Time to Pass Allspitfirepilots.org onto a new group!

It's been over 10 years since we launched the most detailed database driven archive of Spitfire pilots (WIKI style) and the aircraft they flew. Hundreds of family members, if not thousands, have contributed photos from family albums otherwise lost to the attics, and, details that include log book information, often adding personal anecdotes and stories told to them by the pilots (often their fathers) themselves.

The site allows users to link a pilot to the aircraft they flew, which in turn links to the pilots who flew it. We also have squadron maps (and a system to build those), comments, notifications, features, search functions and it's all built on the modern Laravel (PHP) framework, which has allowed us to grow the site features over time.

But now it's time to pass the site on to new owners. We've always felt it's traffic (50% from the UK, rest from allied nations) can serve a group that could benefit from the traffic. A flight museum looking to get further into the digital age, which can promote visitor-ship. An individual or group of enthusiasts who may grow the site and take it in a number of directions. Travel to locations around the world, write a book by tapping the many relatives who contribute pilot information, grow the database further and continue the project, help answer user questions by doing research.

So what's the cost. There is no cost for the assets; the site, the software, the database and contents, the domain name(s). We want to find the right group. There would be a small cost for training, and support as required. Kurt, the founder, is also your laravel developer and will be happy to help make any look and feel changes, or adjust or add a new feature as needed. The monthly cost to host the site is minimal and mostly covered by google ads.

So why the change? We feel we've taken the site as far as we can but now it's time to have the site serve the vision and purpose of an organization or group of enthusiasts. What ideas will you bring to the project, what memorial projects will you take on? Where will you travel, what new stories will come in (as they do each week), and how can allspitfirepilots.org support your project.

We have some awsesome volunteer editors, Kevin Charles has been instrumental in contributing (his father and his squadron mates) and helping users with their research, as have a number of volunteers. That's a familiar pattern as we've just seen with David Garrett and other sons/relatives adding all squadron mates. Too many to thank, it's an honour to have met you all.

What's it like to be an editor for the site; it's very simple, as a logged in editor, you get the ability to manage content through simple controls and buttons to edit, or add/delete images, add a blog post, etc. You get notified for any pilot additions, via email, it's all set up to easily manage. Support is still available at a technical level if desired (e.g. new features), we aren't going away.

Use the contact us below -- what's the timing? Well, we'd like to find our successor in the next year or so, no rush, we feel this is a special project and we'd love to find the right group for it.

Best

Kurt - founder