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Airliner Spotting Guide

This guide will hopefully you help you to learn to spot the difference between a
737-700, an Airbus A321, a Dash 8 and any other airliners you may come across.
This guide is arranged in alphabetical order by manufacturer.
This guide only covers those models that are still flying, so some models of
aircraft won't be mentioned.

Spotting Tips

The quickest way to determine the manufacturer of an airliner is to look at the


cockpit windows. Each manufacturer has a unique cockpit window arrangement
that is carried across their line of aircraft. There are additional smaller details that
can be used to determine which model (ie: 737-800) of an airplane type (ie: 737)
you are looking at. These details include the number of emergency exits, the
engines on the aircraft, or the length of the aircraft. A note on the emergency
exits. Unless stated otherwise, all aircraft have the same number of emergency
exits on each side of the aircraft.

Airbus

A320 Series

There are four models in the A320 series. They are the A318(pictured above),
A319, A320, A321. The A318 is the shortest model of the series and has one
window exit. The A319 has one window exit like the A318 but is noticeably
longer. The A320 has two window exits. The A321 is the longest model in the
series and has four exit doors. The A320 series of aircraft has recently started
getting winglets (Airbus markets them as Sharklets) installed on the aircraft
giving the series a different look. With the Sharklets installed the series could be
mistaken for a Boeing 737 series aircraft. A couple of ways to tell them apart is
the A320 sits higher in the air and if that fails, look at the cockpit windows.

A300 Series

There are two models in the A300 series. They are the A300(pictured above) and
the A310. The A300 is the longer of the two. The A300 series is no longer used in
passenger service in the US but does see use as a freighter. The passenger
version of the A300 has four exit doors, while the shorter A310 has three.
Externally the A300 can be mistaken for the Airbus A330 series aircraft which
looks very similar. To distinguish between an A300 and an A330 look at the
wingtips. The A330 has large winglets where the A300 has small wingtip "fences"
or may not have anything on the tip at all.

A330 Series

There are two models in the A330 series. They are the A330-200 and the
A330-300(pictured above). Both models have four exit doors but the A330-200 is
the shorter of the two models. Externally the A330 series can be mistaken for the
Airbus A300 series which looks similar. To distinguish between an A300 and an
A330 look at the wingtips. The A330 has large winglets where the A300 has small
wingtip "fences" or may not have anything on the tip at all.

A340 Series

There are four models in the A340 series. They are the A340-200, A340-300
(pictured above), A340-500, and the A-340-600. The A340-200 and A340-300 are
similar in appearance to one another except for the length of the aircraft with the
A340-300 being the longer of the two and both having four exit doors. The
A340-500 and A340-600 have different engines which are much larger in size
than those installed on the A340-200 and A340-300. The A340-500 has four exit
doors and is shorter than the A340-600 which has 5 exit doors and is noticeably
longer. The "center fuselage" landing gear on the A340-200 and A340-300 has
two tires with the A340-500 and A340-600 having four tires on this gear
assembly.

A350 Series

There is currently only model in the A350 series flying, the A350-900.(pictured
above)

A380 Series

There is currently one model in the A380 series, the A380-800. The A380 can
easily be spotted among other airliners with its double-decker fuselage and
massive size.

ATR

ATR Series
There are two models in the ATR Series. They are the ATR 42(pictured above)

and the ATR 72. The ATR 42 is the shorter of the two models. There are multiple
variants of each model of which the primary differences are avionics, engines,
and propeller changes. The ATR 42-300 has four-bladed propellers. The ATR
42-400, ATR 42-500, and ATR 42-600 all have six-bladed propellers. The ATR
72-100, and ATR 72-200 have four-bladed propellers. The ATR 72-500, and ATR
72-600 have six-bladed propellers. The ATR 42/72 could be confused with the
DHC-8 (Dash 8) series of aircraft due to both being high-wing, twin turbo-prop
aircraft. To distinguish between the two, look at the main landing gear. The ATR
series has main landing gear that extends and retracts into the fuselage while the
Dash 8's main landing gear extends and retracts into the engine nacelle.


Avro
Avro RJ Series

There are three models in the Avro RJ Series. They are the RJ70, RJ85, and RJ
100(pictured above). They are all similar in appearance with only efference being
the length of the models. The RJ70 is the shortest with the RJ100 being the
longest. The series may also be referred to as the BAe 146, which was the
predecessor to the Avro RJ series. Although the BAe 146 is technically a different
airplane, it looks largely identical to the Avro RJ and I know no way to tell them
apart by simply looking at them.



1900 Series

Beechcraft

There are two models in the 1900 series. They are the 1900C and the
1900D(pictured above). The 1900D has winglets, aft strakes added to bottom of
the fuselage, and has a taller cabin than the 1900C.

Boeing

717 Series

The 717 is the only model. It is based on the DC-9/MD-80 series of aircraft. It
was originally to be named the MD-95, but was rebranded the 717 after the
Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas merger in 1997. It can be mistaken for the
MD-90 which is a derivative of the DC-9/MD-80 series of aircraft. The 717 is
noticeably shorter than the MD-90 and the engine on the 717 tapers to a smaller
diameter at the aft part of the engine and the aft part of the engine on the 717 is
gray in color. Later models of the 717 also have the "eyebrow" windows above
the main cockpit windows removed which is another way to distinguish the 717.

737 Series


There are eight models in the 737 series. They are the 737-200, 737-300,
737-400, 737-500, 737-600, 737-700(pictured above), 737-800, and the 737-900.
The 737-200 sees some use on charter flights and can be identified by it's cigar
shaped engines, similar to those found on the MD-80 series of aircraft. The
737-300 and above feature engines which have a squashed appearance when
looking at the front. This was done to accommodate the larger engine on the
737-300 and above aircraft and to prevent redesigning the landing gear on the
airplane to accommodate the larger engines. The 737-300, 737-500, 737-600,
and the 737-700 all appear very similar with all having one window exit. The wing
on the -600 and -700 is a slightly different design than the -300 and -500. The
engines mounts on the -600 and -700 are different than those on the -300 and
-500 with the mounts on the -300 and -500 extended further aft on the wing both
on the upper and under side of the wing . This is a detail that can be harder to
spot from a distance. The -500 and -600 models are also slightly shorter than
the -300 and -700 models.


The -400 and the -800 appear similar to one another with both having two
window exits.
The wing and engine mounts on the -400 are the same as the -300 and -500,
with the -800 having the same wing and engine mounts as the -600 and -700.
The -900 is the longest of the 737 series and has two window exits like the -400
and -800, but the -900 is noticeably longer. Some -900 models are -900ER
models and have a higher seat capacity which requires a third exit door which is
located along the aft portion of the fuselage. Some airlines operate the -900ER
with the same number of seats as the -900 and this third exit door is replaced
with a fuselage plug, which resembles a door but can't be opened.

747 Series

There are three models in the 747 series. The 747-200, the 747-400(pictured
above), and the 747-8. The 747 is probably the most recognizable airliner ever
produced. The 747-200 is the shortest of the three models listed here. The
747-200 and 747-400 are the most similar in appearance. The 747-400 is longer,
with the upper deck "hump" being longer than that of the 747-200. The 747-400
has winglets which helps to easily distinguish it from the 747-200. The most
recognizable 747-200 is the aircraft commonly known as Air Force One. The
747-8 is the longest of the series and feature a number of noticeable changes
over the 747-200 and 747-400. The 747-8 has a much longer upper deck hump,
a differently shaped wing, and much larger engines which feature scalloped
nacelles similar to those found on the Boeing 787 series of aircraft. There are
freighter versions of the 747-400 and the 747-8. The 747-400F has the winglets
of the passenger version but has a much shorter upper deck hump. The 747-8F
has the redesigned wing, and scalloped engine nacelles of the passenger
version, but has a much shorter upper deck hump.

757 Series

There are two models in the 757 series. They are the 757-200(pictured above)
and the 757-300. The 757-300 is noticeably longer than the 757-300 and the
757-300 has a fourth exit door.

767 Series

The are three models in the 767 series. They are the 767-200, 767-300(pictured
above), and the 767-400. The 767-200 is the shortest of the series and has one
window exit. The 767-300 has two window exits. The 767-400 is longest of the
series and has four exit doors and raked (angled) wing-tips. The 767-400 is
noticeably longer than the rest of the series and could be mistaken for a Boeing
777-200 due to its length, but the 767-400 has four tires per main landing gear
while the 777-200 has six tires per main landing gear.

777 Series

There are two models in the 777 series. They are the 777-200(pictured above)
and the 777-300. The 777 series has a couple of unique features to help spot the
series. The 777 is equipped with triple-bogey main landing gear with six tires per
main land gear. The tail on the 777 series tapers to a thin flat surface resembling
a flat-head screwdriver. The 777-200 has four exit doors and the 777-300 has
five exit doors and is noticeably longer than the 777-200.

787 Series

There are currently two models of the 787 series flying. They are the
787-8(pictured above) and the 787-9. The 787 series can easily be identified by
its scalloped engine nacelles. The 787-8 and the 787-9 both have four exits
doors with the 787-9 being noticeably longer.

Bombardier

CRJ Series


There are four models in there CRJ series. They are the the CRJ 200, the CRJ
700, the CRJ 900(pictured above), and the CRJ 1000. The CRJ 200 is the
shortest of the series, has one window exit, has different engines than the other
models, and the aft part of the fuselage is much blunter than the other models.
The CRJ 700 has one exit window, and the winglets are angled out more than
the CRJ 200. The CRJ 900 has two exit windows. The CRJ 1000 has two exit
windows like the CRJ 900, but is noticeably longer than the CRJ 900.

DHC-8 (Dash 8) Series


There are four models is the Dash 8 series. They are the DHC-8-100,
DHC-8-200, DHC-8-300(pictured above), and the Dash-8-400. The 100 and 200
models are the shortest of the models and look largely identical. The 100
typically has yellow-tipped propellers, while the 200 has white-tipped propeller
blades with both models having one window exit, and a tail bumper on the
bottom of the tail. The 300 is longer than the 100 and 200 and has one window
exit which is located further aft on the fuselage. The 300 also has ditching dams
located below the exit windows which resemble small bumpers, and no tail
bumper. The 100, 200, and 300 all have four-bladed propellers. The 400 is
noticeably longer than the other models and has six-bladed propellers and four
exit doors and no tail bumper. The horizontal stabilizer (the horizontal part of the
tail) has also been redesigned on the 400. The Dash 8 could be confused with
the ATR 42-72 series of aircraft due to both being high-wing, twin turbo-prop
aircraft. To distinguish between the two, look at the main landing gear. The ATR
series has main landing gear that extends and retracts into the fuselage while the
Dash 8's main landing gear extends and retracts into the engine nacelle.

Embraer

E120 Series

The E120 is the only model in the series.





E145 Series



There are three models in the E145 series. They are the E135, E140, and the
E145. They all have one window exits, but are different in length. The E135 is the
shortest with the E145 being the longest. Some E145s have winglets and a
strake beneath the fuselage and these models are known as the E145XR.



E170 Series


There are four models in the E170 series. They are the E170, E175,
E190(pictured above), and the E195. The E170 and E175 look very similar with
both having four exit doors and no window exits. The E175 is longer than the
E170 and newer E175 feature redesigned winglets which are angled further out.
The E190 and E195 look very similar with both having four exit doors and one
window exit. The E195 is longer than the E190.

Lockheed

L-1011 Series


The L-1011 is the only model in the series. The model sees limited use as a
charter aircraft. The aircraft can be mistaken for the DC-10 Series of aircraft. The
L-1011 has an engine mounted in the fuselage and uses an S-shaped air duct in
the tail to provide air flow into the engine.

McDonnell-Douglas

DC-10 Series

There are different models of the DC-10 but all have the same basic look. The
DC-10-30 added the center fuselage landing gear. The DC-10-40(pictured
above) can be identified by the slight hump in the air intake for the #2 engine
mounted in the tail. The DC-10 sees limited use as a freighter mainly as the
MD-10 which features different avionics, but looks the same externally.



MD-11 Series

The MD-11 is the only model or the series. The MD-11 is based in the DC-10
series aircraft. The MD-11 is longer and has winglets. The MD-11 still sees limited
passenger service and is widely used as a freighter.



MD-80 Series


There are five models in the MD-80 series. They are the MD-81, MD-82, MD-83,
MD-87, and MD-88. They are all the same externally except for the MD-87 which
is shorter. The MD-80 series can be distinguished from the 717 and MD-90 by it's
engines which are long and narrow and resemble a cigar.




MD-90

The MD-90 is the only model in the series. The MD-90 is longer and has larger
engines than the MD-80 series of aircraft on which it is based.

Saab

340 Series

There are a few sub-models with different avionics or engines but all have the
same external appearance.

2000 Series.

The 2000 is the only model in the series. The 2000 resembles the Saab 340 but
the 2000 is longer and has six-bladed propellers.

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