Definition
A flat, flexible hand tool with a broad blade, used in aircraft maintenance for spreading, smoothing, or applying materials such as fillers, sealants, adhesives, or fabric dope, and for mixing small batches of compounds like epoxy or body filler.
Plain English
A small tool with a flat, bendy blade that mechanics use to spread or mix things like sealant, glue, or filler.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft maintenance, especially when applying sealant, adhesive, or repair filler.
Derivation
From the Latin spatula, meaning a small flat blade or broad piece, itself a diminutive of spatha (a broad sword or flat tool). The shape — flat and broad — is the constant idea across all uses of the word.
Why Pilots Care
A properly applied sealant or filler can affect the quality of a repair, the protection of a joint, or the smoothness of a surface.
Intuition Check
Do not think of a spatula only as a kitchen tool. In aircraft maintenance, it means a flat spreading tool used for soft repair or sealing materials.
Example Sentence 1
The mechanic used a spatula to work the epoxy filler smoothly into the dent on the leading edge.
Example Sentence 2
After mixing the filler, he picked up the spatula and smoothed it into the dent on the wing skin.