Definition
A heavy, closely woven fabric made of cotton, hemp, or linen, used in aviation for engine covers, control surface covers, tool bags, seat upholstery, and various protective and structural applications around aircraft.
Plain English
A tough, tightly woven cloth used around aircraft for covers, bags, and other hard-wearing fabric jobs.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft maintenance, preflight inspection of fabric-covered airplanes, and references to protective aircraft covers.
Derivation
From the Latin 'cannabis,' meaning hemp, because the fabric was originally woven from hemp fibers. The name carried over even after cotton and linen became more common materials.
Why Pilots Care
Canvas covers protect engines, pitot tubes, and windshields from rain, dust, frost, and sun while the aircraft is parked. Forgetting to remove them before flight is a well-known preflight hazard, which is why removing covers is a standard checklist item.
Intuition Check
Canvas does not mean an artist’s painting surface here. In aviation, it means tough cloth used as aircraft covering material or as a protective cover.
Example Sentence 1
Before starting the engine, he removed the canvas cover from the cowling and stowed it in the baggage compartment.
Example Sentence 2
Restoring the antique biplane required replacing the original canvas covering with new material.