What the proprietary database is
The PlaneFit Aircraft Database is a proprietary, versioned compilation. PlaneFit researches model identity, specifications, market observations and operating-cost assumptions, then normalizes them into a common schema so aircraft can be compared on the same units and mission logic. The normalized records, confidence gates, derived estimates and editorial trade-offs are PlaneFit's database product.
Record research may use manufacturer specifications, approved or historical flight documentation, type information, public asking-price observations and disclosed calculation assumptions. Each published aircraft page shows its record-specific provenance note and review period.
How fields are normalized
- Speeds and ranges are converted to knots and nautical miles.
- Payload is a comparable mission proxy, not a substitute for weight and balance.
- Prices are converted to indicative euro market anchors for a stated model year.
- Annual cost combines a fixed planning base with a direct hourly estimate.
- Practical range applies a planning reserve and passenger adjustment to advertised range.
Confidence gates and publication
Aircraft Finder scores the 545 records whose price, payload, range, seating and production years are complete enough to rank honestly, so a shortlist is never narrowed by editorial backlog. A stricter editorial gate governs publication: 126 records carry reviewed model-specific copy, and the search-publication gate currently exposes 126 aircraft profiles and 18 cost guides, plus 10 standalone insurance guides to search engines. Other records remain available for navigation but use noindex,follow until their data and model-specific editorial copy pass review.
Production status
Whether a model is still being built is a claim about the present tense, so it is held to a stricter standard than a specification: a page published by the manufacturer naming that model in its current lineup, plus the month someone read it. A specification sheet of unknown vintage does not qualify, because nothing about it says whether the factory is running. 121 models currently meet that standard. Another 17 records have an open production span without current first-party confirmation; announced and unknown-span records are counted separately. The production census publishes the counts by class, the documents behind them, and the gap where no first-party document exists.
Official US public records
PlaneFit has an offline, versioned ingestion path for the FAA Aircraft Registry and aircraft/engine reference tables, FAA Service Difficulty Reports and NTSB aviation accident data. Raw archives stay outside Git. The publishable artifact contains only model-level aggregates plus source URL, acquisition date, version and SHA-256 hash. It never contains owner names, addresses, registration numbers or serial numbers.
Every indexed profile has a mapping review entry: 126 in total, of which 1 currently pass the manual variant/confidence gate. 1 profile currently has a published government aggregate. Pending fuzzy aliases are excluded rather than silently merged. Government evidence supplements the PlaneFit record; it never overwrites proprietary specifications, prices or costs automatically.
- FAA Registry and aircraft/engine reference files: active US fleet and official reference characteristics.
- FAA Service Difficulty Reports: raw report counts and affected systems for a stated period.
- NTSB aviation accident data: event counts for a stated US scope and period.
SDR and NTSB counts are not safety scores. PlaneFit does not calculate accident rates without a defensible exposure denominator such as fleet flight hours, and family-level mappings are labelled as family evidence rather than exact-model evidence.
Limits and verification
PlaneFit figures are decision-support estimates, not approved performance data, maintenance quotations, tax advice or flight planning. Configuration, condition, engine status, weather, loading and local rules can materially change the answer. Verify a candidate against its approved manual, logs, current market evidence and an independent pre-buy inspection.