Definition
A woven fabric made from fine glass fibers, used as the reinforcing material in fiberglass composite structures and as an insulating or surfacing layer in aircraft construction and repair.
Plain English
A cloth woven from very thin strands of glass. When it is soaked in resin and allowed to harden, it becomes a strong, lightweight material used to build or repair parts of an aircraft.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft maintenance, especially in fiberglass and composite structure repairs.
Derivation
Plain English -- 'glass' for the material the fibers are drawn from, and 'cloth' because the fibers are woven into a fabric just like cotton or linen. The name describes exactly what it is: cloth made of glass.
Why Pilots Care
Provides the strength needed in lightweight composite aircraft components.
Intuition Check
Do not picture ordinary cloth made for clothing, and do not picture a hard pane of glass. Glass cloth is a flexible woven material made from tiny glass fibers before it is hardened with resin.
Example Sentence 1
The mechanic laid two layers of glass cloth over the damaged fairing before applying the resin.
Example Sentence 2
Several layers of glass cloth were needed to restore the strength of the composite fairing.