ID GUIDE

Some airplanes, produced in different countries and at different time, nevertheless look quite alike. This section is here to help the beginners in distinguishing between similar aircraft. You may ask why did I used 2-view drawings and not 3-view ones. In practice, spotter quite rarely sees the flying plane from under it's belly. In order to take a good picture, one should be prepared to take any picture at all. That's why a skilled plane spotter is able to identify an incoming plane at large distance and make a descision if he/she wants to photograph this type or not.

1. Antonov An-2
Just no comments. It's a GREAT aircraft!
2. Antonov An-8
An-8s' airframe served as a base for development of much more capable An-10 and An-12. The major difference between An-8 and the latters is the number of engines: An-8 features only two turboprops. Very few remain in service; nowdays the only place where you can see some of them is Sharjah airport in UAE (reported by Nick Ionkin from www.mow.by.ru).
3. Antonov An-12
Is notorious for intensive engine smoking. From front, appearance is very much like that of C-130. C-130 engines also produce a lot of smoke that makes distinguishing of the two planes even more difficult. Still, An-12 smoking is a bit stronger.
4. Antonov An-22
Antheus is unique plane, and hardly there's anything flying like this. Well, your chances of running into An-22 in real life are fairly low, since only handful of them remain in service.
5. Antonov An-24/26/30/32
All these birds are designed with An-24 airframe as a base. Fokker F-50 looks very much like planes of An-24 family and I'm normally unable to distinguish them on the final when standing under the glidepath. An-26 is dedicated freighter/military transport plane and features a loading ramp in the rear fuselage that makes it look like having a "flat butt", when seen from side. From front An-24 and An-26 are almost indistinguishable. An-30 posesses remarkable glassy nose (to accomodate an observer and some survey devices) and can be easily identified from both front and side projections. An-32 due to it's "high-and-hot" transport role was designed with smartly positioned engines. If you see a plane with "ears up" coming, most probably that is An-32. Also, blades of An-32 are larger than that of An-24 but this can be hard to see.
6. Antonov An-72/74
An-72/74 transport is known among aviation enthusiasts and, probably, crews as "Cheburashka" (after a hero of a very popular Russian cartoon who featured large round-shaped ears). Really, there can be no mistake when one sees over-wing positioned engines of An-72/74 appearing within visual range. There can be a confusion with distinguishing An-72 family planes from An-32, but all doubts evapourate when you see if the approaching plane has a T-tail or not and if the undercarridge is narrow or broad. Also, turbofans of An-72/74 are significianly larger in diameter than turboprops of An-32. I know no Western plane like An-72 except the Boeing YC-14 experimental aircraft but it was never launched into production.
7.Antonov An-124
Ruslan, when seen from front, on the final is very much like IL-76, especially when it is really far and you can't distinguish yet if it has a traditional stabilizer or T-tail. I believe that one can easily take it instead of C-5B though I have never observed the latter in real life.

	Antonov An-2 Type: passenger/transport Max. payload: 8-10 passengers. Range with max. payload: 800(?) km. Service ceiling: 5000 m. Cruising speed: 670 km/h.
	Antonov An-8 Type: transport Max. payload: ? Range with max. payload: 1000 km. Service ceiling: 9600 m. Cruising speed: 450 km/h.
	Antonov An-12 Type: transport Max. payload: 20000 kg. Range with max. payload: 3600 km. Service ceiling: 10200 m. Cruising speed: 670 km/h.
	Antonov An-22 Type: transport Max. payload: 80000 kg. Range with max. payload: 5000 km. Service ceiling: 7500 m. Cruising speed: 520 km/h.
	Antonov An-24 Type: passenger/transport Max. payload: 50 passengers/4612 kg. Range with max. payload: 640 km. Service ceiling: 8400 m. Cruising speed: 450 km/h.
	Antonov An-30 Type: survey aircraft Service ceiling: 8300 m. Range with max. fuel: 2630 km. Cruising speed: 430 km/h.
	Antonov An-32 Type: passenger/transport Max. payload: 50 passengers/6700 kg. Range with max. payload: 2000 km. Service ceiling: 9500 m. Cruising speed: 470 km/h.
	Antonov An-72 Type: STOL transport Max. payload: 10000 kg. Range with max. payload: 800 km. Service ceiling: 11800 m. Cruising speed: 550-600 km/h.
	Antonov An-124 Type: transport Max. payload: 150000 kg. Range with max. payload: 4500 km. Cruising speed: 800-850 km/h.