The fleets of most of the airlines in the world are comprised of planes from two major companies, Boeing and Airbus. When travelling in an airline, the aircraft often leave us wondering if this plane is a Boeing or an Airbus. To permanently get you out of this dilemma, we have brought certain ways you can use to identify and be certain that the plane you are seeing is a Boeing or an Airbus.
First, off you can spot the difference in the naming patterns. Boeing uses numbers in 7X and format. For instance, 787, 747, or 737. However, Airbus follows an alphanumeric pattern for naming its models with A3XX format with names like A350, A330 and A320.
Design
The Boeings and Airbus aircraft can be differentiated on six fronts:
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Nose- Starting with the front end, the Boeing has a pointed nose compared to a round nose on the Airbus.
Windshield- The windshield visible on the front end of a Boeing has a V-shape instead of the notched window design in a starting line on an Airbus.
Front landing gear- The front landing gear on a Boeing is shorter in length than an Airbus.
Main landing gear assemblies- The main landing gear on these aircraft are different as the Boeing has 4-wheel main landing gear assemblies compared to 2-wheels on an airbus.
Main landing gear placement- The main landing gear on Boeing falls to the front end, whereas it falls to the rear end in an Airbus.
Body tail structure- The body tail structure on both these airlines can be differentiated as on a typical Boeing fuselage slope below the body. In contrast, on an Airbus, it is straight below the tail.
Lights
You can even differentiate the Boeing from an Airbus even in the darkness of night. The question is, how? Well, you can differentiate between them based on the white light on the tip of the tail as well.
The white light on the tail is known as a strobe. The flashing patterns of these lights on the Boeing and Airbus are different. The light flashes once on the Boeing compared to the two flashes in rapid succession on an Airbus.