So I've been wanting to convert Slave I for years now since nobody's done it for SWBF1/2. I have multiple different ones to choose from, all with permission. I thought I'd give XSI my first go by animating it. Before I even get started, I'm curious about animating it. We know it lays down when parked, and faces forward when flying. I was thinking of having an animation that 'waits' for a second or so before rotating pitch, that way the ship has enough clearance and doesn't scrape against the ground during takeoff and landing. Would that work? Have an animation that does nothing for 1-2 seconds, then moves? I hate sounding like a n00b, but I don't get modeling/animation at all, so this is a really tough one for me.

Didn't Maveritchell include the Slave I in some of the space maps for Dark Times? I don't remember what the takeoff animations look like for it, but whatever they are, they work.

http://www.xfire.com/video/ba248/
(Not my video, but it is my mod.)

I'd be happy to share that with you provided that you are not dead-set on doing it yourself and that you don't spread it around. Since that release, I've also touched up the engine effect so that it is delayed (not sure why I didn't fix that for the first release).

It's not a difficult animation to do, though. If you want to try it just to learn it might be worth your time.

No, I'm not dead set on doing it. If you can send it to me for just me to use that'd be great. It leaves me to work on other stuff I need to do.

There was a short discussion on the Slave1 and it's takeoff some time ago HERE and this was my attempt at a takeoff that I felt was efficient for SWBF2:
Slave1 takeoff

If you want to have a look at the scene and disect it for educational purposes just let me know.