MILAVIA 10 Year Anniversary

[Webmaster]

January 1st, 2012

MILAVIA 10 Year Anniversary

Today it's exactly 10 years since I put the first version of the MILAVIA website online!

At the 5-year anniversary of the site, we had an anniversary question with a prize to just celebrate. Sorry, not this time. Let's all just have a beer, and say cheers. That's what I'll do now, so: Cheers!

But I can't let this anniversary pass without saying a few words.

It was not my first website, but it was the first that had the potential to live a long life. It all started on January 1st, 2002. First it was under a subdomain of the host, the milavia.net address followed later. Also the forum followed much later. Even though the website is still far from what I had in mind at the time, a lot of good stuff has been added since. The best thing about it for me has been the numerous contacts with aviation fans from all over the world, which lead to some real friendships too. I would like to thank all contributors in particular: Ramon, Leandro, Giampaolo, Claudio, Dave, Helmut, Des, Andrew, Chris, and many more! It wouldn't have been this great without your work. Also the forum members, in particular Patrik who helped build the community when it was still in its infancy, and Steven who kept us all informed for so long. The sudden passing of Steven back in 2009 came as a shock and today serves as a reminder that things in life don't last forever, and that is also very true for online stuff. Therefore it's important to stand still at this 10-year milestone and reflect for a bit I think. Whether it's the site, the forum, or me, all have had ups and downs and shortcomings. And it's with mixed feelings that I write this. Not that it's anything too emotional, after all it's just a site and a date passing by. So now it's time to get moving again and who knows, make it last another decade!

What I will be doing for the start of this tenth year is going through my folders and look at all the unfinished/unpublished work that was meant to be added to the site, but due to circumstances never got done, and have a "better late than never" series of updates. And of course new content will follow too. If this interests you, keep an eye on the updates in the coming months or follow the Twitter feed (it's only the new additions, don't worry, I'm not bugging you with what I had at breakfast).

Whether you've been contributing, sharing, following, or just stopping by from time to time, Thank You All!

Best wishes for 2012,

Niels Hillebrand
MILAVIA Webmaster
webmaster@milavia.net
http://www.milavia.net

PS: I'll dig up some old screenshots of the site through the years later.

[Viggen]

Its hard to believe that 10 years have passed. The first thing that comes to my mind is to Thank Niels for never giving up. Like he mentions, the site have had its fair share of up´s and down´s. But it is still going strong.

I noticed that you also gave me some credit, however i dont know if i deserve it. I never managed to contribute as much as i wanted or planned for. (Much went down the drain because of personal reasons, but thats an another story). Though im still proud to say that im a member at the forum, and i will continue to be for as long as the site exists.

To all members, old or new. I wish you all a happy 2012 and a wonderful year filled with aviation. 

[Webmaster]

You deserve it. I know I'm not just speaking for myself here, when I say we had fun with your interrogations. The interview with Capt. Tormalm you did is still in my personal top 10 of articles on the site.

And when it comes to sharing, definitely something I will never forget, the green splinter camo Draken in the "1-krona" shop.

[SukhoiLover]

Happy Birthday