Definition
A surface repair to damaged aircraft plywood skin in which the edges of the patch and the surrounding skin are tapered (splayed) outward at a shallow angle, then bonded together with adhesive so the joint relies on a large glued surface area rather than mechanical fasteners. Splayed patches are limited by FAA structural repair guidance to small holes in plywood skin (typically up to about 15 times the skin thickness in diameter) and are not used on plywood thicker than approximately 1/10 inch.
Plain English
A way to fix a small hole in a wooden aircraft skin by sanding the edges of the hole and the patch into matching shallow ramps, then gluing the patch in so the two ramped surfaces overlap and bond together.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft wood-structure repair instructions, especially when repairing damaged plywood covering on wings, fuselages, or control surfaces.
Derivation
‘Splay’ comes from Middle English, a shortening of ‘display,’ meaning to spread or slope outward. In carpentry and aircraft repair, a splayed edge is one that has been beveled or tapered outward rather than cut square. The name describes exactly what the technician does: spreads the edges of the hole and the patch into matching tapers.
Why Pilots Care
Wood aircraft structures depend on glue joints carrying loads across large surface areas. A splayed patch, done correctly, restores the skin's strength because the long tapered overlap gives the adhesive enough area to transfer loads. Done wrong — too steep an angle, too large a hole, or the wrong glue — and the patch becomes a weak spot in a load-bearing surface.
Intuition Check
Do not think of this as a simple patch laid over a hole. In this repair, the surrounding wood and the patch are shaped with matching sloped edges so the repair becomes part of the surface.
Example Sentence 1
The mechanic repaired the small puncture in the wing's plywood skin with a splayed patch, sanding both the patch and the surrounding wood to a 5-to-1 taper before gluing.
Example Sentence 2
Because the damage was larger than a standard insert could handle, a splayed patch was chosen to restore full strength.