To the Forum regarding the XMTSAS Saltire

[Jordan]

Jordan,

Yes, I know. Perhaps one of our talented members could sew up something from materials woven in Scotland?

Tom

That seems like the best idea I have head of cadet squadrons in my area paying up to £800 for a new high quality banner and altho a saltire one would be cheaper good quality will still cost.

[artificer]

There are a number of issues I could see with a Saltire flag.
1) It already IS a symbol, we'd just be co-opting it for our use rather than coming up with something new.

2) Flags are fabric, which WILL get dirty, wrinkled, etc.

3)I think it's too big. One of the nice things about the blimp was that members could tote it around. A flag needs to be unfurled to be seen, which might be a little more awkward for members to photograph in settings.

4) As a flag that already represents something, it should be treated with a measure of respect, lest we offend. I don't know if it's appropriate to have it depicted in some of the whimsical situations we all loved to see the blimp pictured in.

I also think, as I said above, that it's too soon to start pondering the replacement of the blimp. Let's give it a bit of time and see if a thought occurs naturally with a member about what (if any) the blimps replacement might be.

[Livingston]

Jamie, I very well remember the first flight of the wee airship in the posts of this forum. And the second. To follow up with introduction of the actual airship and logbook to travel where members were located was great. Reading all the entries when she finally made it to Colorado was interesting and informative. The memories the logbook contains are priceless. Your reasons for retiring your airship are yours and as much as many of us don't like the idea, we will need to honor them. As has been mentioned, it would be great to have the log book scanned in and a pdf file here at XMarks before her retirement, or shortly after to include her final appearance.

As has been mentioned, you and Star along with your children will be missed here. Your style and Star's tutorials have been two of the best examples for our members.

If you and your fammily should ever vacation in Colorado, please let me know. Joyce and I would enjoy the honor of getting together with you, your family and showing you part of this great area.
and, if we get to your area, we will look you up.

:blimp: ith: :ootd:

[KiltShot]

How about a commemorative cloisonné lapel pin? This would be another way to discretely identify XMTS members.
Many groups and organizations such as the Boy Scouts use these to commemorate events.
There is a good selection of companies that take custom work such as this.

The decommissioning of the XMTSAS Saltire may be a good decision that creates a bad feeling. Posting the flight log may not do much to change this.

I personally would rather blame this on the TSA.

Remember: statistically speaking, the airship is still one of the safest forms of long distance travel there is.

[Nighthawk]

For all those who will post in this thread, I urged you to refrain from using adjectives like, round the world travels and international. In my opinion it is an insult to those of us in countries that have been forgotton or ingnored

The purpose of the wee airship, as far as I could see was to bring us together and allow us to see other bits of the world that we had read about on the forum, but in the end has it done that?

Yessir, hence my previous post.

[Jordan]

How about a commemorative cloisonné lapel pin? This would be another way to discretely identify XMTS members.
Many groups and organizations such as the Boy Scouts use these to commemorate events.
There is a good selection of companies that take custom work such as this.

The decommissioning of the XMTSAS Saltire may be a good decision that creates a bad feeling. Posting the flight log may not do much to change this.

I personally would rather blame this on the TSA.

Remember: statistically speaking, the airship is still one of the safest forms of long distance travel there is.

I really do like the idea of a commemorative pin maybe a little airship?

[RockyR]

Even never hosting the saltire, I must too add that this decision saddened me. I thought that all differences (no matter how big) could be put aside for the love of the forum and comroderie amoung it's members. As Jamie made the Saltire, it is his to do with what he wishes. I would ask him directly, won't you reconsider and donate this saltire to the forum membership?

If the answer is no, then I add 1 thought to the new symbol to be shipped around the world...

If you keep the item AND BOX Under 1 pound, the shipping costs will be much cheaper. When you make something that weighs 2 or 3 pounds, the price of shipping goes up (which can get VERY high... especially shipping international to all 7 continents).

[Jordan]

Do you have any suggestions Rocky?

[Cowher]

What about a sgian dubh. One with out the blade to avoid issue. It's representative of cutting the tie to the airship yet also shows connection, trust and friendship within xmarks. As the blade was hidden but when in company of friends it was placed in the hose. I think it has good symbolism.
What ever we choose should have meaning. Not just something to replace the airship.
Matt

[Teufel Hunden]

Hmm. Almost seems offensive in a way. "This was a symbol of those other guys... not you guys. New members don't get to be a part of it. The end." Though I'm not terribly offended personally by this, that is sort of the impression I get from the op. But when you get down to it, does the forum necessarily need a symbol like this? We're all bound in some way by our love of highland attire, be it historical, traditional, or contemporary. To me, that's good enough. But, if its determined that newer members aren't deemed worthy of being a part of the small group of people who have had their hands on this thing, so be it.. just stop calling it some symbol of the community as a whole and call it what it really was: an exclusive club.