New website for WWII Naval Aviation

[Jim MacDonald]

I'd like to let everybody know about a new website for WWII Naval & Marine Corps Aviation in the Pacific. http://ww2nar-pac.com

The site has a new & improved database of USN Aircraft Losses Overseas that includes the reason for the loss & the names of not only the pilots, but the aircrewman as well. Also on the site is a database of pilots & aircrew & the units they were assigned to. We're trying to include as much personal info as available such as file/service numbers & hometowns. Both of these databases are works in progress & will be continually updated.

As time permits, we are also including photos, target information & maps. If we can find somebody who can do aircraft profiles, we would also like to create a section on squadron/carrier tail markings.

The site is starting out small, but we have plans that will hopefully make it a one-stop shop for all things related to WWII Naval & Marine Corps aviation.

Thanks,

Mac

[F4U-1]

Looks good Jim ! Thanks for taking the time to build it !
Chuck

[Dan K]

Kudos, Jim...an ambitious and laudable project. I hope to be able to both learn from and contribute to it over time.

And over 1600 pages in the "BuNos" section? I envy your dedication.

Question: The home page opens with, "This site is dedicated to all of the USN and USMC pilots and aircrewman that fought in the pacific during WWII".

I'm curious as to why the website's dedication has been limited to Pacific aircrew? A quick search through the "BuNos" section discovered that certain aircraft and personnel losses in the Atlantic theater (e.g. F4F-4 BuNo 11845 Ens John Sprague missing) are also listed.

I believe the site's stated goal ("...to insure their legacy is never forgotten and to aid family members, historians and military collectors in their research") is an admirable one. I would also like to believe that at least some of those anticipated researchers and family members would appreciate the inclusion of veterans from other theaters in your dedication.

No matter what the outcome, I'm personally looking forward to the growth of this database!

Last edited by Dan K on Sat Apr 13, 2013 8:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Mark Allen M]

Greetings Jim good for you, outstanding idea and quite the endeavor. I wish you much success. Please feel free to contact me anytime if your in need of anything I may have.

Mark

[F4U-1]

I think he's got to start somewhere Dan K. His intentions are good and Rome wasn't built in a day!
Its Better he goes public now rather than wait years until its bigger.
Chuck

[Mark Allen M]

Its Better he goes public now rather than wait years until its bigger.
Chuck

Wait don't tell me he's caught in a porno film scandal as well

Seriously, it's a wonderful endeavor and one I'll support in anyway I can. Just one suggestion and that would be to construct your website in the most 'user friendly' way you can as convoluted websites I usually pass on if it takes hours to find anything. There's some really nicely constructed websites out there and then there's some that are simply too much effort to navigate. So far your site looks outstanding. Just a couple of cents.

Best I edit this: By no way am I pointing to flaws in your designed website so far. As you can see I'm very supportive and excited to follow your progress Jim.

M

Last edited by Mark Allen M on Sat Apr 13, 2013 10:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Dan K]

I think he's got to start somewhere Dan K. His intentions are good and Rome wasn't built in a day!
Its Better he goes public now rather than wait years until its bigger.
Chuck

Absolutely!

But the modification I was proposing wouldn't take days...more like 5 minutes.

1. Personnel and aircraft losses for a variety of theaters are already listed in the site's database.

2. Instead of filtering out the non-Pacific theater entries (BIG job), the site could simply be dedicated to Navy and Marine Corps aircrew who fought in all theaters (small job; a 5-minute retype of a sentence in the opening paragraph...even using just one finger like I do). Basically, a 5-minute change that could involve greater participation of and appreciation by interested parties.


The previous was all offered in a spirit of helpful suggestion. It is someone else's website...truly none of my business. I PROMISE that is all I will post on this point. Have a great weekend everyone!

[Jim MacDonald]

Hi Everybody,

Thanks for all of the input. Believe me, I want to hear what everybody has to say. I've got a thick skin & if somebody has something negative to say about the site that I can use to improve it, than to me that's not truly negative. So please, fire away.

The reason why the site is limited to the Pacific is because that's where my interest has been for the last 30 years . All of the microfilm & info I've collected over the years has only been centered on the Pacific & North Pacific, so I really don't have anything to include for any of the other theaters.

The BuNos data was taken from the Navy's WWII Overseas Aircraft Losses microfilm & after typing it all in I decided not to delete any of the info from the other theaters if it could be helpful to somebody. But at the same time, I don't won't to mislead anybody & have them go away disappointed because they couldn't find hardly anything on one of the other theaters. Maybe in the future after I get up to speed on the Pacific it might be something to look at. But right now I have very little on the Marines in the Pacific so that will be my next project.

Hopefully, we can get a lot of input from people using the site. I would love to have photos of all of the pilots & aircrew to put on the site & there's no way I can even scratch the surface without help from family members & collectors. I would like to have this turn out to be a cross between the Little Friend's site & Baugher's site.

Dan K, please promise to break your promise about not post more. I welcome all of the input I can get.

Mark, I was hoping that you would consider contributing some of your expertise to the site. And don't worry about it getting to fancy & hard to navigate. My Nephew made the site & he's had to dumb it down from what he would really like to do, just so I could get around on it. Some of our Skype messages back in forth are pretty comical.

Thanks for all of the input,

Mac

[Mark Allen M]

Anything I can do to help it's my pleasure Jim. Anytime.
PM sent

Mark

[ACarey]

Great job.

[Jim MacDonald]

Thanks, Alan. I appreciate it.

Mark, PM sent back at ya.

Mac

[mike furline]

The link is dead. It was great while it lasted.

[CoastieJohn]

Jim,

Are you going to include Coast Guard aviation on your website?

John

[Jim MacDonald]

Hi Mike,

I just tried it & it worked for me. Can you try it again & see if it's still giving you trouble? I know we had a problem with the "contact us" link on the site yesterday. I did something I wasn't supposed to do & screwed that part up. Got by butt in a sling with the site Guru for that. As far as I know though, it only messed with the contact us. Thanks for letting me know.

John, sorry to say I hadn't even thought about that. Does the Coast Guard have a separate History Section like the Navy does or would I look for info from the Navy?

Thanks,

Mac

[DH82EH]

Link works for me.

I wish you all the best with this important and ambitious project. I'm sorry that I can't really be of much help, but I know that a lot of WIXers will be huge assets.

Thanks for doing this. I'm sure that those of us who don't have much to share, will have a lot to learn

Andy Scott