Found a simple way to ID planes at night without an app

I was at LAX last Tuesday trying to spot arrivals after dark and kept mixing up 777s and A330s. My buddy showed me this trick where you count the main landing gear wheels on the side you can see. Most twin aisle planes have 3 sets on each side, so 6 total, but the A330 has 2 sets with a single wheel on the front bogie. That visual shortcut saved me from guessing wrong every time. Has anyone else got a quick visual tell for telling similar models apart at night?

2 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

2 Comments

lilychen1mo ago

I read an article in a pilot's magazine that said at night you can also look at the wingtip shapes since the A330 has a distinct upward curve while the 777 has a flatter edge. That method helped me a lot when I was plane spotting at SFO last month during the evening rush. Counting the landing gear wheels is still the fastest trick though since you can usually spot the bogie configuration before the wings come into clear view.

7

abbyr961mo ago

Haven't you found that landing gear counting gets tricky when the plane is at a weird angle though, @lilychen? I was at LAX last month and a 787's gear looked totally different from the side versus head-on, which made me second-guess myself. Wingtip shapes feel more reliable to me since they don't change based on your viewing position, especially at night with all the lights highlighting that curve.

10