User:N8wilson/sandbox/Aircraft Classification

Aircraft classification groups aircraft according to their attributes in order to facilitate various aspects of modern aviation.

Type of Commercial Service
Regional Jets and more generally, all Regional airliners.

Size of Commercial Aircraft Cabin

 * Narrow-body aircraft
 * Wide-body aircraft

United States
In the US, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) classifies aircraft according to several different methods.

Category (Airmen certification)
Airplane, Rotorcraft, Glider, Lighter than air, Powered lift, Powered Parachute, Weight-shift-control, Rocket

Category (Aircraft certification)
Transport, Normal, Utility, Acrobatic, Limited, Restricted, Provisional

Class
Airplane, Rotorcraft, Glider, Balloon, landplane, seaplane

Separate classes (Fixed-wing, Gyrocopter, Helicopter, Remotely Piloted Aircraft, Tilt-rotor, amphibians, seaplanes)

Engines
By number (0-4) and type (Electric, Piston, Turboprop/Turboshaft, Jet, Rocket)

Type Designator
Example: CL60 covers 14 Challenger-model aircraft across two brands: Bombardier and Canadair.

Special designators include: a. BALL – Balloon. b. GLID – Glider/sailplane. c. GYRO – Micro-/ultra-light gyrocopter. d. SHIP – Airship. e. UAUH – Micro-/ultra-light autonomous unmanned helicopter. f. UAUL – Micro-/ultra-light autonomous unmanned aircraft. g. UHEL – Micro-/ ultra-light helicopter. h. ULAC – Micro-/ultra-light aircraft. i. UOPH – Micro-/ultra-light optionally piloted helicopter. j. UOPL – Micro-/ultra-light optionally piloted aircraft. k. URPH – Micro-/ultra-light remotely piloted helicopter. l. URPL – Micro-/ultra-light remotely piloted aircraft. m. ZZZZ – Aircraft type not yet assigned a designator, with a description of the type in Item 18 (Other Information) of the ICAO flight plan or Remarks of a NAS flight plan.

FAA Weight Class
Small, Large, Heavy, and Super (which, as of March 2017, includes only the Airbus A380-800, and the Anotov AN-225).

Wake Category
Category A (max wingspan, certified takeoff weight, and wake turbulence) through Category F (minimum) which includes powered sailplanes.