Cherokee-M Construction - Nosecone
July 26, 2003:
The PML nosecone came with a separate 1/2" plywood bulkhead and a u-bolt. The next trick was to secure the bulkhead to the nosecone. But I didn't want to permanently secure it because I wanted the option to be able to install stuff in the nosecone later. Telemetry, tracking, cameras, noseweight, whatever.
My solution was to permanently epoxy a centering ring into the nosecone, and then bolt the bulkhead to the centering ring so I could remove the bulkhead later if I wanted access to the inside of the nosecone.
I bought a stock 98mm centering ring from PML that fit the 6" coupler tubing from the nosecone. I stacked the centering ring and the bulkhead inside a coupler to keep them lined up, and drilled four bolt-holes straight through both, around the edges. Then I unstacked them and epoxied t-nuts into the holes in the centering ring. The centering ring will get permanently epoxied into the nosecone, the bulkhead will get bolted to the centering ring, and I can remove the bulkead any time I want access to the interior of the nosecone. Problem solved.
Bulkhead and centering ring with matching holes drilled:
Forward (interior) side of bulkhead-centering ring assembly (t-nuts):
Aft (exposed) side of bulkhead-centering ring assembly:
Finished nosecone:
