Airbus

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DIY Airplane Fieldguide

I have wanted to buy an airplane field guide to help me identify the different commercial airplanes I see at airports or flying north up the Pacific Coast. Telling an Airbus A380 from a Boeing 747 is an easy identification but what about other aircraft?

Where I grew up in Sunnyvale is on the flight path to Moffett Field Navel Base. By bedroom window faced the many military planes approaching the runway at Moffett.

A 2022 sketch of Orion the Hunter.

Like birds, I learned to identify the common Lockheed P-3 Orion, the submarine hunter. But I also could identify other aircraft: C-130 Hercules, C-5 Galaxy, F-16 Falcon, the Blue Angels with their A-4 Skyhawks and later F-18 Hornets as well as other aircraft.

As I hobby I built model airplanes which I hung from the ceiling with dental floss and push pins. Some of my favorites was an F-4 Phantom hand painted in camouflage and a KC-135 refueling a B-52.

These airplanes were easy to identify but when it comes to commercial jets, it is a bit more tricky.

Commercial jets can be broken down to the two major manufacturers: Airbus and Boeing.

Boeing is an American manufacturer founded in 1916. It has produced such iconic passenger planes as the 314 Clipper, the 377 Stratocruiser, the 707, 737, the Triple 7, and the renowned 747.

Airbus on the other hand is a consolidation of different European companies formed in 1970. Iconic aircraft on its roster are: the A220, A320, A330, A350, and the largest passenger plane in the air the A380.

To internalize the simple differences between the two manufacturers I created a short DIY field guide to aircraft, a sort of cheat sheet to use while at the airport (featured sketch).

I guess plane spotting from an airport terminal is a bit like birding in a mount museum, the planes are sitting on the tarmac giving you time for prolonged study. And planes don’t flush easy like spooked birds. Well neither do taxidermy birds!

Plane spotting at SFO. This plane has a pointed nose and the side windows form a “V” instead of a straight line. It also helps that it says: “Boeing. Proudly All Boeing” just under the window!
Closer detail of the side windows of a Boeing. I believe this is a Boeing 737-9 MAX.
Could I identify my plane that would take me to Honolulu? Straight side windows with a notch in the top corner. The nose is rounded and less pointy than a Boeing. This is an Airbus A330-200. It also helps that it’s labeled below the windows.
My winged chariot to Hawaii. Another view of the Airbus A330 and the diagnostic cockpit window shape. Not seen in this photo but where the tail meets the fuselage, it is rounded with no extra angle like the Boeing’s tail.

While waiting to board my flight I found a comfy swivel chair and sketched the view before me of the B Gates of Terminal 1 (no pencil required). In the foreground is an Alaska Airlines jet and in the background is a Hawaiian Airlines plane at Gate 11. This was the plane that would be flying me to Honolulu.

I sketched the Alaskan Boeing before it pushed out to the taxiway leading to runways 1 (Left and Right). This left me time to add details to the Hawaiian Airbus and the jumbles of the surrounding scene at SFO.

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A380 Over the Golden Gate

In 2025, the largest passenger jet turns 20.

This is the Airbus A380. The A380 is truly an impressive aircraft which I had the pleasure of flying on from SFO to Frankfurt on Lufthansa (the airline currently operates eight A380s but they no longer use them to fly out of SFO).

The A380 is a full double decker with a flight range of 9,200 miles and a capacity of 850 passengers. It is larger than Boeing’s 747 and is designed for long range international flights.

On my afterwork walks I noticed a northbound British Airways A380 at around 5 PM each day. This is flight BA 284. The flight path parallels Ocean Beach and then turns northeast heading toward the Polar route over Greenland to its final destination of Heathrow Airport. I often watch it until it disappears with distance.

After work I wanted to get a sketching perch perspective facing north with the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands, and Mt. Tamalpais at the base of the panoramic spread and the A380 flying above. Sunset Reservoir fits the bill.

I headed to the northwest corner of the reservoir to Sunset Reservoir Park with a brand new Delta Stillman & Birn sketchbook.

While I was sketching a man and a woman were walking up the path speaking French. I assumed they were from the Lycee Francais de San Francisco school just up Ortega. They had come to take in the amazing views. The woman walked over and asked if I was part of the urban sketchers. I replied that I was not and she told me that she liked to sketch too.

Then she and the man did something that boggled my sketcher’s mind which can be summed up in the following photo:

Yes, unbelievably they commented on my sketching and then turned around to stand between myself and my subject!

My plan was to do a loose sketch of the A380 as it headed northeast. Luckily the French couple moved on to take some more selfies with the distant Golden Gate Bridge in the background, before I had to ask them politely, to get out of my way!

Flight 284 is scheduled to depart SFO at 16:20. It seems it was running a bit late as the A380 passed by at 5:03.

A Heathrow bound British Airways A380 flies past the Sunset Reservoir.

SFO Runway 28R

I had sketched and photographed BA Flight 284 as it passed over western San Francisco and now I wanted to witness an A380 take off, head on!

One of the best ways to look down Runway 28R (SFO’s longest) is to cross Highway 101 on San Bruno Avenue. Here you can look down the runway towards aircraft taxiing into position for take off.

As a side note, runways are named after their magnetic heading to the nearest ten degrees so 28 degrees and the R stands for “right” to differentiate the runway from the parallel runway to the left: 28L.

Flight 284 was late getting out of the gate and I spotted the giant, shark like tail fin, sporting the Union Jack, as it crept towards the runway.

The A380 pulling onto Runway 28R. With the distance, the plane looks like a mirage.
Flight 284 climbs off Runway 28R at 150 knots heading right toward me!
Gear up, the A380 flying overhead.
Next stop (10 hours 35 minutes later) Heathrow Airport.