Identifying aircraft types by nose and cockpit windows

A jet taxis straight toward you. Wingtips, doors and fuselage length are hard to read from this angle – but the face isn’t. The nose and cockpit windows are often the first thing you see clearly of an aircraft: while taxiing to the runway, on final approach from the front or at the gate through the fence. This guide shows you how to identify aircraft types by nose and cockpit windows: which shapes belong to which manufacturer, why counting windows pays off and which special shapes let you place exotics instantly.

Why the nose reveals so much

Developing and certifying a new cockpit is expensive. Manufacturers therefore like to carry nose and window layout over from one type to the next and build whole families around it. At its core, the 737 still has the fuselage cross-section and nose shape that go back to the 707 and 727. Airbus kept the typical window shape from the A320 family through the A330 to the A340. And Boeing deliberately built the 757 and 767 with the same cockpit layout.

For you, that means: the nose tells you the family, rarely the variant. An A318 and an A321 have the same face, and so do an E190 and an E195. The nose therefore answers the first and most important question – who built the aircraft, and which line does it belong to? Fuselage length, doors, engines and wingtips then take care of the fine identification.

The five features at the nose

When you take a closer look at an aircraft’s face, it’s best to go through these five points:

1. Nose shape: pointed or round, long or short, straight or curved downward?
2. Number of windows: six small ones or four large ones?
3. Shape of the window edges: Does the lower edge of the side windows run straight or rise? Does the rearmost window have a beveled corner?
4. Paint around the windows: Is there a dark mask?
5. Extra details: eyebrow windows, seams of a hinged nose, a bump under the nose or a cockpit in an unusual place.

The following table sums up the most important families:

Family	Nose	Windows	Typical detail
Airbus A320 family, A330, A340	round, blunt	6	straight lower edge, beveled corner at the rear
Boeing 737	pointed, narrow	6	V-shaped side windows, eyebrow windows on older aircraft
Boeing 757 / 767	pointed, drooping on the 757	6	same window layout on both
Boeing 777	strong, rather blunt	6	V-shaped side windows on a wide fuselage
Boeing 787	smooth, evenly rounded	4	large windows without a mask
Airbus A350	with a slight kink toward the tip	6	dark mask around all windows
Airbus A380	wide, tall, round	–	cockpit between main and upper deck
Boeing 747	slender, cockpit high in the hump	–	factory freighters with a hinged nose
Airbus A220	wide, roundish	4	its own design language from the Bombardier era

Airbus: round nose, straight edge, beveled corner

You recognize the classic Airbus types by one detail that runs through the whole model range: the rearmost side window has a beveled corner. In addition, the side windows end in a straight line at the bottom, and the nose looks rounder and blunter than on Boeings. Many spotters therefore describe the Airbus face as friendlier.

You find this face on all members of the A320 family from the A318 to the A321neo as well as on the A330 and A340. Because the family members share the cockpit, you can’t tell them apart by the nose. How to separate the A318 through A321 by exits and proportions is shown in the guide Telling the A320 family apart. For the A330 and A340, A330 or A340? helps.

The A380 is the odd one out, because its cockpit sits low in the nose – halfway between the main and upper deck. A large part of the fuselage therefore still arches above the cockpit windows. From the front, the face looks wide, tall and round, almost whale-like. On the Boeing 747 it’s exactly the other way around: there the cockpit sits enthroned up in the hump. You’ll find the direct comparison under How to tell an A380 from a Boeing 747.

Boeing: pointed nose and the rising V

Boeing cockpits of the classic generation look more angular. The lower edge of the side windows rises toward the rear in a V, and the nose tapers more sharply. You find this face on the 737, on the 757 and 767 and on the 777.

Boeing 737: narrow and pointed

The 737 has the narrowest fuselage of the Boeing jets, so its nose is correspondingly slim and pointed. One detail makes it special: the eyebrow windows, small extra windows above the main windows. Boeing took them over from the 707 and 727. The 737 Original and Classic generally have them; on the NG they were dropped during production and plated over on many older aircraft. The 737 MAX 8 doesn’t have them. If you see eyebrow windows, it is almost certainly an older Boeing – on a 737, at least, not a MAX. You separate the generations by engines and wingtips, as explained in the guide Telling the Boeing 737 Original, Classic, NG and MAX apart.

Compared with the A320, the nose is one of the strongest features: pointed and narrow on the 737-800, round and blunt on the Airbus. Combined with landing gear and engine nacelles, that almost always does the job. All the features are in the article Airbus or Boeing?.

Boeing 757 and 767: same windows, different impression

Boeing developed the 757 and 767 in parallel and gave them the same two-crew cockpit. The window layout is therefore identical, and the nose of the 757 was even reshaped so that the shared layout fits inside. On the slim narrowbody fuselage of the 757-200, this nose looks like a downward-curved beak, on the wide fuselage of the 767-300ER rather stocky. The face therefore doesn’t separate the two – the fuselage thickness does. More under Telling the Boeing 757 and 767 apart.

Boeing 777: the classic face, bigger

The 777-300ER has six windows with side windows rising in a V, and the nose looks strong and rather blunt, matching the wide fuselage. This is the Boeing face you know from the 757 and 767 – just bigger.

The new generation: mask and four windows

With the A350 and the 787, both manufacturers dropped their old faces. The rules of thumb above no longer apply here – but there are new, very distinctive features.

• Boeing 787: The 787-9 and its sisters have a smooth, evenly rounded nose with just four large cockpit windows. A dark mask isn’t standard; on most airlines the windows sit directly in the fuselage paint. Compared with the 777, this is a very reliable feature; more under Telling the Boeing 777 and 787 apart.
• Airbus A350: The A350-900 and the A350-1000 have six windows in a black-painted surround. Spotters talk about the raccoon or sunglasses mask. Between the cockpit and the nose tip you see a slight kink reminiscent of a beak. Airbus gives maintenance and temperature balancing as reasons for the dark area.
• Airbus A330neo: Many airlines also paint a dark mask on the A330-900, as on many jets of the A320neo family. Underneath, though, is the classic Airbus cockpit with the beveled window corner. The mask is a design choice here and not present at every airline.

The consequence: a dark mask doesn’t prove an A350. Some airlines such as Air Canada even paint it on their Boeing 787s. Count the windows as well and pay attention to the window shape. The full comparison is in the guide A350 or Boeing 787?.

Regional jets and turboprops

On the smaller types, too, the nose is a good family feature.

• Airbus A220: The A220-300 carries the Airbus name, but was developed by Bombardier as the C Series. It has its own design language with four cockpit windows and a wide, roundish nose. None of the Airbus rules of thumb fit here.
• Embraer E-Jets: The E190 and its sisters have a small, round nose with characteristic cockpit windows. All variants up to the E195-E2 share the cockpit. Compared with the A220, the E-Jet nose looks narrower. You separate the variants by length, as explained in Telling Embraer E-Jets apart.
• Embraer ERJ 145: The small rear-engine jet has a long, tapering nose on a very narrow fuselage. The CRJ from Bombardier, by contrast, looks shorter and blunter. More in Identifying regional jets.
• ATR and Dash 8: The ATR 72-600 has a short, roundish nose, and the cockpit sits far forward. The Dash 8-400, on the other hand, has a long, pointed nose, the older Dash 8 series a rounder one. You’ll find the complete comparison under Telling turboprops apart.

Special shapes you recognize instantly

Some aircraft have a nose that exists only once. If you see one of them, the identification is done.

• Hinged nose of the 747 factory freighters: On the 747-400F and the 747-8F, the whole nose swings upward so that long cargo can roll straight onto the main deck. That works because the cockpit sits in the hump above. You recognize these aircraft by a seam below the cockpit. How to tell the jumbo variants apart otherwise is in the guide Identifying Boeing 747 variants.
• Bump under the A330-200F nose: The factory freighter A330-200F has a conspicuous bulge under the nose. It houses the differently mounted nose gear, so that the cargo deck sits level on the ground. Converted freighters don’t have this bump.
• Beluga: On the A300-600ST Beluga and the Beluga XL, the cockpit sits below the huge cargo hold, which rises like a bubble above the nose. Unmistakable.
• Antonov An-124: The heavy freighter An-124 also has an upward-hinged nose, combined with a rear ramp.
• Concorde: The Concorde had a droop nose with a visor. For taxiing and takeoff the crew lowered it by 5 degrees, for landing by 12.5 degrees, so the pilots could see past the long nose. The Concorde has been out of service since 2003 and is historic – at the Technik Museum Sinsheim you can study its nose up close.

An overview of more giants and special shapes is in the article The largest aircraft in the world, and freighter types are covered in the guide Identifying cargo aircraft.

The reliable order at the fence

Where to study noses best

For cockpit details you need aircraft that taxi toward you or pass close by. Observation decks with a view of the gates and taxiways are ideal for this. At Hamburg Airport you can see many narrowbodies up close from the observation deck – good training for the A320 versus 737 duel. At Munich Airport, regional jets, narrowbodies and long-haul widebodies mix from the visitors’ hill. You see widebody faces from the A350 to the 777 in Frankfurt, for example from the Zeppelinheim viewing platform.

It’s best to photograph noses from an angle in front. If you have a photo with a blurry registration, the article Working out an illegible registration helps. And if you like it convenient, Identifying aircraft types with an app gives an overview of digital helpers – but they don’t replace your own eye for noses and windows.

Typical mistakes

• Mistaking the nose for the variant: The face reveals the family. The A319 and A321 or the E190 and E195 have the same nose.
• Taking the mask as proof of an A350: Many A330neos wear it too. Also look at the window count and window corner.
• Applying the old rules to the A350 and 787: On the new generation, window shape and nose shape say something different than on the classics.
• Classing the A220 as a classic Airbus: Four windows and a nose of its own – it comes from the Bombardier development.
• Overrating missing eyebrow windows: On the 737 NG they are often missing too. Their absence only largely rules out the Original and Classic.
• Letting liveries guide you: Painted-on eyes, faces or dark areas change nothing about the shape of the windows.