I could be wrong. but I really think it was a reaction to the anti-Jew thread on the Non-Aviation Forum that set the new Webmaster off to shut down that forum and silence the anti-semitic posters. SplitS, Kid Charlemain, 350driver, Chhplit were involved in that thread, which got them all bounced. Then everyone else like TonyC spoke out and got silenced too. Splits, whom I'm guessing is the alias of Tdturbo, was spewing his usual I hate Jews bile, as well as threatened physical harm, lawsuites, and libel to members (which we've all heard from him before), which I think made the new webmaster overreact to Spits' pandering.
Let's be honest, it's a rough bunch here, not made for family consumption, we're all used to it, our little dysfunctional family here, but the uninitiated are not. Perhaps the mods have made some headway by now bringing the new webmaster up to speed, so maybe we could give them some slack for now.
I think they should ban Splits and keep watch for any reincarnations of him, and give posting rights back to the ones who were blocked.
Just a thought...
If I may piggyback onto your post, you are as close to hitting the nail on the head in general as you can get. You will not find a website that is successful (and by that I mean paying it's own way) that contains some of the material that the moderators are constantly dealing with at FlightInfo. Thank you to 98% of the people who realize that you can enjoy a website and still be civil, professional, and have fun at the same time. With your help to get rid of that 2% that jeopardizes the the enjoyment of all the rest at FlightInfo, you'll never hear of the moderators again. Again, thank you !
UAL78