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This study explores the methods of incorporating material microstructural characteristics into the fatigue life prediction models based on the results of the microstructural characterizations and fatigue testing of aluminum 7050-T7451 plate alloys. The emphases in the microstructural characterization part of the program are on the identification of the fatigue-relevant microstructural features and on the characterizations of the microstructural gradients. The characterizations are carried out using both the standard and novel techniques such as tessellation, fractal and modified linear intercept methods. The key measurement is determination of the size distributions of the fatigue crack initiating flaws -- they are assumed equal to the extreme value distributions of the micropore and/or constituent particle size distributions measured on the metallographic sections.