Here's my take on it. I'm for the knowledge and entertainment. I enjoy the company. The S/N ratio is still reasonable. I bet most of you even know what a S/N ratio is. Most internet forum users probably think it's a sexual preferance or something.
I mean, we have some true fountains of knowledge here. It is simply the best source for WWII aircraft information on the internet. Bar none. Even the best WWII aircraft websites have nothing compared to our Aircraft and Vehicles forum. Want to know where the shell ejection ports on a 109E are? You will have your answer in less than 24 hours. We have some great authors and true gurus who frequent these boards. For whatever reason, we have managed to maintain just enough maturity to not drive them off.
I participate in numerous 'cycling forums on the net. I have many friends high up in the 'cycling world, both engineers/designers or world record holding athletes. By and large if they once participated in internet forums, they do so no longer. Nothing like holding a world record and having some internet expert telling you why your training or equipment or whatever is wrong. Nevermind your credentials, they are always right. It gets quite exasperating and after a while it is simply not worth the time and energy trying to correct all the mis-information slung about.
I'm going to make a horribley biased and stereotypical statement here. In my experience, airplane people are just "cooler" than the average joe, smarter too. When I was 12 years old I would listen with rapt attention to the old guys in my R/C airplane club telling stories about WWII, working at Lockheed, etc... Very few topics can bridge a gap like that. I can walk out to the airport here and strike up a friendly conversation with anyone out there. I took a glider lesson from Hod Anderson at Minden Airport, CA. The man was 85 years old, had over 30,000 hours logged, flew combat missions in P-38's in WWII. I made him sign my shirt

I don't profess to know the how or why, I just like airplane people better than the average population.
So I guess that's a compliment to pretty much anyone who reads this. By definition you must be an airplane person. Airplane people are cool.
g00b