Wikipedia:WikiProject Aviation/Style guide/General

This is an essay on style. It contains the advice and/or opinions of one or more WikiProjects on how to format and present article content within their area of interest.

This information is not a formal Wikipedia policy or guideline, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community.

Aviation WikiProject
General information
Main project page (talk) Announcements and open tasks (talk) → AfD record (talk) → Article alerts → Maintenance (talk) → New articles (talk) → Resources (talk) Notability and Style guide (talk) Showcase and Popular pages
Departments Assessment (Log) (talk) → B-Class / A-Class → Instructions Collaboration (NB: Inactive) (talk) Outreach department (talk) → Current newsletter → Contest (talk) Peer review (talk) The WikiEagle (talk) → Current issue
Project organization Coordinators (talk) Members (talk) Portals Project banner (talk) Project category (talk)
Templates Infobox templates → Aircraft begin infobox (talk) → Aircraft occurrence infobox (talk) → Airline infobox (talk) → Airport infobox (talk) → Aviator infobox (talk) → Company infobox (talk) Navigation boxes (talk)
Sub-projects Aircraft project (talk) → Engines task force (talk) → Rotorcraft task force (talk) Airlines project (talk) → Defunct Airlines task force (talk) Airports project (talk) Gliding project (talk) Aerospace biography task force (talk) Air sports task force (talk) Aviation accident task force (talk) Military aviation task force (talk) Soviet aviation task force (talk)
v t e

Style and formatting
Style Subpages Abbreviations Accessibility Biographies Capital letters Dates and numbers Disambiguation pages Icons (e.g., flags, logos, etc.) Infoboxes Aviation infoboxes Links Lists of works Military history Pronunciation Spelling Text formatting Titles
Policies & Guidelines Alternative text for images Captions Categorization Aviation categories Categorization of people Citing sources Explain jargon External links Footnotes Aviation citations Layout Lead section Lists Aviation lists Make technical articles accessible Naming conventions Aircraft names Airport names Proper names Stubs Summary style Technical terms Trivia sections Writing better articles Wikimedia sister projects Words to avoid
Help FAQ Glossary How to edit a page Picture tutorial Sections
Project specific Aircraft articles Aircraft engine articles
v t e

General principles[edit]

This project should endeavor to remain consistent, firstly by abiding by the guidelines set out in the Manual of Style. Wherever necessary, this page and its subpages will set out more specific guidelines.

Style and formatting should be consistent within a Wikipedia article, though not necessarily throughout Wikipedia as a whole. Being consistent within an article promotes clarity and cohesion. Therefore, even where the Manual of Style permits alternative usages, be consistent within an article.

Audience[edit]

Wikipedia is written for the general reader, it is not a comprehensive guide to aviation nor a how-to manual. Although aviation fans will find much of interest, writing should not assume they are the target audience. Example: To many readers the term stall used in some associations will evoke the image of an engine stall which refers to a sudden stopping of the engine turning; in actuality a stall is a reduction in the lift generated by an airfoil.