Sources & Verification
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How FLYPEDIA researches what it publishes: which kinds of source are used for which kinds of claim, what is checked, and, just as importantly, what is not.
Where information comes from
FLYPEDIA draws on published material of the following kinds:
- manufacturer documentation, type specifications and company archives
- civil aviation authorities and airworthiness bodies, including type certificate data sheets
- government and national archives
- military and service archives
- aviation museums and preservation organisations
- contemporary historical documents, registers and periodicals
- academic and peer-reviewed publications
- specialist aviation literature and reference works
- reputable aviation journalism and trade publications
- official accident investigation reports from the responsible authority
Sources consulted for an entry are listed at the foot of that entry.
Different sources for different claims
No single category of source is authoritative for everything, and choosing the right one matters more than counting how many were used.
- Official specifications and approved configurations are best taken from manufacturer documentation and type certificate data sheets.
- Historical events are better established from archives, contemporary records and scholarly work than from a manufacturer's retrospective marketing material.
- Service history, operations and fleet composition are better taken from operator records, registers and reporting than from design-stage literature.
- Accidents and incidents are taken from the official investigation report of the responsible authority wherever one exists.
Manufacturer material is useful for what an aircraft was designed and certified to do. It is not a neutral source on how well it sold, how it was received, or what went wrong.
What is actually checked
Every source cited is consulted before it is cited, and its reference is checked to resolve to a real document. Citations are attached to the sections whose claims they support.
Automated checks run against each entry before publication. They verify structural and citation integrity: that every citation points to a real entry in the source list, that source ordering and image metadata are intact, and that measurements are well formed.
What is not claimed
FLYPEDIA does not operate a formal multi-reviewer verification process, and does not claim that every individual statement has been independently verified against two or more sources. Describing it otherwise would be more flattering and less true.
The automated checks described above test structure and consistency. They cannot establish whether a sourced claim is factually correct. That remains a matter of editorial judgement and of correction over time.
References are given so that readers can check the underlying material themselves. Readers relying on a specific figure for any consequential purpose should consult the cited source directly.
Conflicting sources
Where reliable sources conflict, the disagreement is reported rather than resolved by preference. Figures are attributed to who reports them, and the reason for the discrepancy is explained where it is known: different counting conventions, different test conditions, or a record that was never consistent to begin with.
Figures that change
Fleet sizes, traffic statistics, financial results, route networks and production totals change over time. These carry the date on which the figure applied and the source it came from. A dated figure is a record of what was true then, not a claim about today.
Reporting a source problem
If a citation does not support the claim attached to it, a reference is wrong or unreachable, or a better source exists, please report it. See the Corrections Policy.