I should've mentioned that in my above post, but I also feel the cowl is a little weak. When I first got mine I was worried because of the stories of broken wing ribs during shipment, but when I opened mine the wing was fine. There however were a few small cracks in the cowl. Bothing major, but it did show that the cowl was fairly cheap and flimsy.
When I test flew my UCD I flew it without the cowl during the first 5-6 flights so I could have easy access to the engine in case of any problems or adjustments. The plane was ugly without the cowl, but it actually seemed to fly a bit better. Adding the cowl added a little weight which in addition from going from a wood prop to an APC moved my UG forward a bit. I need to move it back just a bit to regain the performance. No big deal, I just need to figure out how to do it without adding lead.
Originally posted by Fixed Wing
Nosram, I have a small stress fracture developing on the side of my cowl. It's in a place where there should be no pressure on it. I noticed when I drilled the wheel pants and cut the cowl openings that the paint and underlying resin was very brittle and flaky. Not sure what this means. Possibly the resin was mixed or set up improperly? This might make it sensitive to vibration?