SOPHIAFLYGIRL

Hello, is there a means to reinforce the nose cowl on my Cessna 182 so it's not so flimsy? This model hasn't yet maidened and the cowl is cracked and incredibly thin:

Belongs to this plane:

This is one of those cases where the manufacturer didn't quite hit their mark when it came to quality witj regard to the supplied engine cowling.
I've already upgraded this ARF in many areas like installing a quality Robart nose gear, repainted the plane from the standard red/black and white it came with. Re-engineered the elevator control surface linkages to something stronger and with more positive control. I've added a RAM lighting system with tip strobe lights. Trying to make this plane something I'll keep and fly for many years, if not decades!

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Sophia

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

Yes, you can scuff up the inside and add a couple layers of 3oz cloth with a good quality epoxy resin to stiffen it up a bit.

Now the bad news, the original has been made from polyester resin and poor quality cloth. The process is to apply a gel coat in the mold first. Sometimes this sits in the mold too long before the glass and resin is applied. The issue with that is the two have adhesion issues which results in the cracking that you are now experiencing. To eliminate that you will need to take the cowl down to bare glass, prime with a good epoxy primer and paint.