From Michael: I am going to be away for a while

[PanEuropean]

Hi All:

As you may have noticed, I have not been very active on the forum in the past few weeks. I am absolutely buried at work right now, and beginning March 4, I have to move an aircraft from Canada to Tahiti via Russia (Siberia), Asia, Guam, and then through Micronesia and Polynesia. This will take me about 11 days to complete.

Hopefully I will be able to participate again in the 2nd half of March.

I am aware of the photo hosting problem (the server previously operated by OEM Plus is now gone for good, along with all the photos on it) - long-time forum members will probably realize that this is the third time in 8 years that a hosting server has disappeared on us - I have to go sit under a tree and decide whether there is enough demand from the group to justify spending 40 to 60 hours to re-host all the photos again - for the third fricken' time...

MIchael

[Paximus]

Hi Michael,

It does seem unreasonable for us to expect such a huge amount of work in rehosting.

I think a few weeks ago you asked for PMs on which threads were topical, to prioritise the rehosting. No doubt we all ignored that and posted requests in the threads... we are an unruly bunch.

Surely lots of the posts can be updated by those with the enthusiasm to add new photos at the end of a thread, as they themselves carry out similar procedures? Although some interesting photos seem to be rare, such as the Individual Atelier ones you had.

If anyone is desperate to see a photo, I notice that a well thought out search text put into Google Images will sometimes pull up a copy cached on the Google servers, albeit rather small, and it's unclear for how long these are cached.

I hope you enjoy the long haul trip, once again. We could almost ask for a little thread as a travelogue of your journeys! Maybe asking too much!

Cheers,
Chris

[EricFromPA]

I think it's important to re-host the pictures. The collective information contained in this forum is priceless. That said, I understand that Michael isn't thrilled with the prospect of re-hosting the photos. None of us would want to face a chore like that for the third time.

Here's an idea - would it be possible to train someone else to do the "re-hosting"? I'd be willing to help out.

Eric

[george777]

...and for Pete's Sake, Michael, leave your car home! Have somebody drop you off at work and pick you up on your return...
Happy Travels!

[WillemBal]

Hi Michael,

I wouldn’t mind to host a substantial part of your pictures. I’m sure that there are other forum members who are willing to do the same.
But the next thing to do, sure will be a lot more work. You would need to go through each and every single thread and each and every single post of these threads, to see which photos were originally hosted there and then to update each and every single photo link.
When more members are going to host the photos, we sure lower the risk that such a vast amount of pictures need rehosting in the future.
I now have a substantial part of your photo’s on my PC. If you wish, I can host them and send you the links to these photos, and a table listing the original file name and the host link. Please let me know what you think. And what else we might do to help you.

Regards,
Willem

[laser21]

Michael thanks for your time and effort. Im a new member, who really depends on this forum, and images are very precious!

I think there should be made an unsorted storage of all the pictures, that anyone could access. If they need one particular picture, they can find it even from a thousand pictures and it doesnt take so much of your time.

Also there should be made a sticky thread with requests for photo re-uploads in specific posts, which you could follow. If you find time, you could reupload those specific ones.

regards, Lukas

[Motorista]

I second Eric's and Willem's suggestions and would be more than happy to share in the effort to re-host, but I would need to be trained to do it. I would recommend giving priority to pictures related to repairs over those illustrating colors or special equipment.
Stefano

[WillemBal]

Hi Michael,
If you can take a look at the thread Wiper-Mechanism-Mechanical-Failures, then you'll see a copy of your first post, but with the 12 original photo's. When the result meets your quality standards, then you should be able to restore your own post, using the post I added. After you have done that, I can safely remove mine.
If this works, we can start planning how to restore all other thousands of pictures to your original posts, with the help of the volunteers who offered help.

Willem

[jyoung8607]

I traded PMs with Michael a couple days ago about this. I'm willing to host everything, and I think we have other forum members who would be willing to help too. I would ass-u-me Michael kept personal copies of what he uploaded to OEM Plus, so all the files should be available, but perhaps not.

The real problem is that switching hosts is labor-intensive. I had suggested to Michael that we register a cheap domain in any TLD, which can be done for less than $10/year, reserved just for Phaeton forum photo and doc hosting. We have Michael and maybe one or two other people listed as management contacts. We do have to find and edit all references to the old picture host, but, we may be able to use forum search utilities to track them down. Once that's done, we never have to do it again. If hosting arrangements need to change, we re-point the domain and life goes on.

Jason

[jyoung8607]

Following up to myself --

It looks like a forum search for "dubfoto.com" turns up all the references. There will be a lot of manual work to do, but at least we can reliably identify it. So, we need:

1. The content. I would again ass-u-me Michael has at least some of it.
2. A domain. Optional, but I think it's a really good idea so we don't have to edit posts again. I would be happy to register it and pay for the first couple years.
3. Hosting. Myself and a number of members have offered help here. I have hosting space to accommodate everything, and I could emulate the old URL format if needed. If Michael remembers what they were using for album management, I could set up a copy of that as well.
4. Post Editing. Has to be done by someone with Phaeton forum moderator mojo. Right now this is Michael, or VWVortex staff, unless Michael wants help and asks for someone else to be added.

Jason

[Paximus]

jyoung8607: I had suggested to Michael that we register a cheap domain in any TLD, which can be done for less than $10/year, reserved just for Phaeton forum photo and doc hosting

I guess the new cost of the Phaetons belonging to the currently active/occasional forum members was around $10m.

So I expect we can somehow scrimp and save and raise $200 for 10-years' pre-paid domain name fees and hosting!

10-year inclusive costs found for example from here (no experience of them, not necessarily a recommendation).

Chris

[n968412L]

I'll be delighted to chip into any costs to provide a reliable archive for the forum.

You'd think, in a perfect world, VW would offer to do it!! Only joking.

Regards

M

[jyoung8607]

I guess the new cost of the Phaetons belonging to the currently active/occasional forum members was around $10m.

So I expect we can somehow scrimp and save and raise $200 for 10-years' pre-paid domain name fees and hosting!

10-year inclusive costs found for example from here (no experience of them, not necessarily a recommendation).

Chris

That certainly seems like a reasonable approach. Although my own offer still stands, it seems like we could find ~$100 between the regulars here to lock in guaranteed hosting for ten years that doesn't depend on a particular forum member.

Anyway, we'll have to see what Michael thinks when he returns from his travels.

Jason

[PanEuropean]

Hi Everyone:

Thanks for all the encouragement and the offers of help.

I have just found out that once I get this plane to the destination (hopefully in about 12 days), I will have a few days off with nothing to do... so, I will try and get the photos that have been requested during the last couple of months re-hosted then.

After that, we can decide what to do. Right now I am using a Photobucket account that costs me about $50 a year. That cost is not significant and I can look after it. If I ever get rid of my Phaeton (not likely, considering that it is my only car, and I drive it less than 1,000 km a year), I'll give the group the opportunity to pre-pay that Photobucket account a number of years in advance, thus guaranteeing that the photos will remain available to all.

Fortunately, I have over 95% of the original copies of the missing photos in my files, so, very little (if anything) will have been lost as a result of the OEM Plus server being abandoned.

What I could use some help with - and I will get around to suggesting a "how to" on this later, once I get the plane to the destination - is creating an inventory of the missing pictures, structured so that there is a list showing the URL of the individual post (within the topic) that is missing one or more pictures, and also the file name of the picture that is missing (usually visible by right-clicking on the missing picture icon).

In the meantime, here's a picture - showing the plane in the background, and my car in the foreground. The plane and I are in Ketchikan, AK at the moment, on the way to Tahiti. Stops along the way include Anchorage, Nome, Magadan, Vladivostok, Japan, Guam, and a whole raft of little islands between Guam and the Society Islands. I have forgot the names of these little islands at the moment, but I assure you I will make sure I remember the island name before I get up in the morning and head out across 1,000 miles of open ocean in search of it.

Michael

Foreground: Low-utilization transportation. Background: 11,000 nautical miles in the next 11 days.

[Paximus]

Is the white box the GPU for the Phaeton?

[Passat2001_5lover]

Safe travels, Michael. Wishing you a safe trip out and back again.

[SwissW12]

Have a safe Trip :-)

Just for the record, i would also give money and time for reposting the images. Even tough i am new, i have benefited largely from the sites members and content.

Cheers

[tynee]

If you have any time on Guam, and like diving, take advantage. We did some great shore dives. The ground falls off somehwere near 2000 feet i believe, just beyond the island, making it a spectacular wall dive. The Marriott has the best sunday brunch I've ever had. Crab legs, sushi, prime rib, etc.

Enjoy!

[cai]

I traded PMs with Michael a couple days ago about this. I'm willing to host everything, and I think we have other forum members who would be willing to help too. I would ass-u-me Michael kept personal copies of what he uploaded to OEM Plus, so all the files should be available, but perhaps not.

The real problem is that switching hosts is labor-intensive. I had suggested to Michael that we register a cheap domain in any TLD, which can be done for less than $10/year, reserved just for Phaeton forum photo and doc hosting. We have Michael and maybe one or two other people listed as management contacts. We do have to find and edit all references to the old picture host, but, we may be able to use forum search utilities to track them down. Once that's done, we never have to do it again. If hosting arrangements need to change, we re-point the domain and life goes on.

Jason

That certainly seems like a reasonable approach. Although my own offer still stands, it seems like we could find ~$100 between the regulars here to lock in guaranteed hosting for ten years that doesn't depend on a particular forum member.

Anyway, we'll have to see what Michael thinks when he returns from his travels.

Jason

This member contribution approach is used at another special interest forum to which I belong. The hosting costs are in the neighborhood of $350.00 per year. I do not know any details of the space they are allowed or anything else.

That forum does not have overseas members, but a way can be found to have those members from abroad that want to contribute, to use PayPal or another payment method. Those contributions would go to a person who would be in charge of collecting the funds and paying the host server.

Since I have not frequented the forum that often lately, I am a bit confused. Are we talking about the same problem that we had about one year ago when all old posts disappeared, or is this a new more recent development?

cai

[n968412L]

Since I have not frequented the forum that often lately, I am a bit confused. Are we talking about the same problem that we had about one year ago when all old posts disappeared, or is this a new more recent development?

Hi Cai- as I understand it, it is simply the site where the photos were hosted that has gone forever... not problems with this forum per se.

Regards

Mike

[vatachino]

As somebody who is currently considering buying his first (used) Phaeton, it would be jolly useful to be able to see the photos in the posts linked to by the FAQ - perhaps those accompanying the "how to change a flat tyre" and "how to transport a Phaeton" posts are the most important!

[EnglishPhaeton]

As somebody who is currently considering buying his first (used) Phaeton, it would be jolly useful to be able to see the photos in the posts linked to by the FAQ - perhaps those accompanying the "how to change a flat tyre" and "how to transport a Phaeton" posts are the most important!

Welcome and good luck with the search!

Changing a tyre is easy, either refer to the owners manual, call the AA or (if like me you have no spare wheel) inject foul smelling sealant connect compressor and hope.......

As for transporting one, the easiest method is to drive from point A to point B, failing that contact the above mentioned recovery company!

On a more serious note, if like me, you got stranded in Park with the Handbrake on and the Immobiliser Immobilised you need four dollies and a serious truck! Then just as it arrives the Phaeton gives a sly wink and resorts to normal behaviour!!

Stu

[Zaphh]

Hi Stu,

I think I read somewhere that injecting liquid rubber sealant and re-inflating the tyre meant that the tyre then had to be changed...

If so, I'd rather have a spare and get the tyre repaired...

Could you confirm this is the case ?

P.

Ps: sent you a PM

[EnglishPhaeton]

Hi Stu,

I think I read somewhere that injecting liquid rubber sealant and re-inflating the tyre meant that the tyre then had to be changed...

If so, I'd rather have a spare and get the tyre repaired...

Could you confirm this is the case ?

P.

Ps: sent you a PM

Hi Pierre,

(got the pm will reply this evening)

I sealed one of my tyres last year, it lasted until it needed replacing (2000 km). My tyre fitters assure me that the tyre CAN be repaired but most fitter hate doing it because of the smell (strong ammonia) and the necessity to clean both the tyre and the rim quite thoroughly. I have used the system on 3 occasions now without any fuss or problems.
Personally I would choose never to repair a tyre on a car that is as heavy as ours and with its performance potential, especially as I have a very good supplier (bearing in mind that I run 295/30/21 and prefer Continental) who only charges £155 per corner.

Stu

[30mpg]

Hi Everyone:
I have just found out that once I get this plane to the destination (hopefully in about 12 days), I will have a few days off with nothing to do... so, I will try and get the photos that have been requested during the last couple of months re-hosted then.

Michael, safe journey - and while I and all the others here would love to see the photos reposted as soon as possible, I must say that if you are in Tahiti for a few days with nothing else to do, perhaps the photos could wait a few days?

All the best,
Albert

[Zaphh]

Well, if you detect the puncture before the tyre goes completely flat, I believe the tyre structure is not damaged, and placing a new cylinder of rubber inside a well prepared hole should be a safe repair, provided the puncture was not too close to the sides of the tyres. This happened to one of my tyres, that suddenly started losing pressure. I went to a tyre shop, we found that a screw was in the tyre. I got it repaired before it went flat, and I am now happy to drive my car at German motorway speeds without fear...

[PanEuropean]

Hi Everyone:

I have made it as far as Pohnpei (Federated States of Micronesia) on my delivery flight, and hope to make it to Tahiti by the weekend. Once I get there, I will start re-hosting the photos.

Tomorrow I will be in Tarawa Island, Kiribati, next day in Funafuti (no idea what country that is), day after that in Pago Pago, American Samoa, then finally in Tahiti by the weekend.

It has been one heck of a long flight. I have not seen any Phaetons along the way. Then again, I have not seen much along the way, other than a volcano in Japan that was belching smoke. Mostly all I see out the window is water...

Michael

[Zaphh]

I hope for you your plane can fly horizontally on one engine only...

Good luck !

P.

[uberanalyst]

Michael:

If I didn't know better, your picture seems to show a new Viking Air Twin Otter
http://www.vikingair.com/content.aspx?id=276. That's one heck of a paint job...

Is it fair to assume you've been piloting the Twin Otter around and across the Pacific? As a small plane owner (of a Diamond DA40, also built in Canada) and flight instructor, I'm *extremely* jealous of your trip. And to think you probably even get *paid* to ferry a plane to Tahiti! Where do I sign up?

Hope you're having a great time in the islands.

- Dave

[Itzmann]

Such nice paint.

On both.

[PanEuropean]

...Is it fair to assume you've been piloting the Twin Otter around and across the Pacific?

Yep - see the route image below.

...I'm *extremely* jealous of your trip. And to think you probably even get *paid* to ferry a plane to Tahiti! Where do I sign up?

Your enthusiasm would diminish very quickly once the first few days of the journey had passed. Staying in hotels in Siberia when the OAT is -35, staying in hotels in some rat-hole island in the South Pacific where the hotel hasn't been renovated since WW II, flying 80 hours in 12 days, etc. - it's not quite as much fun as it sounds. Not to mention that the Twin Otter doesn't fly much faster than the DA40 (at about 160 KTAS, the Twin Otter might even be slower...)

I posted a blog about an earlier flight I made along more or less the same route back in January at a Canadian aviation website - if you are interested in reading about it, here is the link: Twin Otter Ferry Flight.

Anyway - I finished that 'round the world' trip (came home to Canada via Easter Island and Chile), and now have about a week off before the next ferry (to Europe). So, I'll now try to get caught up on some of the photo hosting here in our forum.

Michael

[Paximus]

I enjoyed your blog for that previous ferry, thanks for the link. It shows the level of professionalism that is deployed in carrying out a 'fun' (?) assignment.

Chris