stealth6
insert witty tagline here
I spent a whole day flying today working on and refining my CableCutter methodology and setup. And I've finally worked out a setup that works perfectly "every time". In the past when I've used a CableCutter, it has worked well "most" of the time, but I've had enough minor issues that it always made me just a small bit nervous to fly. It seemed that the system was just a little finicky. I wanted more confidence, and now I have it.
What I've settled on is nothing new, and I'm not doing anything that someone else hasn't already figured out. But I'm excited enough to have found a setup that I'm confident in, and I figured I'd share it here so others can benefit.
The main thing is that I'm using a small pilot/drogue chute that pulls the burrito open cleanly and consistently, and deploys the main chute a whole lot faster than without it. I - and others - have tried different ways to do this in the past with inconsistent, or less than satisfactory, results. The key to success is what I learned here on TRF from this post by WoShuGui (see post #3) - https://www.rocketryforum.com/showt...ut-Main-for-LOC-3-90-V2&highlight=V2+woshugui. That little ball works perfectly to keep the burrito from opening prematurely.
So, I sewed a loop into the top of one of my chutes, and attached a 13" drogue with a short harness to that utilizing the foam ball similar to how WoShuGui showed. Then I played with a bunch of different ways of packing the chute and rolling the burrito so that the pilot (when the cable cutter releases) rolls open the package smoothly. The result - 7 flights today with two different rockets and every one of them had picture-perfect deployments. I watched the whole descent from apogee event to mains deployment through binoculars and things worked exactly as I wanted them to. Nice controlled descents, nothing tangling or twisting, everything hanging the way they should, and nice quick controlled and consistent mains deployments. Sweet.
I encourage everyone who has been having less than perfect success with their CableCutters to give this setup a try. It works great.
I'm psyched because I'm currently working on a new 54mm minimum diameter rocket that's got a few unique features. It will rely on a CableCutter for dual deployment, and now I have a LOT more confidence that things will work as I want them to when this rocket is ready to fly. Preliminary sims show altitudes of 18,000'+ and I REALLY don't want my mains to deploy early, or things to get tangled on the descent. With this setup I'm confident they won't.
thanks TRF folk for guiding me to this place, especially WoShuGui for the foam ball idea,
s6
What I've settled on is nothing new, and I'm not doing anything that someone else hasn't already figured out. But I'm excited enough to have found a setup that I'm confident in, and I figured I'd share it here so others can benefit.
The main thing is that I'm using a small pilot/drogue chute that pulls the burrito open cleanly and consistently, and deploys the main chute a whole lot faster than without it. I - and others - have tried different ways to do this in the past with inconsistent, or less than satisfactory, results. The key to success is what I learned here on TRF from this post by WoShuGui (see post #3) - https://www.rocketryforum.com/showt...ut-Main-for-LOC-3-90-V2&highlight=V2+woshugui. That little ball works perfectly to keep the burrito from opening prematurely.
So, I sewed a loop into the top of one of my chutes, and attached a 13" drogue with a short harness to that utilizing the foam ball similar to how WoShuGui showed. Then I played with a bunch of different ways of packing the chute and rolling the burrito so that the pilot (when the cable cutter releases) rolls open the package smoothly. The result - 7 flights today with two different rockets and every one of them had picture-perfect deployments. I watched the whole descent from apogee event to mains deployment through binoculars and things worked exactly as I wanted them to. Nice controlled descents, nothing tangling or twisting, everything hanging the way they should, and nice quick controlled and consistent mains deployments. Sweet.
I encourage everyone who has been having less than perfect success with their CableCutters to give this setup a try. It works great.
I'm psyched because I'm currently working on a new 54mm minimum diameter rocket that's got a few unique features. It will rely on a CableCutter for dual deployment, and now I have a LOT more confidence that things will work as I want them to when this rocket is ready to fly. Preliminary sims show altitudes of 18,000'+ and I REALLY don't want my mains to deploy early, or things to get tangled on the descent. With this setup I'm confident they won't.
thanks TRF folk for guiding me to this place, especially WoShuGui for the foam ball idea,
s6
