To the inexperienced planespotter, the Boeing 767 and 777 look quite similar to one another. After all, having a common planemaker, it’s no surprise there are a number of similarities. Their noses and cockpit windows are nearly identical to one another. So what are the main distinguishing features that help tell these two Boeing twinjet widebody types apart?
Size
Let’s start with the weakest indicator – aircraft size. We say ‘weakest’ because, unless you have the two types side by side, it’s not too easy to judge how big or small their fuselages and engines are. Indeed, the scale of these machines is already so large!
Overall, the 777 is larger than the 767 in every way. However, size-differentiation is made complicated when we look at the 767’s largest variant (767-400) and the 777’s smallest (777-200). The 767-400 is just under eight feet shorter in length, while its tail height is just six feet shorter. Unless you’re a good judge of height and length, these metrics may be difficult to use visually at a distance.
The 777-200 does, however, have over 40 feet (12 meters) more wingspan, which is quite significant. Again, this might be a challenge to spot – especially if it’s just one aircraft alone.
The 777’s GE90 engines are quite large as well – and in terms of size-comparisons – are probably the most distinct, regardless of aircraft variant.
Winglets
The presence of winglets is, again, a complicated characteristic and feature. Indeed, describing the difference almost sounds like a logic question on a test.
All 777s lack winglets and instead have raked-wingtips. Some 767s have tall blended winglets, but not all. Therefore, the presence of these winglets indicates that it is not a 777 and is instead a 767*.
*Note that the 757 can also feature these winglets, and thus you would need to be confident in distinguishing a narrowbody aircraft from a widebody.
Landing gear
The landing gear is perhaps the single best indicator to distinguish Boeing 777s and 767s.
The 777’s main landing gear, the clusters of wheels below the aircraft’s wings, each have three sets of two-wheels – or six wheels per landing gear. The only other common commercial aircraft to also have this is the Airbus A350-1000, which has many of its own defining features.
The 767, on the other hand, only has two sets of wheels per main landing gear or clusters of four.
And it’s not just the number of wheels that differs. When deployed for landing, the 777’s main landing gear wheels slope ‘back,’ meaning that the forward wheels are higher and those to the rear are lower. Meanwhile, the 767’s wheels slope to the front, as its forward wheels are lower while the rear wheels are relatively higher. The first composite image of the two aircraft side-by-side shows this clearly.
Fuselage tip
At the rear-end of the aircraft is where the fuselage comes to an end. It’s also where the aircraft’s auxiliary power unit (APU) is located. The 777 has a distinctive APU rear exhaust design. This is ‘bladed’ or ‘sawn’ in appearance, rather than conical as seen on other twin-engine jets.
Hopefully, at the end of this article, all doubts should be gone in trying to tell a 767 and 777 from one another. At the end of the day, the wheels and APU should be the best indicators.
Have you ever had trouble distinguishing a 767 from a 777? Let us know in the comments.
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