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What is the difference in tag usage of x57 vs. x72?

If fixed-wing is to differentiate unpowered, is it then? Which has its own tag, and has been proposed and voted for merging with :

In other words, are there questions where someone would need that they can't use or ?


If no difference, or if the difference can be overlooked for simplicity, then kindly propose which way the synonym should be in the same answer, so the top-voted answer can also serve as the request for applying said synonym.

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From Wikipedia:

An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a powered, fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller or rocket engine.

From the tag info page for :

A heavier-than-air fixed-wing aircraft propelled by one or more engines.

So is the more generic term, which applies to both s and s. Therefore, is not a synonym of either.

We might however want to add a more detailed tag info to , which currently only has an excerpt, to clarify the difference.


Regarding the usage on this site: I would recommend being specific (i.e. using or ) whenever possible, e.g. this question:

Why are propeller driven aircraft commonly built with a higher wing aspect ratio and a straighter wing angle?

is currently tagged , but should really use because it is clearly about powered aircraft. But questions, where it makes no difference, should be tagged like this one:

Why do Wingtip Vortices affect the upwash ahead of the aerofoil?

Here, it makes absolutely no difference whether or not the aircraft is powered or not.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks. By synonym I'm referring to their usage here on the site. Are there questions where someone would need [fixed-wing] that they can't used [airplane] or [glider]? $\endgroup$
    – user14897
    Commented Sep 27, 2019 at 11:54
  • $\begingroup$ @ymb1 I understand. I included my opinion regarding the usage on the site. $\endgroup$
    – Bianfable
    Commented Sep 27, 2019 at 12:06
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    $\begingroup$ Thanks for the update and finding examples, so +1. It must have been hard as from what I see, those two tags are applied almost randomly :) And since those two tags account for 127 questions where one of them and not the other is used, it's not an easy fix. $\endgroup$
    – user14897
    Commented Sep 27, 2019 at 12:10
  • $\begingroup$ I don’t see your argument for why that question shouldn’t be tagged fixed wing. $\endgroup$
    – Notts90
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 14:53
  • $\begingroup$ @Notts90 That question is about the difference between propeller driven aircraft and jet aircraft, both of which are airplanes (because they are powered), which is more specific than fixed-wing because that also includes sailplanes. $\endgroup$
    – Bianfable
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 14:57
  • $\begingroup$ @Bianfable thanks, in that case I’d suggest tagging both. $\endgroup$
    – Notts90
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 15:00
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    $\begingroup$ @Notts90 OK, feel free to add that as an answer. I thing tagging both is redundant. I would prefer to only tag one. $\endgroup$
    – Bianfable
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 15:02

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