Hi GuysAnyone know what has happened to the HTAI website? Been unavailable for a couple of weeks now.

Hi GuysAnyone know what has happened to the HTAI website? Been unavailable for a couple of weeks now.

This thread, fairly recent, may help:http://forum.avsim.n...80-htai-models/All of Henry's aircraft, and Dee's, were outstanding and I purchased the Cessna AI for my FS2004 environment some time ago. Their work was great work and a real tribute to the type of people who would give the shirt off their back to make our hobby a more enjoyable environment.Regards,John

This thread, fairly recent, may help:http://forum.avsim.n...80-htai-models/All of Henry's aircraft, and Dee's, were outstanding and I purchased the Cessna AI for my FS2004 environment some time ago. Their work was great work and a real tribute to the type of people who would give the shirt off their back to make our hobby a more enjoyable environment.Regards,John

Ditto - this is a huge loss to the community. It's a pity that AVSIM's "news" is just a conduit for PR blurbs as this is the kind of thing that should be spoken about. It's happened too often - the Italian Scenery Design group is another example. Outstanding freeware - all too often met with dead silence and the occasional troll attacking the author over some percieved "details." If you make a point of emailing freeware authors to thank them for their work, I will guarantee you two things:1. You will get a prompt, personal reply back thanking you for valuing their work2. You will frequently get a sad comment that very few people actually do write and say thank youThe ISDG folks specifically told me that they were discouraged at the lack of recognition they got for producing what was then cutting edge, payware quality products and sure enough, eventually they closed down.A couple of years ago a prolific and brilliant freeware designer announced that he was "hanging up his hat." I wrote to AVSIM NEWS editor asking that we publish a short article thanking this person (and his collaborators) for all the wonderful freeware they had contributed. Answer - no, this is not the kind of thing we publish. I was furious. We publish PR garbage for flawed and sometimes almost fraudulent payware products but we couldn't say "thank you" to someone who had contributed so much.Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr :( If anyone wants Henry's great Cessna Single payware product (worth every cent) I believe it is still available on Simware.Ian

I agree with everything you said there, KiwiFlyer. And to think, AVSIM ask for donations on the frontpage.

I agree with everything you said there, KiwiFlyer. And to think, AVSIM ask for donations on the frontpage.

An obvious question..You guys that seem to have a problem with avsim and the way it operates-why are you here?

An obvious question..You guys that seem to have a problem with avsim and the way it operates-why are you here?

Good question!

Good question!

Is it really? Are the customers/users not entitled to an opinion? Do you (the admins) reckon that there is nothing that can be improved?

Is it really? Are the customers/users not entitled to an opinion? Do you (the admins) reckon that there is nothing that can be improved?

Opinions are fine but facts count too.Here is just one of countless recognitions avsim has done of freeware authors-I happen to know because I was one of them that was recognized.http://www.avsim.com/pages/0602/bear_6-2-02/bearracing.htmSo I find it interesting when users with very few posts come in here and start accusing avsim of this and that...and speaking of facts-they are not customers-they don't pay to come here. Avsim is staffed by volunteers who freely give of much of their time.So I suggest the two critics volunteer their time to improve avsim in the way they wish....and I think the comment "And to think, AVSIM ask for donations on the frontpage" is about as low as I see around here.By the way-this thread got the mods alerts from other simmers on avsim who found it offensive. Take the hint.

An obvious question..You guys that seem to have a problem with avsim and the way it operates-why are you here?

I don't have a problem with AVSIM or "the way it operates." I used to be a regular contributor as a reviewer and continue to be an avid supporter. (No, you won't find me on the review list because all my older reviews got lost in the hack - but there were a bunch including the original FS9 review, CS 727, Lago F16 and many more)What I DO have a problem with is the lack of gratitude that most freeware developers receive from the community as a whole - it's not just an AVSIM issue. But I am entitled to the opinion that the AVSIM News Section (which is all I was referring to) would be an appropriate place to note such things as the closing down of a well-known and respected freeware site and saying "thank you" on behalf of the community. I'm sorry if you have a problem with that.... I had no intention of starting a firefight on here - my intention was to respond to a thread about HTAI no longer being online. I voiced a legitimate concern about that, and gave an example of the lack of gratitude based on an actual experience of asking AVSIM to print a news article in the past when another popular site closed down - nothing more... And I make no apology for that whatsoever. If the reply to my request from the news editor had been "Great idea - would you write the article?" my immediate response would have been yes. But the idea wasn't considered "appropriate" even though it is "appropriate" to print as "news" unedited PR blurbs from any payware developer who sends them in.One last thing. My concern for the lack of expressions of gratitude toward freeware producers also extends to the lack of gratitude for AVSIM volunteers like yourself. I DO thank you for all you do for the community -there was nothing personal in my comments whatsoever

Opinions are fine but facts count too.Here is just one of countless recognitions avsim has done of freeware authors-I happen to know because I was one of them that was recognized.http://www.avsim.com/pages/0602/bear_6-2-02/bearracing.htmSo I find it interesting when users with very few posts come in here and start accusing avsim of this and that...and speaking of facts-they are not customers-they don't pay to come here. Avsim is staffed by volunteers who freely give of much of their time.So I suggest the two critics volunteer their time to improve avsim in the way they wish....and I think the comment "And to think, AVSIM ask for donations on the frontpage" is about as low as I see around here.By the way-this thread got the mods alerts from other simmers on avsim who found it offensive. Take the hint.

I take your "hint" - please see my post to the other responder. I had nothing to do with the comment about asking for donations and also find it objectionable. Please don't put me in the same category as that. As for the comment about "very few posts" - I'm not sure what the logic of that is. The value of someone's opinion is judged by the volume of their posts? If you look at my posts you will see they are invariably polite, positive and in most cases are attempts to help someone who has asked for assistance. I don't appreciate your "hint" one bit. Sounds more like a threat to me.... It's a shame that what was intended to be a tribute to Henry's contributions has turned into a confrontation simply because I expressed a view that the news section of AVSIM would be a good place to print such - errrr - "news?" as the closing of his website and maybe saying thank you to him. Okay, I'm done with the topic - I had no intention of starting a controversy.BTW - if you are "Bear Cartwright" operating under a different screen name you may remember that we worked together to write the FS2004 Preview. I have enormous respect for what you have contributed to AVSIM and any tribute they gave you was fully deserved and endorsed by me. But I don't retract my statement that there isn't enough of that kind of recognition from AVSIM or anyone else in the community. We all could do a better job of showing appreciation to those who have contributed freely of their time and talents - and I absolutely do include all AVSIM volunteers in that category, having been one of them myself

So I find it interesting when users with very few posts come in here and start accusing avsim of this and that...and speaking of facts-they are not customers-they don't pay to come here. Avsim is staffed by volunteers who freely give of much of their time.

Some folks do in fact make donations to Avsim which is why I used the loose term "users/customers"

By the way-this thread got the mods alerts from other simmers on avsim who found it offensive. Take the hint.

Perhaps if you had posted;

Here is just one of countless recognitions avsim has done of freeware authors-I happen to know because I was one of them that was recognized.http://www.avsim.com.../bearracing.htm

instead of;

An obvious question..You guys that seem to have a problem with avsim and the way it operates-why are you here?

it would have been far better.As another member stated, just because someone hasn't got a large post count, it does not mean that their opinion is any less valid. For sure he could have posted his opinion a lot better. However the points made by Kiwiflyer are valid and they should not be overshadowed because another member went a tad too far.Nothing that Kiwiflyer had said warranted his presence being questionned, nor does anything posted warrant the rather threatening "Take the hint" nonsense

I take your "hint" - please see my post to the other responder. I had nothing to do with the comment about asking for donations and also find it objectionable. Please don't put me in the same category as that. As for the comment about "very few posts" - I'm not sure what the logic of that is. The value of someone's opinion is judged by the volume of their posts? If you look at my posts you will see they are invariably polite, positive and in most cases are attempts to help someone who has asked for assistance. I don't appreciate your "hint" one bit. Sounds more like a threat to me.... It's a shame that what was intended to be a tribute to Henry's contributions has turned into a confrontation simply because I expressed a view that the news section of AVSIM would be a good place to print such - errrr - "news?" as the closing of his website and maybe saying thank you to him. Okay, I'm done with the topic - I had no intention of starting a controversy.BTW - if you are "Bear Cartwright" operating under a different screen name you may remember that we worked together to write the FS2004 Preview. I have enormous respect for what you have contributed to AVSIM and any tribute they gave you was fully deserved and endorsed by me. But I don't retract my statement that there isn't enough of that kind of recognition from AVSIM or anyone else in the community. We all could do a better job of showing appreciation to those who have contributed freely of their time and talents - and I absolutely do include all AVSIM volunteers in that category, having been one of them myself

Sorry if you took it that way. The" hint" was for the other responder whose post was objectionable. (By the way I am not Bear).As far as very few posts-those of us that have modded for quite a while have found there are people who take pleasure in coming here under different screen names/ip's and do their best to create havoc after being banned for doing the same in the past.Therefore, when a "newbie arrives", gets immediate complaints from other simmers in their first posts, and states an insult towards avsim our anntenas usually extend and 99% of the time we find that it is a repeat offender. The other .8 % we find is someone who in the future will probably end up being banned. The simple fact is 99% of simmers here don't get complaints from other simmers and don't hurl insults towards avsim.I agree it would be nice to have more appreciation for freeware work. Perhaps you would consider getting involved again? Avsim can always use some help.

Geoff,If folks are (or have been) complaining about the comments made by Megaslop81, would it not be a better idea to remove his post from this thread and fire off a warning to the fella?

Geoff,If folks are (or have been) complaining about the comments made by Megaslop81, would it not be a better idea to remove his post from this thread and fire off a warning to the fella?

In general we don't remove posts like this so if a course of action is required in the future others can understand why it was taken.

Okay okay, I over-reacted, because I essentially agree with what KiwiFlyer said, and I also would have been furious with such a response to a request to write a thank you article about someone.I apologise.The "to think they ask for donations" was just a facile, off the cuff remark, no need take it any other way. If it was, I apologise for that also.I don't agree with everything about the forum, I don't agree with everything any forum does, I am allowed an opinion, but obviously next time, I should express more intelligently and eloquently.Can we move on?