HOW TO IDENTIFY AN AIRCRAFT BASED ON ITS EXTERNAL APPEARANCE

來自專欄說航空

NOTE: THIS GUIDE IS ONLY SUITABLE FOR MOST BOEING/ AIRBUS AIRCRAFT CURRENTLY IN OPERATION( BOEING:737,747,757,767,777,787 AIRBUS:320, 330, 340, 350, 380)

Step 1: look at the aircraft and find out the number of decks of the aircraft

a. If the aircraft is a double decker, the jet may be a Boeing 747 or an airbus 380

b. If the aircraft have only one deck, the jet may be a Boeing 737，757，767，777，787 or an airbus 320, 330, 340, 350

STEP 2:

Based on the result a in the previous step,

a.if the upper deck of the aircraft exists to the tail section of the jet, the aircraft is an airbus a380.

b.Otherwise, if the upper deck section of the plane only exists partially on the front of the jet and the cockpit is located in the upper deck, the aircraft is a Boeing 747

Based on the result b in the previous step:

a.If the aircraft have two engines on each side, the aircraft is an airbus 340

b.If the aircraft have one engine on each side, the aircraft may be an airbus 320, 330, 350 or a Boeing 737, 757, 767, 777, 787.

STEP 3: Based on the result b-b in the previous step:

a.If the aircraft have five cabin exits each side, despite the emergency only exits, the aircraft may be an airbus 350-1000 or a Boeing 777-300 or a Boeing 777-9 (since the Boeing 777-9 is still under construction, its identification method is to be updated).

b.If the aircraft have four cabin exits each side, despite the emergency only exits, the aircraft may be an airbus 321, or an airbus 350-900, or a Boeing 777-200, Boeing 777-8 or Boeing 787 (since the Boeing 777-8 is still under construction, its identification method is to be updated).

c.If the aircraft have three cabin exits each side, despite the emergency only exits, the aircraft may be an Airbus 330, or a Boeing 757

d.If the aircraft have two cabin exits each side, despite the emergency only exits, the aircraft may be an Airbus 320, or a Boeing 737

e.If the aircraft have to cabin exits on the left side of the aircraft and four cabin exits on the right side, the aircraft is a Boeing 767 .

STEP 4: BASED ON THE RESULT a IN THE PREVIOUS STEP:

a.If the aircraft have a wing tip section at the end of the wing, it is an airbus 350-1000 (apologize for no photos of this model was taken by me)

b.If the aircraft do not have a wing tip section at the end of the wing, it is a boeing777-300

BASED ON THE RESULT b IN THE PREVIOUS STEP:

a.If the aircraft have only two tires on each side of its main landing gears, it is an airbus 321

b.If the aircraft have four tires on each side of its main landing gears and a wing tip section at the end of it wings, it is an airbus 350-900

c.If the aircraft have six tires on each side of its main landing gears (identical to the Boeing 777series and airbus 350-1000), it is a Boeing 777-200

d.If the aircraft have four tires on each side of its main landing gears and have no wing tip section at the end of its wings, it is a Boeing 787

BASED ON THE RESULT c IN THE PREVIOUS STEP:

a.If the aircraft have a relatively long nose gear supporting structure, smaller cabin doors, and tending to be higher in its nose section than the other part of the aircraft, it is a Boeing 757

b.If the aircraft have a relatively bigger cabin doors and a tail-like wing tip structure, it is an airbus 330

BASED ON THE RESULT d IN THE PREVIOUS STEP:

a.If the main landing gear of the aircraft is exposed after takeoff (indicating that there are no main landing gear doors), it is a Boeing 737

b. If the main landing gear of the aircraft is not visible after takeoff (indicating that there are main landing gear doors on the aircraft), it is an Airbus 320

As a freshman who posted the article first time on ZHIHU，I would sincerely hope to hear advices and suggests to make my articles better.