Aircraft Photo Websites: JetPhotos, Airliners.net and More

The main aircraft photo websites are JetPhotos and Airliners.net for screened modern photos, Planespotters.net for fleet histories, AirHistory.net and ABPic for historic images, and the photo section of AirNav RadarBox. All of them let you search by registration, and the big ones screen every upload, which is why their galleries look so consistent. Getting accepted, finding a specific airframe and knowing what you may do with someone else’s photo are the three things worth understanding before your first upload.

JetPhotos: the gallery behind the tracker photos

JetPhotos is owned by Flightradar24, and approved uploads can appear on the aircraft pages in the Flightradar24 app. That link explains its huge volume: spotters upload partly to see their work on millions of screens. A photo only shows on Flightradar24 if it passes JetPhotos screening, shows the whole aircraft, and is not filed in a category such as cockpit, cabin or wing view. The app also favors the newest photo by capture date, so your shot of a given registration may be replaced when someone uploads a more recent one.

Uploads go into a screening queue run by volunteer screeners. Common rejection reasons include underexposure, softness, wrong color or saturation, JPEG compression artifacts, poor framing (“bad motive” in screener language) and near-duplicates of photos already in the database. The queue can take weeks at busy times. The JetPhotos forums host a pre-screening section where experienced members critique photos before you submit, which is the fastest way to learn the house standard.

Airliners.net: the original screened database

Airliners.net has run a screened photo database for decades alongside its forum, and its FAQ is specific about requirements:

• JPEG files only, larger than about 1000 x 667 pixels, at or close to a 3:2 ratio; portrait shots need a long side of at least 1000 pixels.
• Images larger than 1600 x 1600 pixels are resized automatically.
• No altered images or composites of any kind.
• Blur is the most frequent reason for rejection, followed by bad angles, window reflections, partial or distant aircraft, unmotivated close-ups, near-duplicates and visible date stamps.
• Rejected photos can be appealed through the link in the rejection email; reuploading without real improvement can earn a temporary ban.
• Lower standards apply to old, accident-related or unusual photos, as long as the remarks explain why they matter.

The Aviation Photography and Photography Feedback boards on the forum work the same way as JetPhotos’ pre-screening: post a link to a rejected photo and regulars explain what to fix. It is one of the more useful corners of aviation forums for photographers.

Planespotters.net: photos plus fleet histories

Planespotters.net is the reference for what happened to a specific airframe. Its database draws on civil aviation authorities, airlines, manufacturers and contributors, with editors reviewing every submission and updates published daily. You get current and historic fleet lists by operator, production lists by type, and each aircraft’s full history from first delivery through every operator to retirement, along with engine types, seat configurations, lessors and notable liveries. Photos sit alongside the data, so the page for one registration doubles as its photo album.

I use it constantly after a session to check whether the airplane I just logged used to fly for a different airline. Seeing that a 737 at a regional airport spent its first decade in Asia makes a routine catch feel less routine.

Historic archives: AirHistory.net and ABPic

AirHistory.net aims to show every aircraft in every marking and configuration it has worn. It prioritizes historic, rare and unique photos over technical perfection, and it rejects images that add nothing to an aircraft’s history. Its rules are strict on provenance: photos downloaded from other websites and scans from books or magazines are refused, and older photos by other people are accepted only when they were issued before 2000 by a manufacturer, operator or aviation organization and the uploader holds the original print, slide or negative. Restoration is limited to dust, scratches and age defects.

ABPic is the photo-sharing site of Air-Britain, the British aviation enthusiast and historian society. It is strong on European, military and older civil aircraft, with captions written by people who care about construction numbers and previous identities.

AirNav RadarBox photos: published size limits

AirNav’s RadarBox tracker runs its own photo section with clear published rules: horizontal images between 768 x 768 and 4000 x 4000 pixels, a width-to-height ratio no greater than 1.9, a 4MB file limit and one photo per aircraft. Silhouettes, cropped noses or tails, people in the foreground and missing EXIF data lead to rejection, and volunteer admins review every upload. If you already track with RadarBox, it is a quicker path to seeing your photos on a tracker than the JetPhotos queue.

Searching by registration

All of these sites let you search by registration, the tail number painted on the aircraft. A few tricks help:

• Type the registration with its dash for non-US aircraft (G-ABCD or D-ABCD format) and without one for US N-numbers.
• Search the serial number (MSN or construction number) when an aircraft has changed registrations; Planespotters.net and AirHistory.net link the identities together.
• Use the FAA registry for US aircraft. The FAA’s Aircraft Inquiry tool returns the registered owner, type and certificate details for any N-number.
• Filter by airport and date on JetPhotos to see what other spotters caught at your local field, and which spotting spots produced the best angles.

Photo rights: what you can and cannot reuse

Copyright stays with the photographer on all of these sites. Uploading grants the site the right to display the photo; it does not put the image in the public domain. Airliners.net adds a “photo by” bar with the photographer’s name, and AirHistory.net puts a copyright bar on every image and limits downloads to personal use.

• Personal wallpaper: generally tolerated, but check each site’s terms.
• Blog, social media or club newsletter: ask the photographer first. Most sites offer a contact button, and many spotters say yes in exchange for credit.
• Commercial use (book, ad, product, monetized site): expect to pay a license fee, and get the permission in writing.
• Your own uploads: you keep the rights, but read the terms on how long the site keeps photos; AirHistory.net, for example, treats uploads as permanent.

Which site fits which photographer

Most spotters end up on two sites: one screened gallery for their best work and one database for logging and history. Getting accepted on the screened ones is mostly about the camera settings at the fence and restrained editing afterward; heavy sharpening and pumped saturation are the quickest route to a rejection email.