PA28 PLT; DUE TO ENG PROB; RETURNED TO DEP ARPT.

Narrative

I PLANNED A MORNING FLT FROM LINCOLN TO KEARNEY; NE. THE OVERNIGHT TEMP HAD BEEN ABOUT 0 DEGS F. THE NIGHT BEFORE THE FLT; I PLUGGED IN THE OIL PAN HEATER; COVERED THE COWL WITH A BLANKET AND INSERTED SMALL FIBER PILLOWS (COWL PLUGS) INTO THE FRONT COWL OPENINGS. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME I HAD USED COWL PLUGS. IN THE MORNING; I CONDUCTED A THOROUGH PREFLT INSPECTION WHILE THE INTERIOR OF THE AIRPLANE WAS BEING PREHEATED. WHEN I GOT TO THE COWL; I REMOVED THE BLANKET AND COWL PLUGS; CHKED THE NORMAL ITEMS; REINSERTED THE COWL PLUGS; TOLD MYSELF THAT I MUST REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE COWL PLUGS AND CONTINUED WITH THE PREFLT. ENG START; TAXI; AND RUNUP WERE NORMAL CONSIDERING THE COLD WX. CABIN HEAT SEEMED A BIT WEAK; WHICH I ATTRIBUTED TO THE COLD WX. I WAS CLRED FOR TKOF ON RWY 17L IN NORMAL SEQUENCE. THE TKOF RUN WAS NORMAL AND ALL GAUGES WERE NORMAL EXCEPT FOR THE TACHOMETER; WHICH WAS ABOUT 50 RPM LOWER THAN USUAL. I ATTRIBUTED THE LOWER RPM TO RELATIVELY DENSE AIR (COLD; HIGH PRESSURE). IMMEDIATELY AFTER LIFTOFF; I SMELLED A BURNING ODOR; THEN SAW A FLAP OF WHITE FABRIC AT THE L FRONT COWL. I IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZED THAT I HAD FORGOTTEN TO REMOVE THE COWL PLUGS. I REDUCED PWR; ESTABLISHED A GLIDE IN AN ATTEMPT TO LAND ON THE REMAINING RWY; AND ADVISED THE TWR THAT I NEEDED TO LAND. WHEN IT BECAME CLR THAT I COULD NOT LAND SAFELY ON THE REMAINING RWY; I ADDED PARTIAL PWR AND ADVISED THE TWR THAT I NEEDED ANY RWY. I WAS CLRED TO LAND ON RWY 17L; MY DEP RWY. I FLEW A LOWER THAN NORMAL PATTERN TO REMAIN WITHIN GLIDING DISTANCE OF THE RWY. I COMPLETED THE PATTERN; LANDED SAFELY AND TAXIED CLR OF THE RWY WITHOUT FURTHER COMPLICATION. UPON INSPECTION; THE R SIDE COWL PLUG HAD BECOME ENTANGLED IN THE ALTERNATOR BELT AND PARTIALLY MELTED THE BELT. NO OTHER DAMAGE WAS EVIDENT ON PRELIMINARY INSPECTION.