For details of all our volunteer schemes, check out the Volunteers page.

Ah, you made it. Nice to see you. Welcome to the future.

Well, that's what we think it is, anyway.

The Aviators are a motley bunch of Researchers dedicated to providing audio and audio-visual content for h2g2. Some of us are musicians, some film-makers, others have nice voices. Together we aim to complement h2g2 content with our collaborations.

About Our Work

Our work is divided into two main areas, called the Guidecast and the Beeblecast. Put simply, the Guidecast has been created to provide content for h2g2 Edited Entries, whereas the Beeblecast encompasses everything else on h2g2 - from The Post and the UnderGuide to clubs and societies. We're open to ideas and suggestions, so please feel free to start a new conversation below if you wish!

As of March 2008, we now have our own website, h2g2aviators.com. Largely thanks to the efforts of TRiG, we now have a site free from adverts and time limitations, and are completely free to express ourselves. Please note, however, that our site is not run or moderated by BBC staff, and we are solely responsible for its content¹.

The Guidecast

Constrained by our YouTube account, our first clips were all videos - a fun but very time-consuming process - and were all made for Edited Guide Entries. As a result, most of the episodes in the Guidecast are full videos.

The following Entries have had clips created for them by the Aviators as part of the Guidecast:

• Bails, Ducks and Yorkers - A Beginner's Guide to Cricketing Terminology.
• How to Draw a Cartoon Bird.
• The South West Coast Path: Sidmouth to Beer.
• Games You Can Play in the Office.
• The Great Bacon Sandwich.
• A New Forest Walk - Ashurst to Brockenhurst..
• How To Use Rubber Gloves Properly.
• Attaya - West African Green Tea..
• Birdwatching In The Gambia.

You can view all the Guidecast clips on our Guidecast page, download clips, and even subscribe to our own RSS feed there! This link will take you to an external website.

The Beeblecast

We decided it would be fun to confuse people by calling both the feed and the first episode of the feed 'The Beeblecast'. The Beeblecast that most people refer to is therefore part of the Beeblecast itself, which is just part of what we do.

The Beeblecast is a very new idea, and has only become possible thanks to our website. The first ever Beeblecast episode was a full video clip and encompassed a full issue of The Post, but we plan to make more episodes to accompany editions of The Post and other non-EG Entries.

So far, we have made the following Beeblecast clips:

• The Beeblecast, which ran in conjunction with The Post - you can find out who did what in the Producers' Notes.

• The Faces, was our first-ever audio play, produced by 2legs. With Mu Beta, Lil and EMR playing the roles scripted for audio by Mina, it was a real team effort and a fine piece. The original, The Faces, was written by Tibley Bobley.

• Charlie was a short video made to accompany Skankyrich's Post article. It's a bit sad.

• Beatrice contributed a special Take It To The Max to accompany her Nostalgia ain't what it used to be Post article, which appeared on 19th February 209.

Firestorm

And then there's Firestorm. Terran's series took us right back to our roots; an astonishingly good audio book put together with 2legs, and with a catchy theme tune written by Roymondo. Each of the following Post articles has an audio clip to go with it:

• Episode 1, Part 1
• Episode 1, Part 2
• Episode 1, Part 3
• Episode 1, Part 4
• Episode 1, Part 5
• Episode 1, Part 6

Again, on the Beeblecast page, you can subscribe to our RSS feed and view and download our clips. In case you need reminding, the link will take you to an external website.

h2gTunes

We use a lot of music on our clips, and it's only fair that we give our musicians proper credit for their work. So we decided to have a feed called h2gTunes where you can download or listen to full versions of the tunes our musicians have created. And, of course you can subscribe too!

If you have any other ideas or suggestions, please let us know below!

Around The Site

Help us make this the start of something very, very beautiful.

We've written a number of articles, mainly for The Post, in which we've discussed various ideas and let the community know what we're up to. These have included:

• 06.12.07 - Introducing the Beeblecast by Skankyrich, which got the whole Beeblecast idea started.

• 17.01.08 - Random Ramblings by B'Elana, an excellent follow-up article from one The Post's regular columnists.

• 17.01.08 - The Post Poem, 'Beeblecast' by lil, which captured the spirit of the idea very well.

• 17.01.08 - The Beeblecast - An Appeal by Skankyrich, which developed the idea and sought to get more of the community involved. We took over most of The Post that issue!

• 13.03.08 - Producer's Notes by Skankyrich, published on the day of the Beeblecast and explaining exactly who did what.

• 13.03.08 - Taking to the Air, again by Skankyrich, explaining more about the Aviators' vision for the future.

• 13.03.08 - Not forgetting our official announcement from the Eds, who have always given us plenty of encouragement.

• 24.04.08 - The AViators Guide To PC Audio Recording, a great how-to article by Roymondo explaining how to record great audio on your PC.

A Help Page is planned in the coming weeks, to help would-be Aviators to learn how to put clips together. Watch this space!

Getting Involved

We're quite an open group, and we can discuss most ideas and suggestions onsite, either at the foot of this page or on the relevant Post articles above. We do have a Yahoo! group as well if you are serious about making clips. However, we do restrict membership of the group to Researchers who are interesting in creating AV and audio clips for themselves.

The best thing you can do if you want to get involved is talk to us! Maybe there's an Entry you'd like to see Aviated, or your friends all tell you that you have a lovely voice, or you have a great idea for a feature, or you can make animations. Just leave a message below!

The Large Print

Normally, this would be known as the small print, but on h2g2 it's far too important to be labelled as such. Please read the following carefully before submitting any clips:

As with every contribution to h2g2, you agree, by submitting your contribution, to grant the BBC a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sub-licensable right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, play, make available to the public, and exercise all copyright and publicity rights with respect to your contribution worldwide and/or to incorporate your contribution in other works in any media now known or later developed for the full term of any rights that may exist in your contribution, and in accordance with privacy restrictions set out in the BBC's Privacy Policy.


In addition, the BBC has strict guidelines regarding the use of children.