place first.

 

[JDcluster]

Then why didn't you PM him or start a new topic instead of posting off-topic under the AT delay header, are you still involved with Aerotech?

Everyone has their own opinion, but when you try to argue it no one wins.



JD

In the past when a poster on TRF was banned, they went to RP and complained/bragged. The thread would go on for awhile trashing TRF and the moderators on TRF. I would go as far as to say the owner of RP enjoyed and encouraged it as he promoted his hands off/ very light handed moderation.

They laughed and poked fun of the owners of TRF if/when they came over to RP to defend themselves.

I thought it was very hypocritical of me to banned from RP for expressing my displeasure in the owners moderation style. Since I have been banned, one would think the thread would be locked, as I could not defend the resulting posts, but that once again is not the owner’s moderation style.

I found it funny though that although I voiced my displeasure in the owner’s moderation, that the owner has now twisted it to be an attack on his other moderators, which I think, they do a great job.

There were no personal attacks against the owner, just a question on his style of moderation. When questioned, he went off on a tirade and completely cussed me out, and posted some very slanderous comments.

The owner has a posting disclosure. As the owner he wishes to be able to post and disclose that it is his personal opinion, and not that of RP. Anytime I post something that is not to his or others liking, I am told that as a TRA BOD member, I too cannot have an opinion. I decided to take the very disclosure that the owner of RP has made, and change the wording to represent me. I will probably continue in the future to use a disclosure of sorts to separate official TRA posts from posts of Erik Gates, the hobby rocket enthusiast.

So to answer your question, I thought it would be amusing to post this here, and it is usually the other way around, and a form of entertainment on RP.

Erik

 

[Porthos II]

Then why didn't you PM him or start a new topic instead of posting off-topic under the AT delay header, are you still involved with Aerotech?

Everyone has their own opinion, but when you try to argue it no one wins.



JD

People were asking why Gary did not respond to threads on the forum, my reply was in response to that.

My brother was an investor in AT. After the fire and BK all prior investors were included in the discharge of debt. While an investor, we flew AMW in many projects, and never have limited ourselves to any one brand of motor.

My son L1 and L2 on CTI and L3 on AT at LDRS 28

Lock & Load we used Estes, CTI, Kosdon and AT

Knoxville was launched on CTI

1st Mythbusters were AMW N4000's

Mini Cooper was launched on 2 CTI P motors and a AMW N4000

Playhouse launched on 4 AMW N4000’s

Porthos II was launched once on all AT N4800's and again on AMW P10,000 and 6 AMW N4000's

Not in bed with any motor manufacturer, and I think the array of motors on the market is great for the consumer. I know it's great for me as I have an incredible resource of motors to choose from.

I do agree about the arguing, can’t enter a mud wrestling competition without getting mud on you.

Erik

 

[tomar]

Whole-heartedly agree! If in fact there are this many issues/AT failures, then DOCUMENT them by sending in a MESS report! Our club has hard copies of the MESS forms at the LCO table. When someone comes in from the field after suffering a motor failure, the LCO hands the flyer a MESS report and requests they fill it out. Our club will even mail them in for the flyer as a courtesy.

This is a great idea. Why didn't we think of this before. I will make this recommendation to our club at tomorrow's launch.