How to distinguish a Boeing from an Airbus from overhead

Captain · Post by **Captain** » 26 Feb 2004, 16:34

Let's say you are on the landing path of an airport and the planes fly to the runway about a couple 100 feet above you.

You can clearly distinguish certain types of planes (widebody vs. narrowbody, 4 engines vs. 2, etc) from others but there are quite a few where your a bit puzzled (especially if plane flies straight above you and you cannot see other features).

Is the bottom of the fuselage near the landing gear different on a boeing compared to an airbus? I'm thinking of planes such as A330 vs. 757/767/777.

Can clearly see other types from shape of fuselage i.e A321 is v. narrow and long.

Captain.

Jense · Post by **Jense** » 26 Feb 2004, 16:53

Strange question...
- between a 757 and a 321 is it quite easy: the 757 have 10 wheels, the 321 have only 6 wheels...
- when you look @ the fuselages, you will see several differences...

greettzzz

Captain · Post by **Captain** » 26 Feb 2004, 16:57

Ok. But if the wheels are not out yet, is there another way to distinguish by looking at shape of fuselage near wheels?

surfcrazedscot · Post by **surfcrazedscot** » 26 Feb 2004, 17:24

It's easy to distinguish them - Boeings are the ones with "Please buy me, I'm desperate" written in big words along the bottom.

Captain · Post by **Captain** » 26 Feb 2004, 18:12

surfcrazedscot wrote:Boeings are the ones with "Please buy me, I'm desperate" written in big words along the bottom.

True, Boeing are going through a bit of turbulence at the moment.

V-Bird · Post by **V-Bird** » 26 Feb 2004, 22:32

the a320 has winglets, the 757 don`t
The 757 has bigger engines

Kind regards,

Post by **sn26567** » 27 Feb 2004, 10:23

Hey guys, did you try this feature of the Luchtzak website: https://www.aviation24.be/modules.php?name ... Identifier ?

Comet · Post by **Comet** » 27 Feb 2004, 10:29

I have filmed various types of aircraft from below. One of the differences I noticed between say the Boeing 737 and the A320 is the nose shape, which can be seene asily from certain angles when you are on the ground. The 737 has a sharper nose and the A320 has a more rounded nose. The 757 has a rounded nose also, but this is aircraft longer than the A320.

A318 · Post by **A318** » 27 Feb 2004, 12:20

Captain wrote:Ok. But if the wheels are not out yet, is there another way to distinguish by looking at shape of fuselage near wheels?

If you are on the landing path and the wheels are not out yet............. start running since 60 seconds later you will not see any difference at all anymore

Greetz,

Erwin

Captain · Post by **Captain** » 27 Feb 2004, 12:27

Thanks for all the useful info.

Will be easier to identify planes now.

nwa757 · Post by **nwa757** » 29 Feb 2004, 23:14

The A321 has a more rounded nose than the 757 and the 757's engines are much bigger than the A321's are.