AircraftIQ · Method
WEFT is how a spotter names an aircraft from its shape alone, working through four features in order: Wings, Engines, Fuselage, Tail. Each narrows the field, and together they usually settle a type without a single marking or registration. Every guide in AircraftIQ is built around these four points.
First read the wing: its position on the fuselage (high, mid or low), its shape (straight, swept, delta, tapered) and where the engines hang from it. Wing position alone separates most transports (high wing) from most airliners (low wing).
Count the engines and note their type (piston, turboprop, turbofan, jet) and mounting (wing, fuselage, tail). Two under-wing turbofans read very differently from three, or from four turboprops; a tail-mounted trijet is unmistakable.
Take in the body: its length and cross-section, the nose profile, and distinctive breaks in the outline such as an upper deck, a raised cockpit or a rear cargo ramp. The fuselage often carries the single feature that clinches a type.
Finally the tail: a conventional fin, a T-tail with the tailplane up high, twin fins, a cruciform, or a V-tail. On a fast-moving contact the tail is frequently the last feature still readable, and it rules out whole families at a glance.
A few worked examples — read each shape through the four points:
Try it live: identify by shape walks you through WEFT step by step, and Sky names what is overhead now.