Cowling

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NACA canopy on a Curtiss AT-5A at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory (October 1928)
Open cowling with a Lycoming engine from a Piper PA 18 underneath

In aviation language, the cowling describes the cladding of the aircraft engine or aircraft engines or engines and is also called the engine hood or engine nacelle. The English word cowling comes from the Latin cuculla ("hood").

A cowling is used

  • to reduce air resistance
  • as part of the cooling system (influencing the air flow for cooling)
  • as an air inlet for jet engines
  • as a decorative element

In single-engine aircraft, the engine is usually installed directly in front of the cockpit so that pilots “look over the cowling”, which these pilots use synonymously for looking ahead.

Classic cowlings are, for example, the NACA hood or the Townend ring , which were used in radial engines . Due to the design of piston engines used today , such as the Rotax 912 or the Lycoming O-235 , and the speed achieved in general aviation, cowling is strongly recommended today.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Heinz AF Schmidt: Lexicon aviation . VEB transpress, East Berlin 1971, p. 376.
  2. ^ Roderich Cescotti: Aviation Definitions . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1993, p. 78, No. 1174.