Narrative:

Upon initial climb for takeoff from runway xxl I saw the cowl plugs eject from the cowling. I realized that I had forgotten to remove the cowl plugs. One plug was stuck in the cowling while the rope connecting the two plugs dangled the other have on top of the cowling. I informed tower of my situation and asked to return to the airport. They cleared me to remain in the pattern and report mid-field downwind. When I reported downwind I was asked if I wanted to continue on my flight to the west but I informed them that I wanted to land at this time to remove the object from the cowling. Tower cleared me to land #2 behind a jet that was on short final. As I was turning base; the rope holding the two cowl plugs together broke and the remainder of the cowling flew and got lodged on the right wing. I proceeded for a normal landing and as I was in the flare the lack of airspeed let the cowl plug drop onto the runway from the wing. Tower cleared me from the runway and instructed to contact ground. I contacted ground and was given instructions to taxi to the ramp. After taxiing to the ramp; I shut down the engine and did a thorough inspection of the cowling. I only found little pieces of foam from the cowling but the majority of it seemed to be 'lost.' I made sure I had another person look at the airplane before re-filing a flight plan. I spend about 20-30 minutes to make sure there wasn't any debris in the engine. I contacted ground for my squawk; and taxi clearance. I was concerned about the remainder of the cowling and kept a visual lookout for it. After not seeing it on the taxiway; I contacted tower for takeoff clearance. Tower cleared me for take-off on runway xxl. As I was doing my takeoff roll; I saw the cowl plugs sitting on the right side of the center line close to the 500 ft marker. I informed tower that the cowl plugs were sitting on the runway. I was told that they were aware of the situation and other airplanes had already reported it. I was also told that someone would clean up the debris shortly.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C172 pilot took off with the cowl plugs installed. After takeoff the plugs became dislodged and the pilot returned to land. Upon landing a plug fell from the wing onto the runway.

Narrative: Upon initial climb for takeoff from Runway XXL I saw the cowl plugs eject from the cowling. I realized that I had forgotten to remove the cowl plugs. One plug was stuck in the cowling while the rope connecting the two plugs dangled the other have on top of the cowling. I informed Tower of my situation and asked to return to the airport. They cleared me to remain in the pattern and report mid-field downwind. When I reported downwind I was asked if I wanted to continue on my flight to the west but I informed them that I wanted to land at this time to remove the object from the cowling. Tower cleared me to land #2 behind a jet that was on short final. As I was turning base; the rope holding the two cowl plugs together broke and the remainder of the cowling flew and got lodged on the right wing. I proceeded for a normal landing and as I was in the flare the lack of airspeed let the cowl plug drop onto the runway from the wing. Tower cleared me from the runway and instructed to contact ground. I contacted ground and was given instructions to taxi to the ramp. After taxiing to the ramp; I shut down the engine and did a thorough inspection of the cowling. I only found little pieces of foam from the cowling but the majority of it seemed to be 'lost.' I made sure I had another person look at the airplane before re-filing a flight plan. I spend about 20-30 minutes to make sure there wasn't any debris in the engine. I contacted ground for my squawk; and taxi clearance. I was concerned about the remainder of the cowling and kept a visual lookout for it. After not seeing it on the taxiway; I contacted Tower for takeoff clearance. Tower cleared me for take-off on Runway XXL. As I was doing my takeoff roll; I saw the cowl plugs sitting on the right side of the center line close to the 500 FT marker. I informed Tower that the cowl plugs were sitting on the runway. I was told that they were aware of the situation and other airplanes had already reported it. I was also told that someone would clean up the debris shortly.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.