[jsjohnst]

> Cowlings are now composite (ie plastic) instead of aluminum.

Um, no. Absolutely not “ie plastic”. Composite material in the case of aircraft means it’s made of two or more materials. In the case of modern aircraft, it often is carbon fiber, but can also mean fiberglass and Kevlar (aka aramid fibers).

[mjhay]

A larger part is the epoxy, e.g., plastic. It being a composite would actually make it worse than just plastic under cyclic heating, because the epoxy and carbon fiber have different coefficients of thermal expansion.

[mjhay]

e: should have said "large" not "larger". Ideally as much epoxy as possible is squeezed out.