How we re-check an Aviator shortlist when a card dies

When a Play page stops resolving, the Aviator aileron still needs a paper trail — and often a live replacement. This note is the checklist we used after Air Battle 404’d; on 22 October 2026 we replaced that slot with 1945 Air Force: Plane Shooter.

What is the first request we make?

A direct GET to the store details URL. We record the HTTP status. For Air Battle that status was 404. Soft redirects or interstitial “item not found” HTML still count as a dead listing for our desk.

What secondary dates do we allow?

Public tracker removal dates — labelled as tracker reports, not as Play’s own changelog. Air Battle’s tracker note is 19 August 2026. We never promote a tracker date above the 404 we saw ourselves.

Which archived fields stay printable?

Only scraps we already logged while the page lived: price model, content rating, version, minimum OS, genre one-liner, developer name. No reconstructed star histograms. No guessed download bands. Once we seat a live replacement, those archived scraps leave the ranking card and live only in notes like this one.

How do we choose a replacement Aviator card?

Same aileron rules as a fresh cut: resolvable URL, developer string, price model, content rating, dated update, real store art. 1945 Air Force cleared that bar with a 4.8 headline, 4.33M reviews, 100M+ downloads, and an arcade WW2 plane-shooter fit for the old rank-three slot.

How do we handle artwork?

If store icons and stills are gone, we use labelled desk stand-ins only while the dead card remains on the board. We do not scrape random APK sites for icons. For a live replacement we download Play art and verify real PNG/JPEG files before shipping.

What phrases are banned after a vanished Aviator card?

“Currently rated…” for the dead package, “millions of players still…”, and any ratings chart bar with a made-up width. Once the replacement is live, the homepage chart draws three real bars — for 1945 Air Force that is the published 4.8 (~96% width).

Where does the record live?

On the ranking card, the new review, data-and-permissions, and this note. Corrections go to [email protected]. Related: 1945 Air Force review, shortlist method.