Introduction of „The Owl’s Nest“ web site

gsnde · Post by **gsnde** » 02 Jul 2008, 09:43

Inspired by Reggie Fields Wingspan & FSX parking spot size reference, I wanted to provide something comparable for military aircraft. I made a similar list and thought about a way to publish it. A web site was the natural solution. That was the birth of “The Owl’s Nest”.

I decided to go one step further with my list and enhanced it by adding:

• the year of introduction
• the number of aircraft built
• the crew size
• the speed in knots
• the range in miles
• the ceiling in feet

Today this reference contains 694 military aircraft from the 1930 onwards. You can sort and filter all relevant fields. Every aircraft has a link to the respective Wikipedia article for background information.

What else can you find at “The Owl’s Nest”?

• a complete overview of all MAIW packages, telling you what aircraft are included, a link to the AVSim download and the original MAIW package description
• an online converter for distances and speeds
• a referrals page where I describe sites and tools which I find extraordinary
• and more

There are some additional features I will add during the coming months (see the To-do list for details), but I feel the site is mature enough to go live.

I made it my rule that for every referral at “The Owl’s Nest” I inform the owner and have him approve my link and the usage of any logos and material.

If all this sounds promising, come and visit “The Owl’s Nest”. Your feedback is highly appreciated.

btaylo24 · Post by **btaylo24** » 02 Jul 2008, 10:17

Martin

That MAIW package list is something special, and thanks for doing that.
A handy and useful site indeed...

barry

nickblack423 · Post by **nickblack423** » 02 Jul 2008, 10:18

WOW, Great work Martin, thats an excellent site, and one i will be visiting often for reference. Thanks a million for helping add something to the aviation and Flightsim world.

Well done mate.

Nick

bismarck · Post by **bismarck** » 02 Jul 2008, 10:38

Great Work Martin.
Very usefull.
Perhaps I can help you with some more data for MAIW packages.
I'am creating an Excel File collecting data from MAIW packages like Aircraft list,radius,atc_parking_codes and the airports present in the flightplans.txt ,so I can check where the A/C fly for that package.
If you are interested in taking a look at,I can send you the file.

Ciao, Giorgio

gsnde · Post by **gsnde** » 02 Jul 2008, 11:53

Thank you for the nice feedback, guys!

Giorgio, yes, please send me the file.

<FSX mode on>
I have prepared a very detailed guide on how to install MAIW packages in FSX. This I will publish as soon as I have completed a little tool. With that tool you will be able to replace all MAIW propeller textures (prop-hs.bmp) which is a solid disk in FSX.
<FSX mode off>

It might be that you will find the one or other error in my technical data. Please tell me if you do. I used many sources to compile the aircraft reference, and so often the given figures were contradicting each other.

And I am sure that I have missed more than one aircraft...

bismarck · Post by **bismarck** » 02 Jul 2008, 12:35

Martin, I've tried to send the file via PM but it is too big. (1.5 Mb)
Could you PM me your e-mail?

Giorgio

gsnde · Post by **gsnde** » 02 Jul 2008, 13:26

Check your PM, Giorgio.

bismarck · Post by **bismarck** » 02 Jul 2008, 13:50

Sent !

starlifterfan · Post by **starlifterfan** » 02 Jul 2008, 14:33

Great site...and a fantastic job on the research you did....Bravo!!!!

ronniegj · Post by **ronniegj** » 02 Jul 2008, 20:25

Martin, that site is just great. It will be one of my favorite reference sites from now on. Congratulations and many thanks!

Ron

delbydoo · Post by **delbydoo** » 02 Jul 2008, 20:25

Fantastic Martin, lots of hard work has obviously paid off and the promise of more to come....can't wait

gsnde · Post by **gsnde** » 02 Jul 2008, 20:47

Thank you for this nice and very encouraging feedback

It is a rather good payback for these times when I was sitting about my Excel list in the middle of the night, wondering what the hell I am doing and if ever anybody would care for the result.

Ford Friendly · Post by **Ford Friendly** » 02 Jul 2008, 21:37

Definitely a great contribution to the community.

delbydoo · Post by **delbydoo** » 02 Jul 2008, 22:53

gsnde wrote:It is a rather good payback for these times when I was sitting about my Excel list in the middle of the night, wondering what the hell I am doing and if ever anybody would care for the result.

At the end of the day, if it's USEFUL info, like you have here, then word will get around and more people will take a peep

CrazyDunc · Post by **CrazyDunc** » 02 Jul 2008, 22:56

Great Site, Very useful,

Congrats

Dunc

MACC · Post by **MACC** » 04 Jul 2008, 14:43

Saw this yesterday, extremely helpful!!

Well done Martin!!

Macc

gsnde · Post by **gsnde** » 04 Jul 2008, 20:24

Guys, I have a suspicion and I need your feedback to confirm it. I now tell you how you are supposed to work with the aircraft reference table, and if this is news to you I need to know.

Let say you are looking for the Panavia Tornado. The right way to find it would be the aircraft filter field (which is the yellow one above the aircraft column).

You would enter "Tor" and press the Enter key. This would have produced 14 matches, the Tornado on top of the list, the Vought SB2U Vindicator trailing it.

If you would have filtered for "Torn" that would have resulted in only two matches: the Tornado and the North American B-45 Tornado.

Same thing for manufacturer. Enter "Scot"and press Enter to immediately see the four Scottish Aviation aircraft.

Enter ">1900" in the speed filter field to only see the X-15 and the Blackbird.

Now the crucial question: are you aware of that functionality? One click on the help button would have told you, but if the majority did never do this and is not aware of how to work with the table I have to explain it in a header on top. Therefore I would very much appreciate a lot of feedback to this question.

Thank you!!

ronniegj · Post by **ronniegj** » 05 Jul 2008, 03:18

Martin. While I am by no means an excel expert, I have had some experience in using various spreadsheets over the years. I was able to pick up on the function of your filter fields without additional help, and in fact put one of them to use right away. However, I am thinking that for someone who has never seen such a field before, you had better add the header with a little bit of direction on how to use the fields. I suspect that if you do not, then many will never even think that such a useful feature even exists.

Ron

BTW: very excellent work. Thanks again!

gsnde · Post by **gsnde** » 05 Jul 2008, 06:02

Thank you, Ron. I have replaced the Help button with a text.

gsnde · Post by **gsnde** » 06 Jul 2008, 21:45

I have released the FSX Installation Guide and the Propeller Texture Replace Tool at the MAIW section.

A big Thank You for the guys who have read the guide and test the tool.

Introduction of „The Owl’s Nest“ web site

Introduction of „The Owl’s Nest“ web site

Owls nest