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How to Identify a Single Engine Aircraft

Identifying the number of engines in an aircraft can be an extremely important skill depending on the purpose. Fortunately, there are a few tricks to keep in mind to help you identify which airplanes have one, or more engines. Sometimes, if an image of a plane is either too distorted, or too far away, it can be difficult to see exactly how many engines it has, but noticing a few key details will help you to accurately identify them.

Things You'll Need

Binoculars
Magnifying glass

Instructions

- 1
  Look at the airplane, or image of the airplane. If it is propeller powered, and has only one propeller, in the front of the fuselage, it is a single engine, propeller driven airplane. If there is more than one propeller, one on each wing for example, it is a multi-engine airplane. If the airplane does not have a propeller present, and is thus a jet engined airplane, see step 2.
- 2
  Examine the airplane or image of the airplane and locate the front air intake(s) and rear exhaust(s).
- 3
  Examine the number of air intake inlet louvers, and the number of exhaust ports. These two numbers will most likely match, and will indicate the number of engines the airplane has. Some fighter-type jets have one large air intake, and two rear exhaust ports; in this case, the number of exhausts indicates the number of engines. If the aircraft is a helicopter, see step four.
- 4
  Examine a helicopter or image of a helicopter. Identify the number of exhaust ports to the rear or the main rotor drive shaft, before the rear rotor blade. The number of exhaust ports is generally the best way to determine the number of engines in a helicopter.

Aviation