Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/Categories/Proposed update

WP:Air/C

This scheme is intended to cover specific aircraft designs (such as the Boeing 747 or P-3 Orion), variants of those designs (such as the WP-3D Orion), and articles about broader categories of aircraft (such as bomber aircraft). Other categories exist for manufacturers, powerplants, etc.

Primary categorisation

Primary categorisation includes three schema:

Category	Example
Nation and role	Category:U.S. bomber aircraft
Role and decade	Category:Bomber aircraft 1940-1949
Manufacturer	Category:Boeing aircraft

Nation

In nearly all cases, the nation refers to the nation in which the aircraft was produced. More specifically, it refers to the nation in which the manufacturer was headquartered at the time that the aircraft was first produced. Thus, Dornier aircraft of the 1920s are still listed as German aircraft even though they were actually being assembled in Italy. Also, Learjet aircraft whose production began before 1991 are considered U.S. aircraft, but those whose production began after Learjet's acquisition by Bombardier are considered Canadian.

Multinational aircraft

Aircraft manufactured by multinational consortia (such as Airbus and Eurofighter) and aircraft built as one-off joint ventures (such as the Concorde) are listed in Category:International aircraft.

Defunct nations

Special cases apply when the nation of origin no longer exists per se. The system for dealing with these cases is as follows:

Category:Soviet and CIS aircraft
Time frame	Nationality
1900s	Russian
1910s	Soviet and Russian
1920s-1980s	Soviet
1990s	Soviet and CIS
2000s onward	CIS

Category:Czech and Czechoslovakian aircraft
1910s-1980s	Czechoslovakian
1990s	Czech and Czechoslovakian
2000s onward	Czech

Category:Yugoslav and Serbian aircraft
1910s, 1990s	Yugoslav and Serbian
1920s-1980s	Yugoslav
2000s onwards	Serbian

Category:Chinese aircraft
until 1940s	Chinese
1940s onwards	PRC, Taiwanese (separate categories)

Role

Role categories are intentionally broad—the danger of over-precision would be the creation of multiple closely-related categories with only hazy or semantic distinctions.

The role classification is based on the primary role an aircraft was designed for. Aircraft that were designed for multiple roles should be classified in as many trees as apply. A common example are 'tactical fighters' or 'strike fighters' that can serve both as bombers and fighters.

Military aircraft

Subcategories

Category:Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft (including AWACS and command and control aircraft)
Category:Bomber aircraft
Category:Electronic warfare aircraft
Category:Fighter aircraft
Category:Maritime patrol aircraft (including anti-submarine warfare aircraft)
Category:Military reconnaissance aircraft
Category:Military transport aircraft (including tanker aircraft, rescue aircraft, and utility aircraft)

Civil aircraft

Subcategories:

Although all airliners carry freight and some carry mail, the 'cargo' and 'mailplane' classifications should be reserved for dedicated freighters and mailplanes.

Examples

Boeing 747: Airliner
Boeing 747F: Cargo

Experimental aircraft

This category should be used for pure research aircraft, not for prototypes. Distinction is not made here between civil and military types.

Examples

Bell X-1: Experimental
Douglas XB-19: Military

Special-purpose aircraft

Aircraft in this category have been designed for a single, often unconventional or uncommon purpose. Most are modifications or specialised variants of existing aircraft types, and are designed for their mission at the expense of any other capabilities they may have had. An example is the WP-3D Orion.

Decade

Aircraft are classified into the decade that their first flight occurred in. Usually, this will be the first flight of the prototype, but for an article about a specific variant the category should reflect the date that this variant first flew, which may or may not be in a different decade. Unlike other schemes, first flight has the advantage of being a single, unambiguous point in time.

Aircraft projects that were cancelled without ever flying are categorised by the year the project was terminated or abandoned—the closest that it got to a first flight.

Secondary categorisation

Additionally, many aircraft have been given categories according to various distinguishing features. This is a more ad hoc set of categories, which currently include: