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G-DBCE weird protrusion

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Old 31st March 2026 | 19:58
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G-DBCE weird protrusion

An acquaintance sent me this asking if I know what it is? I have no idea, looks like a bad photoshop to me.
Any suggestions?


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Old 31st March 2026 | 20:57
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Yeah, looks like it has been cropped out of another pic and overlaid on the shot of the 777s. They used Photoshop's "magic eraser" or whatever (been far too long since I had access to Adobe Creative Suite ) and missed a bit of something behind in the orignal pic... the triangle of the drag strut on the nose wheel is also suspiciously bright, also the scissor link. Pic's been used in the Daily Mail and elsewhere...
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Old 31st March 2026 | 23:25
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It`s to stop banging the backend by ex-tailwheel drivers..
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Old 1st April 2026 | 07:20
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The idiots at Simplistic Flying even used it to illustrate their article on BA's use of the A318.


https://simpleflying.com/british-air...-a318-history/
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Old 1st April 2026 | 08:44
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Originally Posted by DaveReidUK
The idiots at Simplistic Flying even used it to illustrate their article on BA's use of the A318.


https://simpleflying.com/british-air...-a318-history/
Not wishing to join the ranks of the pedantic .....but the aircraft is actually an ex BMI A319-131 that is a mere 21 years young. It isn't a A318, which is ever so slightly smaller in stature than the A319.

In another photo, it seems to have sprouted its very own stand form the tail too. This aircraft is obviously a very clever clone, that has perfected the art of fooling a photographer many times




https://www.airfleets.net/photo/Brit...40327_a319.htm
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Old 1st April 2026 | 12:43
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Originally Posted by BonnieLass
It isn't a A318, which is ever so slightly smaller in stature than the A319.
Er, yes, that was my point.

Hence my reference to idiots.
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Old 1st April 2026 | 13:01
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I thought they built one A318 and flew it at Farnborough; from the control tower looking down you could see it was a few feet shorter .
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Old 1st April 2026 | 17:27
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Airbus built 80 A318s, of which around 20 are still active. Air France fly three, occasionally to be seen at Heathrow (most recent was a couple of weeks ago).

It's about 8 feet shorter than the A319.
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Old 1st April 2026 | 18:01
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The other suspicious part is the position of the aircraft itself , seemingly taken from the perimeter road area near T5 most short haul aircraft are much higher up at that point than this picture shows. It is far too bright white for BA as a rule-look at the parked t7s and is there really distant mountain range north of LHR?

Whole thing looks completely fake
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Old 1st April 2026 | 19:04
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From: Too close to Croydon for comfort
Originally Posted by pax britanica
The other suspicious part is the position of the aircraft itself , seemingly taken from the perimeter road area near T5 most short haul aircraft are much higher up at that point than this picture shows. It is far too bright white for BA as a rule-look at the parked t7s and is there really distant mountain range north of LHR?

Whole thing looks completely fake
Background pic is probably looking south between T5A and B towards the North Downs ridge...
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Old 1st April 2026 | 21:31
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Apparently it's a Shutterstock photo, shame on them.
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Old 1st April 2026 | 22:19
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Originally Posted by DaveReidUK
Apparently it's a Shutterstock photo
at least they got the type right
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Old 2nd April 2026 | 01:16
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Thanks to all, Ppruners never cease
to amaze me with their detailed knowledge


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Old 17th April 2026 | 16:15
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Originally Posted by pax britanica
The other suspicious part is the position of the aircraft itself , seemingly taken from the perimeter road area near T5 most short haul aircraft are much higher up at that point than this picture shows. It is far too bright white for BA as a rule-look at the parked t7s and is there really distant mountain range north of LHR?

Whole thing looks completely fake
The background hills are accurate yes, they're quite far but visible and prominent on pics taken from here. It's seemingly taken from the balcony at the Thistle Hotel, but God only knows why the image has been whitened so much and the protrusion may even be a large bird?
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