Carbon Fiber Panel

I made a carbon fiber-Aluminum sandwich panel for my project. The aluminum backing keeps the screw holes from cracking out of the CF. The wood is a thin veneer as part of the buildup which was processed in a vacuum bag over a MDF mold that the aluminum was formed over.

That looks great
Are you worried at all about Aluminum/Carbon corrosion issues?

Good point. I put a layer of E glass down first before the CF.

Curious about any advantage to the CF/aluminum panel, vs a plain old aluminum panel?
No offense, but it seems like a lot of work for not much gain.

You are right it was a lot of work but I had to make the MDF forming block anyway for the aluminum and the combo allowed me to use slightly thinner aluminum so it was a little easier to form around the edges. What I really wanted was the retro look of the wood veneer and the more modern look of the CF. I wanted the surface to be flat and smooth so the vacuum bag process allowed that to happen.

It will be interesting to hear how well it holds up in the long term. The Coefficient of Thermal Expansion of CF and Al are fairly different. It might delaminate after a few years of hot/cold cycles esp sunlight. Though putting Al on the backside is an interesting thought. Clickbond makes bondable nutplates, way to pricey for a cub, but that's one of the way the big boys handle such things. I think I'd just bond a washer on the backside around the holes. Maybe next time bond a thin layer of foam between the two...but then thin foam that is aircraft flame resistant is also probably too pricey for a cub.