Airliners.net
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Airliners.net is a Canadian-owned, Australian-based<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> global aviation website that includes an extensive photo database of aircraft and airports, as well as a forum catering to aviation enthusiasts. Inititally Swedish-based, created by Swede Johan Lundgren, Jr., the site originated in 1996 as Pictures of Modern Airliners. It was acquired by the US company Demand Media (now known as Leaf Group) in 2007, and underwent a major redesign in 2016.
HistoryEdit
Johan Lundgren, Jr., an IT student/aviation enthusiast attending Luleå University of Technology in Sweden, created the site Pictures of Modern Airliners in 1996.<ref name="aerointl">Rothfischer, Brigitte (February 2005). "Best of Airliners.net" Template:Webarchive (in German). Aero International: 6–13. Retrieved 3 January 2016.</ref><ref>Haugen, Petter (10 September 2000). "Nettstedet for deg med flydilla" (in Norwegian). DinSide Reise. Archived at the Wayback Machine on 7 July 2001. Retrieved 3 January 2016.</ref><ref>Lundgren, Johan (1 September 1997). "Pictures of Modern Airliners" Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 25 February 2016.</ref> Lundgren had been working on the site during his military service. It initially hosted only his own aircraft photos before a new section was created for other photographers to upload their photos.<ref name="aerointl"/><ref>Lundgren, Johan (21 January 1997). "Your Aviation Photos" Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 25 February 2016.</ref>
In 1997, Lundgren transitioned to a new site entitled Airliners.net and established a web server in his dormitory room. Three more servers were added, and eventually all servers were relocated to the computer rooms at the university. Lundgren started investing all of his time into the site, although he received help from a growing number of volunteers.<ref name="aerointl"/>
On 27 July 2007, Lundgren announced that the site would be acquired by Demand Media. It was sold to the company for US$8.2 million.<ref>Grosz, Denis. "Highlights and Analysis of Demand Media’s IPO Filing" Template:Webarchive. Denis Grosz. Retrieved 3 January 2016.</ref> Reasons behind the decision included the difficulty of managing the rapidly growing site, which was by that point supported by 25 servers.<ref name="demandmedia">Lundgren, Johan (27 July 2007). "Big News On The Future Of Airliners.net" Template:Webarchive. Airliners.net. Retrieved 3 January 2016.</ref>
A revamped site was launched on 14 June 2016.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In February 2017, the site was acquired by VerticalScope, majority-owned by Torstar.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
MembershipEdit
The site offers free membership, using online advertising instead as a source of revenue. Before the June 2016 redesign, Airliners.net provided three levels of membership: the Photographer Account, Premium Membership and First Class Membership. The latter two required payment, while a Photographer Account could be created for free.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
FeaturesEdit
The site has two main features: the photo database and the forum. The database contains over 2.7 million photos with over 8.6 billion total views as of June 2016.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> All photos undergo screening prior to being admitted to the database, which can be searched by various factors including aircraft type, the airport at which the photo was taken and the aircraft registration. The forum is divided into ten subforums: Civil Aviation; Travel, Polls & Preferences; Technical/Operations; Aviation Hobby; Aviation Photography; Photography Feedback; Trip Reports; Military Aviation & Space Flight; Non-Aviation; and Site Related. Airliners.net also offers a complimentary newsletter service and a database of information on aircraft types developed with the help of Aerospace Publications.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>