300 Best Aviation Web Sites.pdf

Introduction

Combing the Web for worthwhile aviation sites may

leave you cringing at the clock. The limitless selection

can easily be overwhelming, not to mention time

consuming. Even fishing with your favorite search

engine oftentimes reels in every site except the one you

want. Enter 300 Best Aviation Web Sites . . . and 100 More

Worth Bookmarking.

This book is the second edition to its predecessor 200

Best Aviation Web Sites. Besides the addition of 100 more

fully reviewed sites, 300 Best Aviation Web Sites now

includes e-mail addresses, updated reviews to the last

edition's sites, and two new categories: Flight Training

& Flight Schools and Airlines.

The following pages represent over 5,000 hours of

browsing and reviewing. Here you'll find award-winning

sites ranging from aviation news to pilot resources,

hand-picked by pilots for pilots. The book's purpose, of

course, is to help you avoid a tedious cyber-hunt

enroute to aviation's better Web sites. And, rest assured

that the choosing was performed in a completely

unbiased way. Nothing listed here appeared as a result of

paid advertising or other favorable treatment. If we

thought the site to be worthy of your time, we've

included it.

300 Best Aviation Web Sites

Review Rating Criteria

As with most reviews, the author's subjectivity ulti-

mately becomes the predominant rating criteria. How-

ever, knowing that wouldn't fly with most aviation

enthusiasts, I've established a few more tangible guide-

lines against which 300 Best Aviation Web Sites were

judged:

Content: Did I uncover practical data and substance or a

cesspool of typos and blurry plane pics?

Layout/Design: Was I bored to tearful yawns or mysti-

cally enthralled with site aesthetics?

Functionality: Is site navigation a frustrating maze of

futility or a wondrous example of efficiency?

Overall Audience: Does the site offer benefits to twelve

people or a million and twelve?

Scale:

noteworthy

bookmarkable

cyber-brilliance

300 Best Aviation Web Sites

Online Updates

While each site's address and content has been checked

(and rechecked), please bear in mind that addresses

and page info may change or evaporate completely

with time. It's simply the nature of the beast.

To keep up with aviation's dynamic sites, however, you

are invited to check into 300 Best Aviation Web Sites'

Online Updates page for the latest in additions, dele-

tions, and address (URL) changes. Stop in by pointing

your browser to:

http://www.300bestaviation.com/bookupdates

Each of the 300 sites found in the book, as well as the

100 bookmarkable listings, will be continuously

monitored for changes and reported to you via the

Online Updates page. Whether you're having trouble

accessing a site, or just want a list of site modifications,

give the page an occasional visit. It may save you some

frustration.

300 Best Aviation Web Sites

The Basics of Browsing

Whether you're new to the Web or surfer savvy, I can't

stress enough the importance of using the most current

version of your browser (see definition below). Today,

Web design gurus pour over HTML code and graphics

hoping to serve up a cutting edge experience for you—

the aviation surfer. But, if you're flying under the hood

with a rusty old browser, you probably won't see the

visual treats or hear the roar of a biplane. In short, you'll

miss out. My advice is to stay current by downloading

the newest version on occasion. How do you know

when a new version is out? Keep in touch with your

browser's home page (http://www.netscape.com, http://

www.explorer.com, etc.) or visit a browser news site like

Browser Watch (http://browserwatch.internet.com).

Then, simply download the newest version for free.

Similarly, "plug-ins" (see definition below) and helper

applications change too. Be sure to have the latest and

greatest or prepare to forgo the true multimedia

experience.

Although the following may be old news for seasoned

surfers, new Internet users may appreciate a quick intro

on Web browsing basics. If you fall into the rookie

category, welcome to the Web.

First, some terminology:

Browser —A software program used to view and navigate

Web pages and other information. The most popular

browsers include Netscape Navigator and Microsoft

Explorer. We recommend using the latest versions of

either of these two browsers, as most Web sites are

formatted specifically for them.

URL—A Uniform Resource Locator (URL), also referred

to as a Web site address, points to a specific bit of

300 Best Aviation Web Sites

information on the Internet. For example, "http://

www.200bestaviation.com" is a URL.

Bookmarks/Favorites —Most browsers offer a convenient

way of storing and organizing your favorite Web sites in

the form of a "bookmark" or "favorites" index. Adding a

site to a bookmark/favorites list saves you the effort of

retyping the site's URL during future visits.

Plug-In —As you access some sites in this book, you

may notice the need for "plug-ins," or helper applica-

tions, to run video or audio features on the site. When

using the latest versions of Netscape Navigator or

Microsoft Explorer, you'll discover most plug-ins are

already installed. However, if you find you're lacking a

specific plug-in, chances are you'll be able to download

it free. Most Web sites will provide a link back to the

plug-in download site.

Second, armed with the above knowledge you're ready

to begin browsing. Simply type in the site address into

your browser's location/address box and press "enter."

Be sure to pay particular attention to any special charac-

ters or uppercase letters in the URL. To access each site,

you'll need to type the address exactly as it appears in

this book.

Third, be patient. Unforeseen forces sometimes deter-

mine your success at bringing up a site. It may be

temporarily down. The actual communication lines may

be jammed with too many users during peak times. Or,

the site simply has withered away. Our advice? Try

retyping the address another day, and move on to a site

that does work.

So go on now, type, click, and bookmark.

300 Best Aviation Web Sites

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