Definition
The trade of cutting, shaping, forming, and joining thin metal panels (typically aluminum alloys) to build or repair aircraft structural skin and components. In aviation maintenance training, it is one of the core hands-on skill areas taught alongside powerplant and airframe systems.
Plain English
Working with the thin metal sheets that make up the outside and structure of an airplane — cutting them, bending them, riveting them together, and patching them when they get damaged.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft maintenance training, airframe repair shops, and discussions of commercial aviation training programs that teach hands-on aircraft repair skills.
Derivation
‘Sheet metal’ refers to metal rolled into thin, flat sheets. ‘Fabrication’ comes from the Latin fabricare, meaning ‘to build or make.’ Together: the craft of building things from flat metal stock — useful because aircraft skins start life as flat sheets that are then cut and formed into curved structural panels.
Why Pilots Care
Pilots usually do not perform this work themselves, but they need to recognize that metal repairs can affect whether an aircraft is safe and legal to fly and must be done by properly qualified maintenance personnel.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as any work involving metal. In this context, it specifically means making or repairing parts from thin, flat metal sheets.
Example Sentence 1
The maintenance program included sheet metal fabrication so students could practice repairing damaged wing skins.
Example Sentence 2
Students practice sheet metal fabrication on training projects before working on actual aircraft.