Steve's Airshow World - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Frequently Asked Questions - Site Related

Q: Okay, so where have the Aircraft Factfile and Recognition Guide and the List of Carrier Air Wings gone?

A: Since I redesigned the site, those sections have gone to the Aircraft Spotting Guide.

Q: Why the redesign?

A: I was going for something different and a little simpler, especially for the main page. The dark blue backdrop and the basic design has been around since 1999. The Google Ads remain but they are going to be at a reduced number on each page. There will always be an ad at the top of each page.

Q: What has been removed with the redesign?

A: Because Steve's Airshow World is primarily about airshows, aviation, DVDs, and videos, I have decided to remove all of the snap pages as they seem obsolete and date back to the old school days of the site. However, the only snaps that will remain are those on the Tribute Page and those that were in any of the Airshow Reports.

I am in the process of moving all of the older videos (with the exception going to 1999 airshows, since the master copies from those shows were destroyed) onto YouTube to better serve Steve's Airshow World and at the same time, provide more videos from those older shows as well as combine all of the videos of all of the demonstrations from those shows.

Q: Will you provide any news on airshows, performers, and whatnot?

A: No, but if you are looking for that, AirShowBuzz.com is your place.

Q: Are you going to be adding any new sections to Steve's Airshow World?

A: Anything's possible... but as of right now nothing new has been planned.

Q: Are you going to have any t-shirts for sale?

A: I am thinking of designing my own t-shirts, which will feature aircraft designs on the front and back (smaller design over front left pocket, larger design on the back).

Q: What about an "About Me" section? There was one on here not too long ago...

A: There was, and I didn't feel like updating it when new things happened. It's also one less page I'd have to worry about.

Q: Why haven't you responded to my e-mail?

A: It could be because of several reasons:

1. I haven't read it yet... give me time and I will read it. I do read every e-mail that gets sent to me.

2. I'm replying to it...

3. You asked a question whose answer can be found in any of the FAQ pages.

4. You didn't provide an e-mail address for which I could reply to.

5. You provided me an e-mail that somehow I have no good reply for.

Q: What browser and resolution should I use to view Steve's Airshow World properly?

A: I HIGHLY recommend Mozilla Firefox with your screen resolution set at 1024x768 or larger. If you don't have Firefox, you can download it from my site by clicking on the Firefox links located throughout the site.

Q: How should spelling and grammar mistakes be handled?

A: Please e-mail me and specify where on the site you found those spelling and/or grammar mistakes.

Q: How do you handle bad links? What about links to other sites?

A: If I don't catch them and you do, e-mail me. I am always looking for more links for the links page. I am trying to have the most comprehensive list of performer links anywhere on the web, as well as links to other photographer's work.

Q: How can I personally help out Steve's Airshow World?

A: The easiest way (and most affordable way) to help out is by checking out all of the Google ads on Steve's Airshow World. I get paid per click on each ad, and it varies from a few pennies to a few dollars on each click, depending on the IP address and whatnot. Each DVD and/or print order helps out, too.

Q: Do you run any other websites?

A: I used to run The Airport of Game Shows from early 2000 until April 2001. I shut down that site because it was becoming way too much work to keep that site running as well as Steve's Airshow World, which was beginning to get very popular, as well as growing almost exponentially. As of right now, I am only running Steve's Airshow World.

Q: Why does that header image font look so familiar?

A: Because its the same font the USAF uses on their airplanes! Just look at "U.S. Air Force" and the tailcodes on the planes and you'll recognize it. For you font geeks out there, the font is AmarilloUSAF.

Q: Do you have a mailing list for updates?

A: No. It takes too much time for me to write one up and send it out to x recipients.

Q: Why are there no videos from the 2005 Thunder Over the Boardwalk Airshow?

A: The 2005 Thunder Over the Boardwalk Airshow presented me with (at the time) the worst situation for shooting video at an airshow. The day of the show started out very windy, with the wind blowing from the ocean, which kicked up spray from the ocean onshore, which required me to clean the lens off practically every minute. The wind also kicked up sand everywhere, making the situation a lot worse, and in turn, you can't hear the airplanes and the public address system over the wind. It just wasn't worth my time to encode and upload anything from that show.

Q: What happened to a lot of the older videos, especially those of the fighter demonstrations?

A: Those that used to have clickable links, but are no longer clickable, signify that the said video appears on one of the Steve's Airshow World DVDs. Trust me - they look A LOT better on the DVD than they do on YouTube.

I have completed moving all of the videos up to 2004 onto YouTube. You will see significantly less in terms of quantity, but you will also see more in terms of amount of video (hours and minutes encoded). Some videos are being omitted in this transfer because they appear on the DVDs, and I do want to have them saved because of that reason. There are some instances where the original master tapes have been badly damaged (the video is fine, but the audio tracking is terrible), and I will not be showcasing those videos as a result.

Q: Why are there black bars around the older videos (2000-2005 in particular)? What about their quality?

A: These videos were originally recorded onto 8mm media, which is analog, and have been re-encoded using the new digital video camera, which, of course, is digital. There's nothing I can do about it, but the video is still viewable. The quality stems from the fact that they are analog videos and have had their quality reduced greatly so that I can upload them onto YouTube (don't worry - if they happen to be on DVD, the video on the DVDs look about a million times better!).

Q: How are you able to upload videos longer than ten minutes onto YouTube?

A: This is my most frequently asked question on YouTube and I feel I should address it here as well. When I joined YouTube, I applied for the Director Program, which allowed me to upload the longer videos. They approved it, and I started uploading. Recently, they changed that to where any new member who wants to apply as a Director, he/she cannot upload the longer videos. Those who have done so in the past can continue to do so, and I am one of those. It's a huge help for me, since I don't have to upload significant numbers of videos for one subject (I'd rather show a jet team's performance in one video, if at all possible).

Q: There's a mistake on the extended promo...

A: I know. I mistyped the address to the Steve's Airshow World Store. However, I took advantage of that. The link I have listed in that video does in fact exist, but it is treated almost as if it is a welcome page to the store.

Q: Why all the buzz on AirShowBuzz.com on YOUR site?

A: It's not like me to promote another site over mine, but to be honest, I spend A LOT more time on ASB (specifically the forums) than I do working on my own site. I am very good friends with the founder as well as several of the co-founders of the site and I feel that Ed Shipley (that name sounds familiar, doesn't it?) has created something magnificent for the airshow industry as well as for airshow fans and I feel the word should be spread about ASB. If you have not checked out AirShowBuzz.com I invite you to take a look.