Definition
Hand-operated cutting tools designed for cutting thin sheet metal, typically aluminum and steel sheet used in aircraft skin and structural repair. Aviation snips come in three common types — straight-cut, left-cut, and right-cut — usually color-coded yellow, green, and red respectively, with compound-leverage handles that multiply hand force to shear metal cleanly along straight lines and curves.
Plain English
Special heavy-duty scissors made for cutting sheet metal. They come in three versions: one for straight cuts, one for cutting curves to the left, and one for cutting curves to the right.
Context Anchor
Seen in airframe maintenance, especially when cutting or trimming thin aluminum sheet, inspection covers, or repair material.
Derivation
Snips' comes from an old word meaning a small, quick cut. 'Aviation' was added because these were developed to cut the thin, tough metal sheets used in aircraft, which ordinary household snips could not handle cleanly.
Why Pilots Care
For maintenance technicians, picking the correct color-coded snip matters: using the wrong type forces the metal to bend rather than shear cleanly, which can distort the cut edge and weaken a repair patch.
Intuition Check
Do not think of aviation snips as ordinary scissors. They are metal-cutting hand tools designed for controlled cuts in thin aircraft materials.
Example Sentence 1
The technician reached for the red-handled aviation snips to trim the curved edge of the aluminum patch.
Example Sentence 2
Left-cutting aviation snips let the mechanic follow the curved edge of the wing rib without kinking the metal.