The Press and ......

[Tim]

The Press! Nothing better to do I take it? A beer and a keyboard certainly seem to be a vicious mix!

[Ken Watson]

Bones, I"m not trying to upset you, although it seems I have. In reality we are probably similar characters. I"m just trying to show that there are 2 sides to every story and that I don"t know Willy any better than you. I just wouldn"t judge until I meet the character. We often say things that can be interpreted differently, especially when the tone in voice is a determinant. We all shoot our mouth off at sometime and I"m as guilty as the next bloke.

[NiqueNaque]

Willi doesn´t come here often and usually has little to say.. if I may I will tell you how I found Willi to be when I went up to the sky ranch to fly G2066 - this is where the ´G2066 doesn´t look good like this´ post comes from.After I flopped G2066 in the paddock due to the nose wheel breaking, both Willi and Wal Flaks flew out and found me, Wal in his Gyro and Willi in his Angel Helo. As it was going dusk I was most appreciative of being given a bearing to get back to the Sky Ranch, this was given by Willi - no obligation, he helped me out.The next day I fixed up the antennae cable in his tecnam, he was grateful for the assistance.I have noticed posts here to the effect that he is ´arrogant´, the problem I believe is that Willi is of the Germanic cultural set, and to us ´laid back´ Aussies he might seem abrupt as most Germanic people do seem to us, but are not after you get to know them. I´ve known a few and most of them have been ´salt of the earth´ type people. [Wait until you have to deal with an expatriated Kiwi Dutchman!!]Like me he is probably a squeaky wheel type person and attends to the one making the most noise..As to an inappropriate response to the press, give the bloke a break, I´m sure I could have easily said the same or worse, my guess is he got caught off-guard and responded as his cultural set would dictate, next time I am sure he will be a little more guarded when matching wits with an experienced reporter / news hound, no doubt he was probably cringing as he hung up the phone..As to the Publicity Officer:I´m going to take a vote here - who thinks I might suit the position?[This does not mean I am volunteering, just seeing if I might be suitable..]AND - in relation to people flying within the first few hours on their own.. I saw the results of this when one of the blokes at Whittingham took it apon himself to fly his powered machine in the absence of an instructor and what I thought were premature conditions..We sign a contract with ASRA and the contract says´Flying gyroplanes is dangerous´. I think that is it, the essence of what we do, danger everywhere, so how is it that people like Brian Reid and Birdy amongst other blokes can clock up thousands of hours without killing themselves? The answer is an acknowledgement of and action in agreement with their own limitations. Like Bonesmeister says, nothing will stop a gung-ho feeling invincible type from killing himself - these are the ´P´ platers of the Gyro world driving their death machines.I think the wording of the contract needs to be extended:The contract must include a written declaration by the student that he/she will not attempt to self-train or practice in the absence of an instructor, if they are caught doing so they get one caution, after that they are expelled forthwith, no second chances, their name and breach gets published here and no trainer is allowed to or will ever take them on - they must go elsewhere. This would have to be spelled out, end of story. The criticallity of this can be enforced by including in the decaration that the student acknowledges that low time students who attempt to self train are fatality magnets - a statistical chart showing number of hours to the first incident and / or fatality and severity needs to be included so it it absolutely and totally rammed home in totally categoric and certain terms that self training is not f--king allowed.. on this front we must be totally implaccable and inflexible.What do you think??Cheers,Nick.

[bones]

Ken,I"m glad about that, as i was wondering what the hell i had done to upset you.THis is the important part right here i feel, there is NOTHING that can take back the right or wrongly quoted(the fact that Llewella didnt/couldnt deny he said it leaves the mind wondering) words that Willy has said, the important thing is to MAKE SURE this type of thing NEVER happens again, ie. make a plan god forbid it should happen again, that there is noone to talk to the press, and only a typed comment from the president AFTER conferencing the rest of the board or gathering further information about the said accident.Now to deal with the problem of the press ringing, i thought about this today, very simple i do it all the time, turn on an answering machine, and if it is the press or sounds like it , don"t answer the phone, if not just pick up and talk after you are aware of whom it is on the other end, if the press want to know they WILL learn to wait for the correct info, i know for a fact after dealing with a helicopter crash that killed my brother/best mate, there was NO PRESS until we were ready and or knew what was the cause PERIOD.It really has nothing to do with wheither or not i like Willy, but i will stand f*cking if someone can convince me that what was said in the press is GOOD for ASRA and it"s instructors, which i am about to joint the ranks of, this is my point, i dont want some one generalising me, as a member of ASRA, i tend to get pissed off real quick with anything that is negative to the organisation.Thank you for reading and

[asra]

Right on the money, Mark. (on all points). To add: caller ID is a cinch, too. "Number blocked" or "don"t recognize it" - Through to the message bank. Another thing - After 20 yrs, you"d think that somewhere along the line, ASRA would have developed clear lines of communication for dealing with the press. Nick,I"d have no problem with you handling the job. You"re articulate (nothing to do with a truck licence), and you"re smart enough to know that you"re only going to give out the official position. Well put in your little dissertation on Willie. But it don"t matter whether you"re a good bloke like Willie, or an ars%$@le like me, some people aren"t cut out for dealing with the press. Willie doesn"t have a good enough grasp on the lingo (judging by the bits that I"ve seen written), and I"m prone to leaving fingerprints on windpipes. ;DCheers

[Russell]

The Press! Nothing better to do I take it? A beer and a keyboard certainly seem to be a vicious mix!

[asra]

Tim McClure said: “Just to clarify one small point. The press did not work down the list on our home page and talk to the next person who answered!”

[asra]

I said “Nothing better to do I take it? A beer and a keyboard certainly seem to be a vicious mix!

[asra]

Gosh! I haven"t had any offers to help write a Position Description for a publicity officer?

[Russell]

Well aren"t we getting a tad "sarky" now...............claws are out too.Suggestion..................Resign, bet the offers then flood in ;D ;D

[Des Garvin]

From that comment Russ is going to be available to take all our enquires when the resignation takes place. DO I HAVE THIS RIGHT OR WRONG RUSS. Des Garvin

[Greg Mitchell]

Bugger Me I missed this thread. Just for the record... I"d like to disagree with what Ken Watson had to say......"Mitch disagrees with me on just about everything,but I don"t hate him or have a dislike even for him. Even if we had a punch up, I can still walk away and say this. Ken"Fact is it"s Ken that disagrees with everything I say or think or post. But it"s all been explained at Ken"s request else where. As to a Publicity or Press Officer, this is something we have probably all thought about or suggested previously. I recollect talking in depth to a previous board member at length, some four years ago. So for me this is old and cold!Yes there was some stuff posted on the Rotorcraft forum and I"m pretty sure most of it got transposed to the ASRA site.Llewella"s opening post reads like "damage control" to me and Ken you think my posts are nasty, personnel and vicious. I"ll be accused of reading between the lines again.I would very much like to publicly identify a number of key points that Llewella posted, BUT WHAT"S THE POINT. The divisions were too deep at Board and Member levels and the Regan Report is clear.

[asra]

Bugger Me ....Mitch. I"ll pass. But I might have abeer with you sometime!

[Greg Mitchell]

Bugger!FW I thought you"d be easy...he he he! Mitch ;D