Simviation Forums

...I love that site, and so I am always looking forward to new pics in the Photo/Camera Section. But often there are no descriptions of the planes. Ok, a McDonnald or Tupolev are mostly easy to recongnize but I don't see a difference between Boeings and Airbusses. Maybe you could give me a hint / a typical identification attribute to distinguish between those two.  :-[

airbus noses are usually way more round than boeing noses

Bear with me as I put together some pics....



.mic

Airbus's are extremely ugly while Boeing's are sleek and sexy!!

Airbus's are extremely ugly while Boeing's are sleek and sexy!!

You wish....

OK here we go with Mic's recognition guide...who needs Jane eh

Feel free to add stuff people

I've missed out some of the more obvious ones such as 717, 727, A380

OK

Boeing 737 series - Airbus A320 series

The Boeing 737 family is large, very large, however the basic shape never changes...except with the addition of wingtips etc....

In this guide we are going to look at a 737-500

The Airbus A320 family consists of the A318/A319/A320/A321, once again the basic shape doesnt change...the only difference is the lenth of fuselage and a few other minor things...

This guide looks at the A321....purely because it's the same livery as the 757

737-500


A321


Some key differences;

1. The tail....the 737 has a clear chink in the tail, whereas the A321 has a curve....this to me is the most recogniseable feature

2. The wingtips....the only wingtips you'll see on a 737 are big long ones pointing upwards, on the other hand the A320 series are almost all fitted with small wingtips, as can be seen here....with the exception of the early A320s (some of BAs fleet for example)

3.The nose.....the 737 is more pointed, whereas the A320 is rounded

4.The landing lights....the 737 has a landing light on the wing (correct me if I'm wrong), whereas the A321 has landing lights only in the fuselage

5.Eyebrow windows...never found on A320s, sometimes found on 737s

6.The engines....the 737s engines have flattened out undersides whereas the A320s are round

Boeing 747 - Airbus A340

This is a really easy one....if it has four engines and two decks, it's a 747, if it doesnt have the second deck it's an A340...If it has a second deck that goes the length of the aircraft it's an A380

747
     

A340


Pretty easy huh!

Now comes the hard bit...

The Boeing 757

In my opinion the 757 doesnt have an Airbus opposite, so heres a few pointers to spot a 757

1.Look for a long, comparatively narrow bodied airliner bigger than your usual 737/A320

2.The nose has a kind of droop to it...see picture

3.The undercarriage has 4 wheels on each bogie, unlike the 737/A320 which has 2

4.The engines make a high pitched whining noise I find....might just be me though



Possibly the worst aircraft to tell apart are the

Boeing 767 - Airbus A330 - Boeing 777 (to a lesser extent the latter )

This one often gets me as they're very similar aircraft...

Starting with the 777



1. The 777 is long....very long...also the engines are massive, much bigger than anything else

2.The tail has next to no curves in it, compared to other types, even at the base

3.Not much more to say

Now the 2 most difficult in my opinion;

Boeing 767



Airbus A330



A couple of tips;

1. Look at the tail....the A330 is swept further back, whereas the 767 is more upright

2.The A330 engines are smaller.....and protrude forwards a bit more

3.I think the 767 fuselage is higher...though I cant be sure

4.The A330 has a more flowing look to it ( I know....a bit random)

5.There is probably something to do with the wingtips, but I'll leave someone else to do that

6.One from SB... to tell an A330 from a 767/triple 7, look at the engine cowling, which extends smoothly back to the extreme rear of the engines... in a 767/777, the cowling stops about 2/3rds of the way along the engine and exposes a much thinner exhaust at the extreme rear of the engine... clearly shown in the 767 photo

I hope that helps a bit....even though I go to airports frequently I still get them mixed up

And here ends possibly my longest post ever on SimV

Happy spotting

.mic

PS....of course, if you're really stuck there's 2 options;

1. Look for a line of text on the aircraft saying what it is.....many airlines do this

2.Wait till you get home and search the registration on the internet

On a second note, Ill leave you to digest that overnight, and I'll put a little quiz up tomorrow

.mic

Very helpful mic... I may print that out later...

One little addition... for me, the easiest way to tell an A330 from a 767/triple 7 is the fact that on the A330, the engine cowling extends smoothly back to the extreme rear of the engines... in a 767/777, the cowling stops about 2/3rds of the way along the engine and exposes a much thinner exhaust at the extreme rear of the engine... clearly shown in the 767 photo posted by you...

Very helpful mic... I may print that out later...

One little addition... for me, the easiest way to tell an A330 from a 767/triple 7 is the fact that on the A330, the engine cowling extends smoothly back to the extreme rear of the engines... in a 767/777, the cowling stops about 2/3rds of the way along the engine and exposes a much thinner exhaust at the extreme rear of the engine...

wow...I've never noticed that before...nice one SB!

Mind if i add it? (while I can )

.mic

Very helpful mic... I may print that out later...

One little addition... for me, the easiest way to tell an A330 from a 767/triple 7 is the fact that on the A330, the engine cowling extends smoothly back to the extreme rear of the engines... in a 767/777, the cowling stops about 2/3rds of the way along the engine and exposes a much thinner exhaust at the extreme rear of the engine...

wow...I've never noticed that before...nice one SB!

Mind if i add it? (while I can )

.mic

Go right ahead sir (I really mean sir, your aviation knowledge far outstrips mine...

OK now a harder one

757 with winglets and Tu-204-120
Main difference: if the Tupolev has PS90 engines, the supports extend a long way over the engine.
Subtle ones:
Wheel tilt is the other way around.
Tail has different shape (its longer on the Tupolev)
Slight difference in cockpit window configuration
Different nosegear with an extra support beam on the Tupolev
Flaps look different
On other variants the relative positioning of the wing is different

OK now a harder one

757 with winglets and Tu-204-120
Main difference: if the Tupolev has PS90 engines, the supports extend a long way over the engine.
Subtle ones:
Wheel tilt is the other way around.
Tail has different shape (its longer on the Tupolev)
Slight difference in cockpit window configuration
Different nosegear with an extra support beam on the Tupolev
Flaps look different
On other variants the relative positioning of the wing is different

I've never ever seen a Tu204

Thanks for the info ivan.....this thread is getting rather useful....maybe a sticky is in order...

.mic

PS...with hindsight this would be better in the specific aircraft types forum...

They all look rather boring to me.

They all look rather boring to me.

Your not wrong there Tweek.

Of course the main way to differentiate between the two is that if the plane your looking at is not only boring, but ugly aswell, then it is quite clearly an Airbus.

At least the Boeing has a bit of character.

Wow, Mic!  Nice work!  I am going down to New Tokyo Int'l (Narita) later this month to take some photos, and I will definitely put this little guide through the paces.  Thanks for your effort and succinct explanations!

Gratefully,
~Darrin

Thank you all and espacialy Mictheslik for this very nice description. You make that site my No. 1!!!