Hi Ray,>>If I came here on a regular basis and if the message boards were more
lively I would certainly consider it.<<
It's too bad that your criteria are as such. I look at it a different way. Not only do I volunteer my time here, but I pay membership dues as well. I do this because I have yet to find one other FS related site as comfortable as our beloved FSFORUM on Compuserve. Sure, the message traffic may not be that great (YET) but neither was the FSFORUM's the last 2 years of it's existence. Even with other options, we still ponied up the $$ to Compuserve, right up to the end. Why? Because it was our home.
The idea behind the VPC was not to exist in competition with other FS related sites, it was created to fill the void left by the closing of FSFORUM. We aren't about huge file libraries either...let others shoulder that bandwidth burden. We exist because it provides a pleasant, and comfortable place to share ideas, help others, get help, or just simply chit-chat. I'm proud to say that as a sysop here, I have yet to remove one single message from the public board in the last year and a half! There's no whining, bickering, flaming, etc. That's a testament to the caliber caliber of members here.
Unfortunately however, we cannot continue to grow if we do not exist. Ben chose the donation/membership model simply because he did not want the members deluged with ADs when accessing the board. I was with him 100% with this decision, and still am. Forget about the fact that unless you advertise porn or gambling sites, AD revenue is a pittance of what it used to be. He did it for the members, and no other reason. That decision forced him to pay the expenses of running the VPC out his own pocket. Other sites ask for donations as well, but what do you get if you donate?
At least, we try to make donating more valuable by providing something tangible. For less than (US) 10 cents/day you get a FlightAdventures pop3 email account, a subscription to Flying Magazine, access to other areas on the site (if your're so inclined), a cd with a registered version of our OLR and other goodies, as well as public recognition on the board by way of your "Crew" icon on each of your posts. Speaking of the OLR, did I mention that we are the only FS related site that I know of that has one? 
This was done purely with ex-compuserve/OzWin users in mind. That was no small undertaking, I can assure you.
Ray, please don't read this as if I'm picking on you. I'm taking this opportunity to get the word out again to everyone. If you don't have the desire to donate, that's your prerogative. This board does not require that. However, the board *is* supported by crew memberships, and without them it will cease to exist. It's a simple matter of economics, and it's not fair to expect that "others" (particularly Ben) will pick up the tab. If you (or anyone) find any value in this forum at all, I urge you to donate so we can grow. 30US$ per *YEAR* is not alot of money for most of us. Think of how much many of us spend on FS addons and it may put things into perspective.
To close here, once again I want to extend a special thanks to Ben for at least giving this a shot for us old timers, and new FSers alike!
Best Always,
--Greenie
**6 miles SSE KSJC**
-= VPC OffLine Reader 2.1 =-
Registered to: Mike Greenwood
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