"Dad, there's a plane coming in!"

Airplane identification is easy if you follow these simple tips.

First take a pair of binoculars with you. You will be able to see the planes coming for farther away and it will give you more time to note typical features.

Buy yourself an aircraft recognition handbook. They usually contain pictures and silhouettes from front, side and under to aid shape recognition.

• propeller or jet engine

  how many engines (1,2,3,4...)

  engine position

  • nose
  • wing
    • in
    • on
    • under
  • tail
    • on the side or tail fuselage
    • in tail assembly
  • fuselage

  ...

  shape et dimension

  etc.

• wings (front wings)
  • shape of the wings
    • swept-back (ex. B-747)
    • straight (ex. CL-215)
    • tapered (ex. Dash-8)
    • variable geometry (rare)
    • delta (rare)
    • with (ex. Airbus A-320) or without winglet (ex. Boeing 757)
    • avec (ex. Airbus A-320) ou sans ailette (ex. Boeing 757)
  • flaps and ailerons
    • position of ailerons and trailing edge flaps

• tail assembly (fin and tail wings)
  • fuselage mounted tail unit
  • fin-mounted tail unit
  • T-tail unit
  • multiple (fins) tail unit

• landing gear
• number of wheels
• shape
• position of main landing gear
  • in fuselage
  • in a nacelle against fuselage
  • with the engines

• general silhouette
  • bulky (ex. BAe 146 100 serie)
  • short, medium, long fuselage
  • with (ex. B-747) or without an upper deck
  • special features
    • nose or tail extensions
    • radomes
    • ...

(Lockheed CP-140 Aurora)

(SAAB 340)

Both planes have two propellers engines and are used for regional transport of passenger.

The ATR-42 has two landing pods protruding on each low side of the fuselage containing the main landing gear.

The Dash-8's main landing gear is distinctive with its long leg between the motor housing.

In this exemple, we can see that all the aircraft caracteristics aren't needed for a basic recognition. Be aware that you will rarely have enough time to note every detail. Recognition of an airplane type commes with practice. Remember your first encounter with some individuals. First you remember the color of their hair but not the shape of the nose for instance. Then, as you see that person on a regular basis, you can tell it's him just by the way he walks.

The example above with the Dash-8 and the ATR-42 commes from a very short stay (little more than an hour) at the end of the runway of Montreal International Airport in Dorval. At this site, at least a dozen of these planes land within that period of time. It vecomes easy to roughly identify at first and then refining the observations, formely identify these planes.

(Since the last revision of this text in 2000, the ATR-42 has becomed a rare sight in Montréal skies. But a look-alike could be observed in summer of 2001, the Dornier 328) [no longer at YUL in 2004]

About the author

Web site conception and production , text, pictures and illustrations : Jean-Pierre Bonin     © 1999-2004
Send suggestions and comments to : djipibi@hotmail.com
Web site created on August 8th 1999
Page created in 1999 / Last update of this page July 13th 2004

If you use my pictures or illustrations, please send me your web page address by e-mail.
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