Aircraft Recognition

Visual Discrete Features for Distinguishing Two Similar Aircraft

• Two of the hardest to distinguish aircraft are the Beech 18 and Lockheed Model 10. The best way to tell them apart is that the tip of the horizontal stabilizer on the Model 10 extends outboard of the vertical stabilizer, while on the Beech 18 it does not.
• The MQ-1 has a downward opening V-tail; the MQ-9 has an upward opening Y-tail.
• The BAe 146 has 4 engines; the Fairchild Dornier 328JET has 2 engines.
• The DC-10 has a straight through configuration of the number 2 engine; the L-1011 has an s-duct configuration of the number 2 engine.
• The Venom has tip tanks; the Vampire does not have tip tanks.
• The MD-11 has winglets; the DC-10 does not have winglets.
• The DC-4 has round windows; the DC-6 has rectangular windows.
• The DC-6 has 3-bladed propellers; the DC-7 has 4-bladed propellers.
• The F9F Panther has straight wings; the F9F-6 Cougar has swept wings.
• The F-8 has a pointed nose; the A-7 has a rounded nose.
• The F/A-18 [Legacy] Hornet has round engine intakes; the F/A-18E Super Hornet has angular intakes.
• The CH-47 has sponsons along nearly the full length of the fuselage; the CH-46 has sponsons that are only at the rear of the fuselage.
• The F11C has fixed landing gear; the BF2C has retractable landing gear.
• The H-19 has a high mounted tail boom and four landing gear; the H-34 has a low mounted tail boom and three landing gear (tail dragger).
• The Cessna 210 has retractable landing gear; the Cessna 205/206/207 has fixed landing gear.
• The Bell 206 has 2 main rotor blades; the Bell 407 has 4 main rotor blades.
• The Bell 212 has 2 main rotor blades; the Bell 412 has 4 main rotor blades.
• The Su-7 has fixed wings; the Su-17 has variable sweep wings.
• The PA-38 has a square middle window, no fin fillet, and a horizontal stabilizer mounted just below the very top of the vertical stabilizer (cruciform/T-tail mix); the Beechcraft Model 77 has a trapezoidal middle window, fin fillet, and a horizontal stabilizer mounted at the very top of the vertical stabilizer ("true" T-tail).
• The MiG-25 has one seat; the MiG-31 has two seats.
• The King Air has a conventional tail; the Super King Air has a t-tail.
• The B-29 has no underwing fuel tanks; the B-50 has underwing fuel tanks.
• The An-10 and An-12 have a single tail; the An-22 has a twin tail.
• The An-8 has 2 engines; the An-10 and An-12 have 4 engines.
• The C-82 does not have fin fillets; the C-119 and Noratlas have fin fillets.
• The S-61L does not have floats; the S-61N does have floats.
• The S-61/SH-3 does not have a rear loading ramp; the S-61R/HH-3 does have a rear loading ramp.
• The S-61/SH-3 has two engines; the S-62/HH-52 has a single engine.
• The F-102 has engine intakes mounted alongside the cockpit and fairings on either side of the tail; the F-106 has engine intakes mounted behind the cockpit and no fairings on either side of the tail.
• The SOCATA TBM has a traditional tail; the PC-12 has a T-tail.
• The AW101 has the tail rotor on the left hand side and sponsons at the rear of the fuselage; the S-92 has the tail rotor on the right hand side and sponsons along the majority of the fuselage length.
• The BT-13 has fixed landing gear; the T-6 has retractable landing gear.
• The Navion has a single rear window, sliding canopy, and the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer is forward of the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer; the Meyers 200 has a pillar dividing the two side windows that wrap around to the rear, cockpit doors, and the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer is in line or behind the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer.
• The P-80 has a single seat; the T-33 and F-94 have two seats.
• The A-6 has two seats; the EA-6B has four seats.
• The DHC-2 and Noorduyn Norseman have single tails; the MH.1521 has a twin tail.
• The CM.170 Magister has a v-tail; the L-29 has a t-tail; the TS-11 Iskra has a cruciform tail; the MB-326 has fuselage mounted horizontal stabilizers; and the G-2 Galeb has horizontal stabilizers mounted at the junction between the vertical stabilizer and fuselage.
• The Alpha Jet has two engines; the IA-63 Pampa has a single engine.
• The Fokker G.I has a single tail boom; the Breguet 690 has a twin tail boom.
• The MiG-15 has no ventral fin and 2 wing fences; the MiG-17 has a ventral fin and 3 wing fences.
• The Il-2 has an air intake on top of the engine cowling; the Il-10 does not have an air intake on top of the cowling.
• The Halifax has a high mounted horizontal stabilizer; the Lancaster has a mid-mounted horizontal stabilizer.
• The P-39 has a curved leading edge at the root of the vertical stabilizer, a rounded air intake behind the cockpit, and a 3-bladed propeller; the P-63 has a squared-off leading edge at the root of the vertical stabilizer, a rectangular air intake behind the pilot, and a 4-bladed propeller.
  • Note that the "E" variant of the P-63 has the same or similar tail and intake characteristics of the P-39.
• The F2H has two engines; the F9F has one engine.
• The BAe 125 has angular cockpit windows and a ventral fin on the tail; the Hawker 800 has rounded cockpit windows and no ventral fin on the tail.
• The Camair 480 has two landing lights in the lower nose; the Temco D-16 has two landing lights in the center of the nose.
  • Note the exception of D-16, s/n TTN-27, which has features of both designs.
• The FH Phantom has guns mounted in the top of the nose and a horizontal stabilizer with dihedral; the Hawker Sea Hawk has guns mounted in the bottom of the nose and a flat horizontal stabilizer.
• The Nord 260 has a single tail and no struts; the Short 360 has a twin tail and struts.
• The Fw 200 has a single tail; the Ju 90 has a twin tail.
• The MiG-15 and Yak-25 have a mid-wing; the La-15 has a high wing.
• The CASA C-212 Aviocar has a single tail; the Short SC.7 Skyvan has a twin tail.
• The A-37 has a cruciform tail; the Strikemaster has a conventional tail.
• The Culver Cadet has a vertical stabilizer with a straight leading edge and one side window; the Johnson Rocket has a vertical stabilizer with a curved leading edge and two side windows; the Aeronca Arrow has a vertical stabilizer with a straight leading edge and two side windows.
• The Ka-25 has three vertical stabilizers; the Ka-27 has two vertical stabilizers.
• The Ka-27 has a two panel windshield; the Ka-29 and Ka-31 have a three panel windshield.
• The A-33 has an air intake centered on the top of the engine cowling; the SB2U has an air intake on the upper right of the engine cowling.
• The C-2 does not have an in-flight refueling probe; the C-390 has an in-flight refueling probe.