Hi all,

Having spent a couple of months going through the database and looking at the new submissions in the queue as they're screened I thought I'd just run through a few points of interest. I realise most people who read the forum will probably already appreciate most of this so it's mainly for new photographers who have recently joined us.

Manufacturer

This follows on from the F-16 thread I posted a few months ago, but is a reminder that our aim is to have aircraft listed under their original manufacturer where possible, even after that aircraft/variant is produced by another company after the original no longer exists. The major exception to this is when a new variant is produced by the new manufacturer. A perfect example of this is the Harrier; the earlier first generation models (GR.1/3 and AV-8A/C/S types) are under Hawker Siddeley, with the later under British Aerospace (GR.7/9, T.10/12 and variants) for the British built and McDonnell Douglas (TAV-8B, AV-8B and variants) for the US - also note we have BAE systems listed although no Harrier assigned as all the Harrier variants were already in service prior to the name change. Where possible models and sub variants are grouped under certain manufacturer's when there are major changes in both. Another example; all C-130 variants are under Lockheed, whilst all C-130J variants are under Lockheed Martin, hopefully keeping the system as consistent and easy to follow as possible. I realise this isn't perfect when the same variant is in production through a company change (see the GD/LM discussion in the F-16 thread) but works reasonably well.

License built aircraft will - generally - remain under the original manufacturer. I'm sure many of us who upload elsewhere know of the Fokker and TUSAS F-16s (amongst others). We're not doing that. But, as always there are a few exceptions. When a second manufacturer's name has become known in common usage when referring to a aircraft (ex; Canadair Sabre, Short Tucano) you will usually find that combination in the database. I realise when choosing where and when to do that is very subjective and a case could probably be made for a lot more that we have listed (so far), but that could quickly get out of hand, which in turn, would make pictures very hard to find when searching the database. I think the best way to approach this is to think what people would search the database for, the two examples above would probably be known to most, yet the F-16 examples would probably draw a bewildered look from the majority! That's the critea I use when editing pics in the queue and what to look for when selecting the manufacturer.

Serial/Code/Cn entries

I'm finding there seems to be a few problems with the USAF entries, with a few variations appearing although hopefully I'm catching most in the queue. The format is, Registration: 86-0166, Code: EG, Construction number: 1014/C394 - the example here being a F-15C which once accepted appears like this: 86-0166/EG (cn 1014/C394). Obviously, I don't expect a complete c/n in the more obscure cases but I am finding quite a few basic serials and codes from all nations being left blank even when clearly visible on the image. I find the following sites quite helpful for data entry which may be worth a look when submitting pics;

For all US aircraft, whatever vintage:

http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/

UK military:

http://www.ukserials.com/index.php

Scramble, a Dutch site which has a database for many current air arms and a search function, of which the basic functions are free:

http://www.scramble.nl/milbase.htm

Air Force/Operator

I've edited this selection so that it is more consistent. When you enter a aircraft, under the Air Force selection you have two drop-down options. The first is the choice of nationality, which then gives you your air arm choice and is fairly straightforward. At that first nationality menu I have removed all private firms (BAE, EADS...etc) and warbird collections, so that the choice is a straightforward nationality or 'private'. All other company owned aircraft and privately owned warbirds are to go under 'private', where the second drop-down menu will then give you a list of the major manufacturer's and private owners. If your choice isn't there (it's not a exhaustive list by any means) then you can either just leave the first drop-down as 'private' or add the entry yourself (highlight 'other' at the bottom of the list and a space appears to the right to enter the text) - the choice is yours although I don't think every individual single aircraft operator ought to be added, they can be left as 'private' if possible. A word on private ownership. All warbirds in private ownership are 'private', not the air arm they appear marked as - that's probably the top edit I'm currently making. Only warbirds still operated by a military air arm (like the UK's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight) are to go under that air arm. Current military aircraft operated by the manufacturer (be they long term company test aircraft or prior to delivery to a customer) are also 'private' until delivered.

That covers most of the current problem area's I've identified so far. Quite a lot of the above is still in progress so may not be completely correct. If anybody is after any clarification or has any query's - either about the above or anything else - PM me and I'll take a look. Likewise, if you see a entry in the database that you think needs to be brought to my attention please do so - most of what has been done is because I've stumbled across a anomaly while editing something else, so the more eyes looking the better.

Gary

Thanks for all the hard work and guidance Gary, and thanks for the input Michael. I agree with all the guidelines above and seems like a good approach.

Yes, it can get difficult at times, especially with the Private and older warbirds. Some planes, like B-17s for ex., carry so many serials and codes on the side, it's hard to figure out what is what, let alone classifying it. Putting them in categories can be somewhat confusing as well. We have Recce Phantoms in the Reconnaissance category, do they really belong there? I'm not sure, but many people have been uploading them that way. Also, I have seen the "Classic" F-14 Tomcats, and Phantoms, along with a few F-4s, F-5s, etc. The Classic and Nostalgic categories seem to cause the most confusion. Should we combine them? What should the cutoff be? I usually go through the categories once a week and fix whatever needs to be taken out or put in, so at times you will find some mis-categorized aircraft in there. I think we should set some guidelines for the categories and maybe have a dedicated categories editor. Any ideas?