HPA

Happy New Year for everyone.

This will be my last post for Hip Pocket Aernautics Forum 2008 - 2025. I have been forced to abandon my work with Hippocketaeronautics.com as a forum. I am not going to go into details why, only to say the experience shook me to the core. Some errors from my service provider and some my fault. I will split blame down the runway...

Water Under the Fridge...

I have blessed this HPA endeavor and they can run with the project. They will do well with it. I feel that passion with this platform and wish them well with it.

My life and family have moved into a new phase of life and my attention will be needed elsewhere.

I still own the hippocketaeronautics.com   domain name and have placed a small model aviation building tool website there. How long I retain this domain remains to be seen.

There are changes with the internet that  caused me much concern in the last stages of forum operations and it angered me quite a bit. Many members experienced it last June and it is related to capital letters technology that is changing how everyone is getting  grass roots information and education. The way to deal with this is at a crossroads for many.

I will be in the background. I still build. I will likely publish, but my efforts are not Free Flight they will remain largely RC. I recommend that there remain some areas for RC enthusiasts. That's not my call anymore.

I'm sorry to everyone for our losses, big time. Its now a new season in 2026 for an an opportunity to make new. This forum will do that.

Thanks everyone for 17 or 18 years at what Ratz(OOS) and I Sundance12 would have considered a successful endeavor.

I will answer select emails concerning my handoff of HIP.

Bruce (Ratz)

Thanks very much for the update Bruce and huge thanks for all you did in keeping Hippocket going after the loss of Ratz. It was a huge amount to take on, something that is very much appreciated no doubt by many on here too.
 Hopefully this site, I have seen some describe it as HPA 3.0, can grow in its place and the 18 year legacy you and Ratz created can continue on

Happy new year to you too

+1

Thanks for all of your efforts Bruce.   I hope things go well in the new year.

Lastwoodsman
Richard

Thanks for all your efforts.  Happy New Year

Thank you indeed very much Bruce!

Both for having run the forum for so long with Ratz and then on your own... A great effort which is appreciated by all.

Thank you also personally for trusting me to continue with this new forum. It is an honour and a responsibility to carry on the name of Hip Pocket Aeronautics and I will try to live up to your expectations as well as those of current and future members.

The loss was felt when all was gone, so great effort will be given to prevent that from happening in the future.

Wish you all the best for 2026 and the years to come and hope to see you active in the forum as well. The forum is not static, you know that better than all of us.

George

Thanks everyone all is ok.
Thanks George for taking this on, make a new direction. "Eyes to see, ears to hear. Make something new."

All the best for everyone in 2026.

Build and share...

Bruce

Bruce

Happy new year to you too.

Thanks for all your efforts.  I'm so sorry that it ended as it did. Please stay in touch and keep safe and happy.

PS. I suppose all the material in the Plan Gallery was also lost beyond recovery!.?

It's a shame you didn't let the people who reached out to you help do so, Bruce.  :(

I have rebuilt the site as an archive to preserve HPA's history. Currently, I am restoring the old forum (all links still need updating in it but all posts and images/files are there) and some home pages still need fixing. I have also created a new forum for those who want to get back into familiar stomping grounds.

With the help of Members, rebuilding the Plans section should be straight forward too. :)

Best of luck with your new endeavors!  8)

Thanks for your efforts in retaining HPA over the years Bruce. All the best for the future and hope you finish some more of those projects of yours.
Thanks also to NC for his work on recovering the old HPA as an archive.

John

Bruce, I wish you all the best.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes, it's been an interesting project and over the years brought many modellers together. I will lurk on the forum from time to time. Perhaps post a build if I am working up a FF project, I do them from time to time.

All the best to everyone in 2026.

Bruce (Ratz)

Quote from: Nitrocharged on Jan 02, 2026, 02:21 AM...
I have rebuilt the site as an archive to preserve HPA's history. Currently, I am restoring the old forum (all links still need updating in it but all posts and images/files are there) and some home pages still need fixing. I have also created a new forum for those who want to get back into familiar stomping grounds.

With the help of Members, rebuilding the Plans section should be straight forward too. :)
...

I just stumbled across the hpa.net site and was going to post here to see if anyone knew what was happening. At the moment, the forum home page is frozen at 26th December 2024 and the hyperlinks simply return you to the home page, as NC says. I will keep popping in to check on progress. It will certainly be really useful to have access to the archive without having to piece threads together from fragments on the wayback machine.

Thanks to Bruce for the past and NC for the future. Good luck both.

Wow what a relief! Bruce I am guilty of taking advantage of your efforts through the years. I wish to thank you again for giving us a spot to pal out. I wouldn't know how to be of service anyway.
Thanks George for jumping in I wish you luck and I hope you still get time to build your scholarly contraptions. I like to fish too much to own a bait store, to coin a phrase.
Ok guys I am glad I found out where you all went. You better hide the caviar, Crabby just found the party!

Thank Goodness!!!  I've been depressed ever since the "404 Error" message appeared when I tried the old forum.  THANK YOU, Bruce for all you did-- I get that it was a struggle.  And Thank you, George, for taking on this new version.

Now get outta my way, Crabby-- stop hogging the caviar!