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Wikipedia's general policies and guidelines apply to all aviation-related lists. They are not repeated here but the more important are linked to above.

The requirement described here apply equally to embedded lists (in larger articles) and to stand-alone lists (which have their own page).

Lists should have criteria for inclusion and formatting guidelines clearly defined on the article talk page. Example: Talk:List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft. The use of non-free media in lists usually fails the test for significance.

No images should be included in lists of aircraft, this is not what lists are for.

Images should not be placed before a list such that they push it downwards from its section heading or page title in mobile browsers or shrink it sideways in desktop browsers. Such images should either be placed elsewhere, for example to a gallery (but see WP:GALLERY), or not included.

Use of flags, insignia, badges, etc. should conform to MOS:FLAGS. In general this allows them only where directly relevant to the subject of the list, for example squadron insignia in a list of squadrons.

Lists with multiple columns benefit from layout as tables. The MOS:TABLES default is to avoid the use of in-table CSS markup. Special cases for its use may be agreed by a relevant WikiProject. The Aviation WikiProject has established no special cases where it may be used, therefore it should not be used in aviation-related lists.

The style guide for tables of aircraft in airline fleets is given at WP:ALFC.

Lists are generally of two kinds, simple lists of types and more complex lists including key details of the type.

Simple (e.g. bulleted) lists of aircraft types should follow the general guidelines above.

The rest of this guideline applies to lists which include additional information, do not need to be split up, and consequently benefit from being a sortable table. It comprises some general guidelines applicable to all such lists and some more detailed guidelines applicable to particular kinds of list.

A template providing preformatted table headings for some lists specified below is available as Template:avilisthead.

This guideline is not intended for anything other than tabulated lists of aircraft types.

This guideline is not exhaustive or absolute. It provides a default which should be used unless there is a good reason why it is not suitable for a particular list.

The list should be a sortable table, per WP:WHENTABLE. This allows it to be both sortable and automatically styled. Head the code with the appropriate javascript class:

{| class="wikitable sortable"

Do not use rowspan or colspan markup, as it is difficult for inexperienced editors and assistive technologies to make sense of. For example this requires that you:

• Do not use full-width subheadings: add an extra (sortable) column instead.
• Do not break up any cells into multiple rows for sub-types: either include them all in one generic entry or add a complete row for each sub-type listed.

This detail guideline is suitable for lists of aircraft having a given characteristic, for example the "List of triplanes".

Seven descriptor fields or cells are provided for each entry:

To help in sorting sensibly, there are constraints on the values to be used in each column. These are given below.

This should be the top-level type designator. Where possible use the same name as the aircraft article, in the format [Manufacturer Type Identifier Name]. In some cases common sense will be needed to modify the type description for a particular entry.

In general, there should be only one entry (row) for each type. Exceptions may be allowable where:

• A production variant evolved from the same basic design has been given a different name.
• A production variant has a different role and is so distinct as to be virtually a different type.
• A production variant incorporates a major airframe redesign such as swept wings.

This is the country of origin for the top-level type designator. A country of local manufacture or modification should only be given if it incorporates a major airframe redesign such as swept wings, and/or a change of name.

National flags or other graphic insignia, however small, should not be used.

The class of an aircraft describes the broadest aspects of its configuration. The classes for general use are:

• Aerostat (includes airships, balloons and hybrids)
• eVTOL (electric personal air vehicles and air taxis intended for autonomous VTOL operation)
• Glider (includes motor-gliders)
• Jet (i.e. jet aeroplanes, by convention this includes direct turbine-driven turbofans)
• Propeller (i.e. propeller-driven aeroplanes, includes turboshafts and ducted fans)
• Rocket powered (i.e. rocket powered aeroplanes, includes hybrid jet + rocket)
• Rotorcraft (includes helicopters, autogyros and hybrids)
• Spaceplane
• UAV (includes drones)

These values can be expanded if need be for a particular topic, by local consensus. Some examples might be:

- A list of WWI airplanes might break down the propeller class into monoplane, biplane, triplane and quadruplane,

- The Military History project might prefer to use "Helicopter" rather than "Rotorcraft".

- A list of aerostats might choose to use Airship (rigid), Airship (semi-rigid), Airship (blimp), Balloon (hot air), balloon (gas) and Hybrid.

A great variety of roles is not helpful when sorting by role. For example Fighter, Scout, Interceptor, Escort fighter, etc. should all be listed simply as "Fighter". Similarly, there is only one description for a Bomber.

Where a type is used in multiple roles but has a primary role, the primary role should be listed. This will typically be either the role for which the type was originally designed, or the role in which it became most notable.

The roles to be used are:

• Attack
• Bomber
• Experimental (includes research)
• Fighter (includes scouts, interceptors, Zeppelin killers, etc.)
• Multi-role (use this only where the roles are of comparable importance)
• Patrol (includes surveillance, reconnaissance and observation)
• Private (includes homebuilds)
• Trainer
• Transport (use this for airliners and executive jets)
• Utility (includes mail, agricultural, firefighter, air-sea rescue, etc)

For an aircraft type which flew, this is the year of first flight.

For a dead or moribund project, this is the year the project was cancelled or became inactive.

For a currently active project this is the year the project was first announced.

Normally the number built, but may vary under local consensus.

A great variety of status descriptors is not helpful when sorting by status. For example if a type has not flown then it remains a "Project", whether or not construction was started or even finished.

The allowed values are:

• Homebuilt
• Operational (for individual craft only, such as one-offs, to which volume "production" is not really applicable)
• Production
• Project
• Prototype

Notes should be kept short and confined to key information, this is not an article lead!

Any citations or footnotes should go at the end of the main text notes.

With care, the sort function can be useful here too. For example the List of multiplane aircraft begins each entry with the number of wings.

This detail guideline applies to lists of types associated with national services and other military organisations that operate many aircraft of different types.

Lists should comprise the following columns:

As per general lists of types.

As per the Country column for general lists of types.

As per general lists of types.

Military roles differ slightly from the general lists of types, mainly because the class of aircraft is split off into a separate column.

The roles to be used are:

• Attack
• Bomber
• Experimental (includes research)
• Fighter (includes scouts, interceptors, Zeppelin killers, etc.)
• Multi-role (use this only where the roles are of comparable importance)
• Patrol (includes surveillance, reconnaissance and observation)
• Private (includes homebuilds)
• Trainer
• Transport (use this for airliners and executive jets)
• Utility (includes mail, agricultural, firefighter, air-sea rescue, etc)

Date on which the first machine was delivered.

A given list may include types currently in service, historical types no longer in service, or both these groups. Heading and usage of this column vary accordingly:

• For lists of types in service, this should be headed In service and include the number currently in service (this includes "hangar queens" and other individual craft which may not currently be airworthy).
• For lists of historical types it should be headed Retired and include the year of last retirement.
• For lists including both, in order for sorting on the column to remain useful, it should be headed Status and should contain entries only of the forms:
  • [No.] in service
  • Retired [Year]

This should be the total number of aircraft taken on over the type's service lifetime. It includes machines which may never have flown.

As per general lists of types.

This detail guideline is suitable for lists of aircraft designed for a given role, for example the "List of torpedo bombers".

The six columns to be used unless agreed otherwise are:

The Type, Country, Date, Status, No. and Notes values are as for the general list format.

The Class column should also be used as per the general format unless this is inappropriate and a local consensus agreed for a different usage. For example a List of bomber aircraft might use it to distinguish light, medium, heavy and torpedo bombers.