Well today and tomorrow are the first posts in a series of entries known as "Star Crossed Collisons." Star Crossed Collisions are basically any interviews I have with people involved in aviation. I recently talked to Max Flight, of thirtythousandfeet.com, a fabulous aviation directory, and of the Airplane Geeks podcast, also one of the best out there. The man is also one of the best out there in terms of engines, as that is his business. So, without further ado…
Vinay: I know this is probably on your site but: What gave you the idea of creating an online aviation directory?
Max Flight: I started Thirty Thousand Feet for two reasons:
First, back in 1996 there really weren't many aviation sites and they were hard to find. Search technology wasn't what it is now and I just wanted to "bookmark" what was out there. I found most aviation websites by searching through Usenet newsgroups, if you can believe that. Second, this new Web thing was kind of intriguing to me and I wanted to learn how it worked. So I started coding HTML as a way to figure it all out. There's a little bit of hacker in me (in the original sense of the term) so it was natural to build a web page.
I suppose I didn't really think the site would last more than a little while, but I kept getting more and more visitors and they kept telling me how much they enjoyed Thirty Thousand Feet. I couldn't let them down.
Vinay: Did you design your website yourself, and buy the domain, or seek professional help?
Max Flight: The website is hosted on Newsguy.com. These guys know their stuff and have great customer service. Their origins go back to being providers of newsgroup feeds and I really can't say enough about the quality of the service they provide. In the beginning, Thirty Thousand Feet was a "tilda" personal page: www.newsguy.com/~mydomain. After a few years I figured this enterprise had a future so I registered thirtythousandfeet.com. Especially in the early days, a dot com domain meant you were a real site.
I did all the coding for the website. By hand, which is my preference. I know that's nuts but in the beginning we didn't have content management systems (CMS) like today. I have a few tricks that makes manual maintenance easier than it might seem, but it's still a lot of work.
The look of the site has changed over the years, and it almost always has looked "one step behind" leading edge website design. That's on purpose because I have three rules: 1) standards compliant code, 2) no browser "sniffing" hacks, and 3) maximum Google juice. If you follow those rules, you have to code for the "lowest common denominator" when it comes to browsers and avoid the latest "cool tricks" that work with some browsers and not others. Also, no Flash – you get no page rank on Google for that.
If you look at my site with the latest versions of Firefox, Safari/Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Opera, you'll see they all look roughly the same, but with some interesting rendering differences – notably borders, box shadows, and text shadows. That's because I employ what's called "progressive enhancement." The HTML code is all the same but the CSS (which governs presentation) takes advantage of the degree to which the various browsers are compliant with the latest standards. That maybe impresses nobody but me, but I like it anyway.
Vinay: So, what about aviation interests you the most?
Max Flight: It's a combination of many things. Flight is like magic and there's a basic primal attraction. Also, I like the technology, particularly jet engine technology and in fact that's the business I'm in. But I guess I love that "aviation" is such a broad concept and there is so much to learn and so many people to get to know. Flight simmers are different from homebuilders who are different from flight attendants. Yet they all are linked to aviation. For me, there is a thrill in the exploration of all aspects of aviation.
Vinay: Do you have any personal preferences as to airlines, and/or airports?
Max Flight: know this might surprise some people, but I'm a bit of a closet fan of United Airlines. I just have too many miles to Asia on United for them not to be a sentimental favorite. Beyond that, Singapore and ANA have provided me with fantastic rides, and SAS was always great. Most of my air travel has been international so I'm actually less familiar with most of the U.S. domestic airlines.
As for airports, Changi Airport in Singapore is about the most beautiful airport I know. I don't think you can find more orchids in one place anywhere. It's really spectacular!
So as you can see, there's some interesting stuff up there. The guy coded the entire thing himself, and his site is one of the best on the web. He also explains very well the attraction to aviation that people like me have. Be sure to tune in tomorrow to get the rest of the conversation.