If you are very practically minded and want to get really ‘hands on’ with aircraft, then this is the job for you. Of all the trades, this is the one where you can really get your hands dirty.

You will fix damaged aircraft, remove and shape panels, repair the external skin, work on the ribs and fix the airframe. You will look at the documentation available for a repair, then apply your knowledge and initiative to the particular situation on your aircraft and make it work.

In the workshop you could be using guillotines and folding machines to take a flat piece of metal and turn it into a part of an aircraft. You will need pressing, cutting, riveting and fastening skills in alloys and metals. You will also work with the new composite materials like carbon fibre and Kevlar, the technology borrowed from Formula One race cars and America’s Cup racing yachts.