I've created this handy planespotting guide to help the average person identify the various types of aircraft found at most airports.  There are two ways to do this: visually, and by looking up the registration number.  To visually identify an aircraft, first determine how many engines it has and where they are located.  Then click the corresponding link to the left to find more information about each type.

After you learn how to distinguish one airplane from another you'll want to know the best places in America to go and view them.  I have compiled a list based on my travels complete with maps, descriptions, ratings, and examples of photos from each place.  Just click the link to the left (scroll down) to find the best places to watch planes..

If you have access to the internet at the airport, you can easily get a detailed description about most aircraft by looking up its registration number online for free.  I have placed links to several accurate registration databases to the left.

Registrations for planes in the United States begin with "N" followed by up to five letters and/or numbers and are usually found on the fuselage near the tail.  Registrations for other countries begin with that country's prefix code followed by usually 3 letters.  The airline codes website (see link to the left) has a complete list of country codes plus there are several examples of tail numbers pictured below.

In this example, the registration number is "N340LV" and looking up this number online would yield a complete history on this jet:

Some aircraft have a much longer history with many owners or operators and changes of registration.    In addition, many are owned by one airline and leased to another, or owned by a finance company and leased to many airlines over the plane's life span.

Looking up a registration number will give you the aircraft's complete model & series designation.  You can see by the charts below what these numbers mean. (left, Airbus - right, Boeing)

The customer code in a Boeing model refers to the airline which originally purchased the jet.  In the photo above, the model series is a 737-300; the code for Transavia is "K2" which makes it a 737-3K2.  In the 727 model number chart,  "47" was the code for Western Airlines (which merged with Delta in 1987).  Airbus model numbers include a code for the jet's engine manufacturer.  They are:  0 - GE; 1 - CFM; 2 - Pratt & Whitney; 3 - IAE; and 4 - Rolls-Royce.   You can find a complete list of customer codes and other aircraft & airport codes in the Airline Codes Website - just follow the link to the left.

The "adv" designation only applies to Boeing 727 & 737 models.  "adv" (or "advanced") was a combination of several enhancements made on the assembly line, sort of like an option package for a new car.  It included larger engines, fuel tanks, and upgraded instruments and flight controls to allow a higher maximum takeoff weight and make the plane more versatile to its owner.  "adv" became the standard for 727 & 737 models in the mid 1970s.

Below are some examples of aircraft registrations from various countries around the world and what they look like on the aircraft.  Notice that some, but not all, countries place their flag next to the number (U.S., Germany, Mexico, and Netherlands in the examples below)

United States - N308DL Delta Airlines Boeing 737	Luxembourg - LX-GCV Cargolux Boeing 747
Republic of Ghana - 9G-MKM MK Airlines Boeing 747	Mexico - XA-TWQ AeroUnion Airbus A300
Germany - D-AIGU Lufthansa Airbus A340	France - F-GSPN Air France Boeing 777
Canada - C-GKEP Air Canada Jazz CRJ-200	Netherlands - PH-BFS KLM Royal Dutch Boeing 747
China - B-HXJ Cathay Pacific Airways Airbus A340	Great Britain - G-VIIM British Airways Boeing 777

Also,  you may see an additional set of numbers or letters painted on an airplane, either on the fuselage, landing gear doors, or on the tail.  Examples of this can be seen in the photos above, "GU" on the Lufthansa tail and "183" on the Air Canada tail.  This is called a fleet number and is unique to each airline and aircraft model.  It is their way of numbering the planes in their fleet for purposes of maintenance and recordkeeping while the registration number serves the same purpose as the license plate on your car.  The fleet number is sometimes related to the registration number; for example, Continental Airlines' fleet numbers are the last three digits of the registration number.  In other countries, many fleet numbers are simply the last two letters of the registration as in the Lufthansa example.

Military Registrations

In the U.S. military, a registration number is called a "serial number".  There are so many variations on serial numbers that I'm not going to go into it here.  Joseph Baugher has created an extremely detailed database of nearly every U.S. military aircraft, both past and present (see the link on the left).  In general, Air Force & Army aircraft use the format "x-y" where "x" is a two digit number representing the year in which the plane was placed on order by the Defense Department and "y" is a three or four digit number representing the serial number sequence for each year.  For example:  57-1514  This plane was ordered in 1957 (this means it was most likely assembled in 1957 or 58) and is the 1,514th plane ordered in 1957.

Part of the problem is that each branch of the military and even various units have different standards for how these numbers are displayed.  Typically, the Air Force omits the first digit and the dash - this plane has a tail number of 71514 and it is up to the spotter to guess the year in order to look it up.  The plane in this example is a KC135 Tanker operating with the 128th Air Refueling Wing at the General Mitchell Air Reserve Station, Milwaukee.  Most KC135's were built in the late 50s and 60s so you could guess 1957 or 1967 and by looking it up on Baugher's list you would find out details about the plane.  Sometimes the Air Force omits the first digit of the serial number to the right of the dash so it can indeed be difficult to accurately ID an aircraft.

Navy and Marine Corps aircraft have simpler serial numbers that are simply 5 or 6 digits which you can also look up on Baugher's list.  For example,  163874 turns out to be a McDonnell-Douglas Harrier jet assigned to the Marines Attack Squadron 311 (VMA-311).

When you go to an air show you will see classic military aircraft from the World War II era.  These are the most difficult of all to identify.  When the government had a surplus of aircraft after the war, they sold many of them onto the civilian market so hundreds of fighters and trainers ended up in private hands.  The FAA only requires the legal registration ("N" number) be painted in a minimum 3 inch tall letters under the tail - they do this in order to preserve the authenticity of a classic restoration.  The owner can paint whatever other number he or she wants on the plane - usually it is the former military serial number, but sometimes it is a totally fake number or even the number of a similar aircraft that was shot down in battle.  The legal registration number is nearly impossible to see unless you are right up under it so it can definitely be very, very difficult to identify them.  Much more detailed information is available on Joe Baugher's website.

Back to the Airplanes page