Aircraft Recognition Guide

Image

Welcome to this aircraft recognition guide! This website is to help you recognise different aircraft types. It is meant for all aviation enthusiasts, ranging from those that occasionally go aircraft viewing at an airport or airshow to 'hardcore' aircraft spotters that want to know the exact aircraft type. On this website you will find all the information on what to look for, with a lot of images and tips to help you! As there are so many different aircraft this website will be gradually expanded.

Getting started

Recognising an aircraft type starts by looking at specific charac­teristics of the aircraft: what type of aircraft is it (e.g. airplane or helicopter), is it a jet or propeller aircraft, how many engines does it have, what is the wing and tail configuration? Under menu item "What to look for?" we have explained what the main characte­ristics are, including their definitions.

Start identification

Once you know what to look for you can start the identification. This can be done in two ways:

  1. By main airplane or helicopter characteristics. Answer some questions about the (main) properties of the aircraft to be identified, using check­boxes. This will narrow your search eventually bringing you to the webpage of the aircraft you are looking for.
  2. By aircraft manufacturer and main aircraft type. If you already know the main type of the aircraft and are just looking for the exact subtype you can also start the identification from the combination of manufacturer and main aircraft type.
  3. By the general search function. This covers the whole website and enables you to find all appearances of the aircraft type you are looking for.