Equinox - reducing two chutes to one?

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cappy227

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Hi gang,

I'm building the Custom Rocket Co. "Equinox," the Mean Machine -like tall rocket, 6'+ in height. It comes with two 18" chutes, but I'm thinking I'll reduce it to one single. Would I be ok using a 30" nylon chute? I have one here - but dunno. Kit says it's 5.7oz, but painted and loaded up I'm getting closer to 7oz. I'll be flying it with D- engines, so figure it'll get up around 500ft.?

Thanks in advance!

-Chris
 
Should be good with a 30" thin mill from topflight. They are very light and pack small. The size should be good also.
 
I’ve launched my Equinox a couple or three times with the original, admittedly less than great plastic twin chutes - works surprisingly well. What’s your reasoning for wanting to use one nylon chute? I’m thinking of switching to a single, bigger plastic chute since my nylon chutes are fairly thick “cheap-y” non-ripstops. Your altitude estimate is pretty close, on an Estes D12 mine hit just under 480 ft per my altimeter.
 
Thanks, Mike.

Scott, I simply haven't rigged a dual chute rig before and figured I'd try to set myself up with one less thing to tangle up. Just ease of operation, that's all.
 
Makes sense! Quality in Custom Rockets can be a little hit-or-miss - mostly good though. If you use the stock chutes my advice is don’t be stingy with powdering them - more talc is better to keep them from sticking. Good luck and enjoy the neat slow motion liftoff of a six foot rocket over the slow burn of an Estes D motor!
 
Should be good with a 30" thin mill from topflight. They are very light and pack small. The size should be good also.

Mike, how much of a weight difference is there between a Top Flight thin-mil, vs. a "Standard?" Should I avoid standards in low power rockets?
 
Fwiw the Estes Mean Machine used a single 24" parachute.


A 24" thin mil chute should be more than enough for the Equinox. I use the 30" thin mil on rockets weighing 28 oz and 22 oz and that doesn't include the motor casing. OP's rocket is at 7oz. I'd be afraid of the thing drifting away with a 30" chute, especially if it runs into a thermal. All my LPR and lots of my MPR rockets have the Top Flight thin mil chutes in them. They pack up nice, very supple, love 'em. No plastic chutes for me!
 
A 24" thin mil chute should be more than enough for the Equinox. I use the 30" thin mil on rockets weighing 28 oz and 22 oz and that doesn't include the motor casing. OP's rocket is at 7oz. I'd be afraid of the thing drifting away with a 30" chute, especially if it runs into a thermal. All my LPR and lots of my MPR rockets have the Top Flight thin mil chutes in them. They pack up nice, very supple, love 'em. No plastic chutes for me!

Thanks! I have the "Standard" chutes here, though - are they too heavy to include on LPRs?

Next decision to make is what chute on the Estes Big Daddy...
 
Thanks! I have the "Standard" chutes here, though - are they too heavy to include on LPRs?

Next decision to make is what chute on the Estes Big Daddy...
The trouble I have found with many standard weight chutes is their bulk, a 24" standard weight nay not pack loose enough into a BT60/38mm Airframe, hence the need for thin mill.

Dual chutes are fairly simple to pack, especially if they are attached to seperate rocket sections, make sure the upper sections chute goes into the lower (fin section) first, then put the lower sections chute in on top of it. That way as the upper chute is pulled out so is the lower chute.
 
I've launched my Equinox on D12's, E9's, E12's. A few times on AT SU E20's and E30's. The flights with the E12 went about 625 feet. I usually use a Top Flight 24" X-Form 'chute for recovery. Occasionally I'll use a 24" CATO 'chute if the X-Form is being used elsewhere. This is one of our favorite rockets (we have 3, 2 built and flight worthy and a 3rd one still in the package) and has made it to most of the launches we attend.
One of the things we have discovered is that using rail buttons instead of the launch lugs makes for a much more stable takeoff. A rocket this size likes to move around on the rod, even in the slightest breeze.
The other thing we did was made the rocket separate at the midpoint for easier transport and storage.
The other mods we did on our second one were to add a Estes 24mm retainer and upgrade the recovery system with Kevlar.
 
Hi gang,

I'm building the Custom Rocket Co. "Equinox," the Mean Machine -like tall rocket, 6'+ in height. It comes with two 18" chutes, but I'm thinking I'll reduce it to one single. Would I be ok using a 30" nylon chute? I have one here - but dunno. Kit says it's 5.7oz, but painted and loaded up I'm getting closer to 7oz. I'll be flying it with D- engines, so figure it'll get up around 500ft.?

Thanks in advance!

-Chris


30" seems... excessive for a rocket that light, but if the 30" has as low a Cd as the pair of 18's, it may be about equal in performance. Not being familiar with the 30" you mentioned, I'd ask about its opening characteristics, if your expected ceiling is only 500'. I'd think a smaller, faster-opening chute would be in more desirable in that flight plan--which may be why the manufacturer went with a pair of 18's in the first place.

You certainly could use a smaller single chute than a 30", if the chute replacement has a higher Cd. Consider the graph below. That's for a 15" chute with a 1.6 Cd.



Later!

--Coop

BLS-15 TARC-15 detail.jpg
 
30" seems... excessive for a rocket that light, but if the 30" has as low a Cd as the pair of 18's, it may be about equal in performance. Not being familiar with the 30" you mentioned, I'd ask about its opening characteristics, if your expected ceiling is only 500'. I'd think a smaller, faster-opening chute would be in more desirable in that flight plan--which may be why the manufacturer went with a pair of 18's in the first place.

You certainly could use a smaller single chute than a 30", if the chute replacement has a higher Cd. Consider the graph below. That's for a 15" chute with a 1.6 Cd.



Later!

--Coop


All sizes of the TF thin mil chutes I have open great. I've never had one not open, and I fold them the classic Estes way, wrapping the shroud lines around the outside of the folded chute. I can't think of anything worse than a plastic chute as far as opening goes.
 
Hello, i was wondering if anyone has tried an 18" nylon chute on a mean machine instead of the 24? Would the decent rate be to fast or would it bring it down faster and safely?
 
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