Is there some kind of rule that the original subject matter of a thread be adhered to?  The 'I'm Outa Here ' topic quickly morphed into other subjects, several.

That's the nature of conversations.  Have you ever sat down to lunch and started talking about one thing and ended up on a completely different subject?  Have you ever had friends or neighbors over for an evening of conversation and talked about several subjects?  Have you ever started taking with guys in the FBO or in a hangar abut something and the subject somehow changes?

I look at these threads as conversations.  What does it matter if it veers off course.  This is Hangar Chat.  That means we chat about different things.  and the conversations drift off subject when the interest in them wanes and some other interesting is brought up.  We speak.  Someone replies.  Someone changes the subject.  That's what chat means.

There was nothing political or obscene or offensive in that thread.  It just happened to move in several directions.  Is that bad?  Am I missing something?

Noel

Agree to a point but surely that is why we have subjects/headings.

I'm as capable as the next bloke in ignoring subjects that do not interest me. When looking up things to read I'm initially guided by the subject matter. When I read something totally unrelated I might leave and miss some informative bits.

Small deviations are one thing but it not just a bunch of guys sitting around gabbing. There are folks coming into and out of the thread on a regular basis that would not be up to speed in a lengthy thread if the conversation went off topic. In my case I often start at the end of a thread and if it looks interesting work my way back. Guess what happens if its not on the topic I thought is was. I'm out and the original poster is robbed of a reader and possibly even a contributor.

If you have something to say that has nothing to do with the subject of the thread you would be better served in starting a new thread as surely this would attract those individuals who are interested in that particular conversation.

I would personally prefer moderators hide/delete at their discretion inappropriate posts and try to leave the good bits in. Not sure in the logic of closing posts, there might be members in the wings formulating something to contribute and wham its gone. Maybe ask the original poster for permission first.

Cheers,

There are lots of reasons a thread might be closed by our mod staff, and not all involve misconduct or other unhappy circumstances.  In the interest of organization we try to keep threads on-topic, so when discussions morph to where they no longer even remotely relate to the posted topic, we close them.  We also try to avoid dead horse flogging (e.g. a significant amount of back-and-forth rehashing of the same material) and necroposting (new posts in a long-dead thread).

That said, we don't entertain debate of our moderation policies and decisions in the forums.  So...yes indeedy...I'm gonna close this one too.