How can we identify Air Bus & Boeing Aircraft?
Aside from the general shape of aircraft designed by both companies, there are significant differences. Boeing and Airbus are always in strong competition. Consequently, each aircraft type from both manufacturers have similar characteristics as each targets a specific market (Although it is important to note that Airbus use less aircraft types than Boeing and use modified designs of existing types to fulfill market requirements). For example: The Boeing 737 series and the Airbus A320 series. You can compare both these types of aircraft, as they target the same market. The 737, aside from sharing a narrow body, 2 engines and low-wing design with the A320, is completely different in many aspects. Briefly as one example, the 737 uses cable controlled hydraulic flight control actuators, where as the A320 uses fly-by-wire which only electrical wiring transmits control inputs to the actuators at the control surfaces. Visually, the A320 is much higher off the ground than the 737 and has wingl
I assume you mean externally, in order to identify them on sight, rather than internally. The more obvious differences are in the cockpit and tail area. Airbus aircraft have the top of the fuselage linear right to the rear, while the Boeing aircraft will taper from the top as well as from the bottom around the fin and rudder area. The exceptions to this are the 747, which does not taper down, and the A 380 which does, but since those two double-deckers cannot be confused with anything else… As for the cockpit, one should remember that Airbus aircraft presently in service belong to 3 families: the single aisle A320 family (A318, A319, A320 and A321), the double aisles (A300, A310, A330 and A340) and the A380. Each aircraft family shares the exact same fuselage diameter and cockpit contours, in other words, once could cut the cockpit of an A300 and put it on an A340, and no one would be able to tell from the outside. Boeing has a more diversified product line. The 737, 747, 757, 767 an
