What is a Civil Air Transport? The snotty answer: just that. A more detailed one: A
non-military (
Civil)
vehicle that
flies (Air) for the purpose of
moving stuff (
Transport). This would include
airliners,
air freighters, special transport vehicles like
NASA's
Space Shuttle Transporter and
Airbus's
Beluga. Note that while this category does include the smaller end of the spectrum, these are already listed and better chronicled on
Regional Jet, so if you can't find an aircraft listed here, check there!
Why have a guide? Well, a couple of reasons. Historically, as the Jane's books become more detailed and in moved into wider use, the notion of having a central guide towards vehicles of all sorts became more appealing. While it was well and good to know that the ship or airplane you had just spotted wasn't military, sometimes it was equally important (if not more so!) to know whose aircraft or ship it had been, and what it might be doing. As a consequence, the Jane's Information Group expanded their product line, moving on to guides to such subjects as Civil Aviation. Second, I've noticed a large number of nodes here on civil aircraft, and I figured I might as well include a guide to them. With no futher ado, here you go. If you have any suggestions for additions to this node (the term metanode is now dangerously passé) /msg me. I'll be starting with more recent aircraft and adding historical (pre-turbojet) aircraft later, save for particularly important examples.
Note: As you read through these, note how many are by the knowledgeable sekicho, and spend your upvotes accordingly!