Post by Christian Page, RAI on Dec 6, 2007 1:17:44 GMT -5
This forum is for requesting repaints of aircraft that are listed in the flight plans offered by Retro AI only. Before requesting any repaint, we ask that you do the following:
1) Make sure the repaint is not already available on the web, most of these will appear on Avsim, Flightsim.com, or designer sites like AI Aardvark. Due to an attack on Avsim last year, some files have not been restored yet, but they are doing their best - please ask here if you get a dead link for a plane there, chances are someone on the board has it[/i].
2) Please search our forum from the main page for what you are looking for. The search engine hits best on generalized terms - looking for a specific year or subtype may turn no results - e.g. "Southern DC-9-30, 1970" so use general terms like "Southern" or "Southern DC-9". Also, make sure you specify that you want to search within the last 365 days, as it defaults to the last 7 - believe me, I've forgotten that more times than I can count. Inside individual sub-boards, however, the day restriction does not apply, it will find everything matching your search parameters.
3) If none of this helps find what you are looking for, and need to make a request, make sure you can provide information and ESPECIALLY photos of the aircraft you are requesting. Links to photo sites like Airliners.net are perfectly acceptable. Photos, however, should be in color so the repainter can match the paint colors on the real aircraft. Black-and-white is acceptable if it is the only photo you have of the plane. In the latter case, make sure you can provide information on the colors. This could also apply to old color images, e.g. Braniff in the 1950's. Many images of Braniff planes in this era appear to have black and orange markings. No Braniff aircraft ever carried those colors in that era - they are actually red and blue but age, improper exposure, poor lighting, or image degradation through multiple copies rendered the colors off. So, do a little research if you don't know - it will save the painters time.
4) Last, and most importantly - BE PATIENT! This is a hobby, the painters work in their spare time without any compensation beyond your enjoyment of their efforts. It may take a while for them to complete a request. Don't be discouraged if there is no immediate response - feel free to ask about progress, but do not "nag" about it. The painters have enough on their plate than having to reply to every request for an update. If a request is selected to be done, it will usually take a while to fulfill. RAI is primarily a data site, we do repaints as an extended courtesy, but it is not our primary focus. Further, many repaints are done based o the number of requests and the own whim of the painters. If you request an obscure airline with little following, it may take a while before anyone gets to it - if it's ever gotten to. If you are looking for, say, British Airways in the Landor scheme of the 1980's, you'll probably stand a better chance of it being done faster than the BA/BEA transition scheme of the 1970's.
Thank you for your understanding,
Kristopher R. Crook
Retro AI Administrator
P.S. - Feel free to ask questions about repainting if you wish to try it on your own. We always welcome the contributions of others and who knows? You may be able to fill a hole that we, the repainters, may not have thought of. This site is all about sharing the enjoyment of seeing our favorite airlines fly again in their long-lost times.
1) Make sure the repaint is not already available on the web, most of these will appear on Avsim, Flightsim.com, or designer sites like AI Aardvark. Due to an attack on Avsim last year, some files have not been restored yet, but they are doing their best - please ask here if you get a dead link for a plane there, chances are someone on the board has it[/i].
2) Please search our forum from the main page for what you are looking for. The search engine hits best on generalized terms - looking for a specific year or subtype may turn no results - e.g. "Southern DC-9-30, 1970" so use general terms like "Southern" or "Southern DC-9". Also, make sure you specify that you want to search within the last 365 days, as it defaults to the last 7 - believe me, I've forgotten that more times than I can count. Inside individual sub-boards, however, the day restriction does not apply, it will find everything matching your search parameters.
3) If none of this helps find what you are looking for, and need to make a request, make sure you can provide information and ESPECIALLY photos of the aircraft you are requesting. Links to photo sites like Airliners.net are perfectly acceptable. Photos, however, should be in color so the repainter can match the paint colors on the real aircraft. Black-and-white is acceptable if it is the only photo you have of the plane. In the latter case, make sure you can provide information on the colors. This could also apply to old color images, e.g. Braniff in the 1950's. Many images of Braniff planes in this era appear to have black and orange markings. No Braniff aircraft ever carried those colors in that era - they are actually red and blue but age, improper exposure, poor lighting, or image degradation through multiple copies rendered the colors off. So, do a little research if you don't know - it will save the painters time.
4) Last, and most importantly - BE PATIENT! This is a hobby, the painters work in their spare time without any compensation beyond your enjoyment of their efforts. It may take a while for them to complete a request. Don't be discouraged if there is no immediate response - feel free to ask about progress, but do not "nag" about it. The painters have enough on their plate than having to reply to every request for an update. If a request is selected to be done, it will usually take a while to fulfill. RAI is primarily a data site, we do repaints as an extended courtesy, but it is not our primary focus. Further, many repaints are done based o the number of requests and the own whim of the painters. If you request an obscure airline with little following, it may take a while before anyone gets to it - if it's ever gotten to. If you are looking for, say, British Airways in the Landor scheme of the 1980's, you'll probably stand a better chance of it being done faster than the BA/BEA transition scheme of the 1970's.
Thank you for your understanding,
Kristopher R. Crook
Retro AI Administrator
P.S. - Feel free to ask questions about repainting if you wish to try it on your own. We always welcome the contributions of others and who knows? You may be able to fill a hole that we, the repainters, may not have thought of. This site is all about sharing the enjoyment of seeing our favorite airlines fly again in their long-lost times.