Hi Mark,
I am a radio scanner enthusiast, and while I enjoy monitoring public safety and transportation related traffic, my main focus (and most enjoyment) comes from ATC and airborne traffic, and military traffic is a big part of that.
While I find Plane Finder highly useful and entertaining, I am disappointed that the powers that be there have chosen to block non-combat military aircraft. I can understand and fully support the wishes of operators that come to you and ask that you block tracking of their aircraft. There are certainly valid reasons for making such requests, and I can respect that. However, I don't feel that a blanket policy to block tracking of any/all military aircraft *just because they are military* is the best approach to take. For mil aircraft in a combat theater or in tactical situations that would be a no-brainier. My feeling is, to unilaterally choose to block mil traffic "just because" is not necessarily being responsible, but in doing so you are actually doing a disservice to your (paying) customer base interested in all manners of air traffic.
When an operator comes to you and asks you to mask their aircraft, by all mean I support that. I would like to respectfully request that you and any/all decision makers there at pinkfroot limited reconsider your current practice of blocking *all* military aircraft. I believe a *remove on request by operator* approach would better serve your customers and at the same time satisfy the operators of such aircraft.
I would also like to hear what other Plane Finder users feel about this topic.
Sincerely,
Jay