What did we do wrong?

Tried a delayed deploy with an Eggtimer TRS and a Cable Cutter. Used a F15-8 motor which was about two seconds too late on the separation. Could that have cause the tangling?

Was the parachute attached directly to the nose cone or to a loop partway down the harness? the picture is not real clear about the harness configuration. Looks like the cable cutter did its job, the late deployment may have contributed to the tangling.

Was the motor the backup? Or was there a apogee deployment charge fired by the altimeter?

Rich,

The parachute was attached to a short shock cord as recommended by the cable cutter. Separation was by the F15-8 motor. And yes the cable cutter worked fine. Unfortunately the short shock cord and wiring for the cutter got tangled with the parachute.

The booster being above the nose cone it not ideal since the shock cord can tangle as the cable cutter deploys the main. You want the bundle with the main above everything as the parts fall. The late motor deploy may have let the cord tangle after apogee. Since you have the nose over channel available on the Egg Timer, you can separate electronically at apogee with motor back up. That may reduce the chances of tangling. Also, a small drogue attached to the bundle would help keep things organized and can be used to help pull out the main after the cable is cut.

I'm not real familiar with cable cutters, but I have found that whenever you have two shock cord, one between the fin can and nose cone, and another with a parachute, or cable cutter in this case, they will almost always tangle.

If they work the first time or two, that's the worst scenario because when they do tangle you think you did something wrong when actually the tangle is normal and you just got lucky the first few times.

I can't tell very well but it looks like the shock cord could also be a elastic type, which due to the rebounding after hitting full extension could cause some tangling.

Cable cutters are tad on the finicky side.
I've flown one about 3-4 times....
The first worked perfectly and the rest of the flights had issues.


JD