I think all of us should write him to show our support for his gracious efforts to us all. He may or may not change his mind but it never hurts to try. Heck I would pay for it in a minute if he went that route.

Sad. Perhaps AVSIM would like to sponsor this service. There's no where else on the web where one can keep current with navigational data. If not AVSIM, maybe a virtual airline. Regards,Dave Vega

Just a thought: I'm sure there are mature adolescents among us, but they seem to be outweighed by the immature ones :(. This hobby has been badly affected by mentally unstable teenagers, who bicker and criticize for the sport of it!It really annoys me when I see posts like: "So when do you guys go back to school?" ..... :-mad ...... not everybody is a kid!!! :-roll!Five years ago, this hobby was dominated by mature and caring individuals ...... what the heck has happened!!!!!!!!! :-eek

Here, here! I second that!!I've never used Navdata personally, but I believe that any freeware developer is contributing what he/she can to the flightsim community, and we should be completely grateful for any such effort, even if it doesn't seem to meet our "standards".People who develop freeware addons for flight simulation have a real passion, they love what they do. To have someone complain about any aspect of it that isn't quite right is completely self-centered, and in my mind an idiot.Don't give up, Richard. We need more people like you!James

This is one of the biggest losses ever suffered by the flight simulation community.Maybe some of you can't realise it but nothing is ever going to be the same without updated navigation data. In a year, or even less, we will all be using completely outdated data for our flight planning. I wonder how this people who drove Richard out, in their strive for "absolute" realism, will cope with that, assuming that they will still be in the hobby of course, which I highly doubt...A very annoyed...

Yes, I agree with you entirely. That's one reason why I don't post much in these forums is the fact there are too many 'kids' with immature mentalities. A prime example is, in another post about the new SGA MD-80 series coming out, I made mention about how the engine nacelles looked as if they needed further rotation. I didn't cut the work of SGA down, and think it looks absolutely wonderful. All I did was offer a couple of suggestions. Next thing I know, I'm being 'flamed' by some kid who obviously is too immature to understand the difference of 'constructive criticism' vs. actual 'criticism'. It's too bad it happens. The only intent I had was to make something great even better. I even provided the necessary information to do the trick. Now, it's just up to SGA.As a developer myself, I devote my time to doing the best I can with what I've got for information. Not everything is perfect in this world, nor will it ever be. I guess what I do is 'try' and get it perfect, but it doesn't always happen.Anyway, like you, I don't know what has happened. It's definitely getting out of control. Quite possibly Avsim needs to have 'age verification' which could only be done through a credit card. Avsim wouldn't need to charge users, just verify their age. Only problem is, even some of the ones over the age of reason aren't 'with it' entirely.Allan

This is a true disaster !!!!!And I clearly see a pattern here.....It is very easy to see why this have happened......and my scenario suspicions are these...# A payware developer thinks....- What if I should make some bucks in selling Nav Aids on a subscription basis-. But there is one Freeware guy who suplies this information for free !!Well,..the easy way to remove this guy, is to tell some friends to send him some nasty mails inorder for him to "pack his bags" and dissapere. And woala...the market is wide open for a payware guy to operate as he wants. :-(And I will not remind you all with the famous phrase "I told you so" when it happens.Staffan AhlbergSweden/Stockholm/ESSA

I don't think age has anything to do with it. The worst offenders are the "adults" on these forums.A wonderful free resource is ending due to the rudeness and immaturity of a small number of people (not kids not pensioners just PEOPLE). Maybe Richard would reconsider restarting with a subscription only service which only registered users could access. At least then he could find out who the bad apples are and end their subscription if they get abusive. Just an idea. Or maybe someone else would be willing to run the service if Richard continued with the updates.RegardsAdam Moore(38 years old and still feeling 18..)

Obviously the sh$t's hitting the fan on this one people. It's really too bad. I only hope he re-considers and finds a better way to work around things. One idea is, not to give user's his e-mail address. That way, if they do wish to complain like that, they won't have a chance. Another thing to report a bug or legitimate concern would be to fill out a specific form on a webpage without any room for 'comments'. Just a few ideas I came up with that I feel would put an end to what he must have had to deal with.Allan

>This is a true disaster !!!!!>>And I clearly see a pattern here.....>>It is very easy to see why this have happened......and my>scenario suspicions are these...>># A payware developer thinks....- What if I should make some>bucks in selling Nav Aids on a subscription basis-. But there>is one Freeware guy who suplies this information for free !!>>Well,..the easy way to remove this guy, is to tell some>friends to send him some nasty mails inorder for him to "pack>his bags" and dissapere. And woala...the market is wide open>for a payware guy to operate as he wants. :-(>>And I will not remind you all with the famous phrase "I told>you so" when it happens.>>Staffan Ahlberg>Sweden/Stockholm/ESSAYou're right :( The greedy have spotted an opportunity to make some money, so they attack the freeware authors :( I've seen it several times this year :(I think that a Hall of Shame should be created!!!

Oh cry me a RIVER!!! Richard announces that he's shutting down and you all come here in the forums condemming the people that "caused" his decision....because you're all so good and decent!But you know the REAL reason why Richard is closing down? Its because of YOU. Yes all you good and decent folk that love freeware so much. So a few people wrote him and condemned and complained about his work. This is the real world. There will ALWAYS be people like this. There's nothing that can be done about that. Its part of everyday life. All of you encounter situations like that on a regular basis.But, how many of you emailed him EVERY CYCLE thanking him for his work? there's thousands of people registered over there. How many tousands of email has he received showering him with praises? Lets play the odds here: 5000 emails with praise. 10 emails with childish comments and complaints. Do I shut down or do I stay? What would you do?So yes people.....its not the "Jackasses" out there that condemned him that's causing him to shut down. Its the "Jackasses" out there that didn't write to thank him that's causing him to shut down.Let this be a wake up call for all of you. STOP TAKING FREEWARE FOR GRANTED. If you download a freeware airplane or a scenery or a panel or even an AFCAD that you like then email the author and THANK HIM. That's the way freeware authors get paid....with praise. Commercial developers get paid with money.....Freeware developers get paid with emails praising and thanking them.

I sometimes write an email to a person who has done something that I appreciate/admire/respect to express my gratitude. When I don't do it, it's simply because I'm thinking something like "this guys must be reveicing thousands of thank you letters already so perhaps I shouldn't take up his time with making him read again something he's read many many times".The times that I do write is when I think a little more, like "what if I were that person, would I read each and every letter from a thankful person" and find the answer to be yes. I suppose those letters are really what drives the guys who are contributing on a free basis.So from here on I'm gonna start sending a thank you letter to everyone who's work I appreciate, starting with Michael Frantzeskakis/Servinfo. What would vatsim be without that program!Mailservers around the world - beware!/KristerMariehamn, Finland

Yes, that's true, we all have to recite the "mea culpa", BUT ...there might be another factor in sight, if you think of it, and it is one that has to be read between the lines ...Richard mentioned some very important things in his life, some other priorities: his family, his job.Maybe these things have increased recently for him in terms of "pressure".You husbands and fathers out there sure know what I mean.Maybe his conscience kinda popped in and suggested it was time to take a break, or even to reconsider the whole matter ...I didn't say: "It is so.", I said: "maybe", so that we know where the shame can be put and divided ...If so, I wouldn't blame him, but I think him clever enough not to close down the operation just because of a bunch of stupids, well realizing the loss that results for the shameless ones, even though they don't send him the number od appreciating emails he'd like to get. After a while, it becomes kinda notorious that you're doing a GREAT job for the community ...Thanks, Richard, from the heart. Hope you can live and feel better now, if this decision you made really helps you.Your family will probably be grateful, and as for our families ... well, they know we will survive !!!;-)

>>Oh cry me a RIVER!!!>>But, how many of you emailed him EVERY CYCLE thanking him for>his work? there's thousands of people registered over there.>How many tousands of email has he received showering him with>praises?Hi Anthony,Yes, you are right to a certain extent.I am sure that he got quite many "credit mails". If not from the end users, but from the many developers who uses his data for their addons.The decision is his ofcourse. But I am sure that there are many things stired together, which made up his mind of quitting.But beleive me,...the moaners who mailed him in this case, are not just disapointed endusers. :-rollStaffan AhlbergSweden/Stockholm/ESSA

LLqaz,Freeware authors don't only get paid with thank you letters, there's another thing...Number of downloads. If Richard got 5 or 10 thousand thank you mails from the same people every month he would have quit some time ago either because it would lead him to believe that his crowd is a bunch of obsessive no-lifers (is there such a word?), or because his ISP would cut his mail service...As for myself, I have verbally expressed my gratitude towards him at least a couple of times in these fora.