Forum Rules - Please Read

All users should be familiar with the rules of the forum.
Version 13 [Last Revision: 14 May 2024]
Posting Guidelines
  • The primary purpose of the forum is to discuss unbuilt projects, military and aerospace technology in various forms.
  • Posts on alien UFOs, speculative Nazi wunderwaffen/flying saucers/atomic bombs, general conspiracy theories, alien crashes, moon landing denial and the like are specifically discouraged and would be better posted elsewhere./li>
  • Political, religious and nationalistic topics are strongly discouraged. Specific areas to avoid include your views on specific politicians and parties, Brexit, commentry about immigration, "SJWs" and "woke", antifa, Black Lives Matter, far-right politics and other social/political commentary. You are welcome to have opinions on all these subjects, but they are generally unrelated to the forum core subjects and your posts may be edited or deleted without warning for violations.
  • Posts about alternative history or speculation about projects in the future should be posted in the Alternative History and Future Speculation board here.
  • The primary purpose of the "Secret Projects" sections of this forum is to document real, but unbuilt, projects by legitimate companies. Prototypes that didn't enter series production where appropriate are allowed at the discretion of the moderators. Aircraft built in series production should generally be discussed in the "Aerospace" section, warships, tanks and other military vehicles in the "Military" section, etc.
  • In general, do not post your own "fantasy" projects in the Secret Projects forum. Designs by aeronautical engineering students, professional speculation by informed artists and the like can be posted in the Fictional, Theoretical and Speculative Projects forum here.
  • Scale modellers wanting to post about potential ideas for models should probably sign up to our sister board What if Modelers Forum or Beyond The Sprues.
  • Do not post patent images in the Secret Projects sections unless you have good reason to believe they may represent a real project or illustrate technology used in a real project. Other potentially interesting (but not identified to a particular project) patent images should go in "Patent Pending" section.
  • Before you post, please try searching the forum to see if there is already a topic existing for your theme. Unlike most forums this is not purely a discussion site, its also a database of unbuilt projects. Posting in a many years old topic with new information is perfectly fine. However, don't put posts in topics they don't fit in, and pay attention to which section the topic is posted in. Try to create sensible topic titles for new posts that accurately describe the contents and will help others find the content easily.
  • Please don't repost existing pictures in other topics - link to the original topic and pictures, don't duplicate and waste resources by uploading the same picture again.
  • Google is your friend. Try searching the internet to see if the information you seek is already out there. Then share what you found.
  • Give your sources. This is vital to allow other forum members to judge your contribution appropriately and to appropriately credit the original source.
  • Judge your source's reliability. Wikipedia is rarely a useful source on aircraft projects. Hesitate before posting Wikipedia information - at least, find the source cited on Wikipedia.
  • Moderators can and will move split or delete posts and topics to help organise the forum better or if they are posted in an inappropriate section.
  • When quoting posts, try to limit your quote to just the relevant portions of the post you are replying to.
  • Please try to post coherently, use punctuation, and use a spell checker to assist you with spelling if you need it.
  • Do not pointlessly bump topics, especially your own topics. Wait for responses to come naturally.
  • When posting links to other sites, you must post at least a brief description of what can be found at the link and also note if it is paywalled.
    • Posting Images & Copyright
    • ALWAYS post images via the forum's attachment option, not as links. This way we won't lose the image if the original source website disappears.
    • Where possible, seek permission from the copyright holder before posting any images. Images posted under a defence of "fair use" (e.g. US) or "fair dealing" (e.g. UK/Europe) should be low resolution (e.g. no larger than 1200 pixels in width and height), for discussion and comment, and not cause financial harm to the copyright holder. The rights of the copyright holder to object to posted material always take priority over "fair use".
    • If you are the copyright holder, or have permission from the copyright holder to post an image, you can use as high a resolution as you like, subject to the file size limit of uploaded images.
    • NEVER post images or whole pages from currently available books or magazines without the permission of the copyright holder. This harms revenues and may jeopardise the production of future books and magazines. Aviation publishing isn't a big money maker and we must support the authors and publishers. Posting a summary in your own words is acceptable.
    • Copyright law can be complex and vary from country to country. We fully respect the rights of photographers, artists, authors, publishers and manufacturers. If you feel that a post infringes your copyright, report it using the "report" button found in each post and explain what the problem is and it will be removed.
    Posting Video / Media / External Links
    • The forum software knows about video hosting sites such as Youtube and sites like Twitter. You don't need to use any embedding code, just type in the link and the forum software will automagically embed the item or link in the page for you.
    General Conduct
    • Remember The Golden Rule: Treat others as you would have them treat you. The internet can allow you to behave in ways you would never do face to face in real life. Bullying online can be as hurtful as in the real world. Patterns of bad behaviour will result in moderation or banning.
    • ALWAYS be polite and civil in forum posts and private messages.
    • Personal attacks, insults or the belittling of the opinions of others, will ALWAYS be considered inappropriate. Disagree (tactfully and respectfully) all you like with their ideas or opinions, but don't resort to insults, name-calling or flaming. Argue facts, not personalities. 'Ad hominem' is a logical fallacy and will generally result in disciplinary action.
    • Swearing and vulgarity is strongly discouraged. The world is a big place, with different cultures and conventions, and what is acceptable to you might be highly offensive to others of different ages and backgrounds. Remind yourself that these are real people with whom you are dealing. They have feelings. Most people are fundamentally decent. Try to treat others with the dignity you expect to recieve from them.
    • The conversations feature allows users to send private messages to each other. If a user informs you they do not wish to engage in conversation, you must respect their wishes or face disciplinary action.
    • If other users are not as civil as you would like them to be, be more civil, not less in response, or say nothing, and report the post. Some of our older members in particular are actively turned off from the forum by coarse language and rudeness and some valuable former members have been lost from the forum as a result.
    • Keep in mind that meaning in written text may be ambiguous. Irony is not always obvious when written. Remember that text comes without facial expressions, vocal inflection, or body language. Be careful choosing the words you write: what you meant to say might not be what others understand. Likewise, be careful how you interpret what you read: what you understand might not be what others mean, especially if English is not their first language.
    • If you feel that a post is in the wrong section, breaches forum rules or conduct guidelines or is otherwise obectionable, report it using the "report" button found in each post and explain what the problem is. Your complaint will be reviewed by a moderator as soon as practicable. The moderator will decide on a course of action or consult with the wider moderation team and then take action as deemed appropriate. Don't jump in and post angry replies in the topic, it never turns out well. If you disagree with a moderation decision, you can contact another moderator for a second opinion but you must accept the judgement of the moderation team.
    • Give back what you can, when you can. There are many troves of information to be searched online for example. If you have nothing to add, but you really appreciated something somebody posted, like their post, or send them a private message of thanks. Keep an eye out for information others on the board might find interesting while researching your own interests.
    • Membership of this forum is a privilege not a right. The site administrator and moderators reserve the right to delete accounts, edit posts as appropriate, and ban users if abuse of this privilege take place.
    • Users who breach forum rules and guidelines will receive an official warning. Repeated breaches will lead to your posts being moderated before posting, until you can demonstrate your ability to stick to the rules, or in serious cases your account will be deleted.
    • Only one login per user is allowed on the forum. Users creating duplicate logins may face temporary or permanent ban. If you have a genuine reason to create an additional logon, for example a problem with your account, message me @overscan via the forum or email. (Paul Martell-Mead) and I will sort it out.
    • Please invite any likeminded people you know to join us here.
    • If you like, introduce yourself in this topic.
    Comments to Forum Admin - @overscan / Paul Martell-Mead
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