Folding a Flat Parachute

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It was in the low 40's outside. I have all my parachutes out and hanging open in the hopes that that wil help along with talc and packing a little differently.
 
I tend to use heat shields, and wrap them around the parachute, but dog barf works, as well.

Don't pack the dog barf -- just drop it into the tube.

The parachute needs to be able to slide easily into (and out of!) the tube -- if you have to shove it in with a stick, you're asking for trouble.

-Kevin
Kevin
Quis que se “dog barf”? Thanks.
Steve
 
The biggest problem with dog barf is long term storage.

If you use 1/10 oz, which should be enough for most LPR flights, that's over 3,000 flight from a 19 lb bale. How long will you have to store that bale?

I use 3 large handfuls for my 4" rockets and that's about 3 oz. That is still over 100 flights. Many of those flights come back with most of the dog barf still in the rocket so I can probably get well over 200 4" rocket flights from a bale. It took me 10 years to get 50 flights on my first 4" rocket which is why I still have 1/4 of a bale left I bought 17 years ago. I would have more left, but I have had a 6" rocket in the mix for the last 5 years and that uses about 6 handfuls. That can go through a bale in about 50 flights. Since it only flies twice a year, that's still 25 years a bale.

I guess that's why most people call a bale a life time supply. You have to keep is somewhere!
 
It was a 12 inch plastic parachute in the Estes 7000 Bullpup. The lines were wrapped around it. I packed it the night before, I figured talcum powder would do the job but it didn't.
Yeah overnight...might be too much for Talcum Powder. Wrapping lines around chute per Estes is fine for Estes Model Rockets. Only on low altitude flights less than 100-150 feet do you have to worry. This method is good for nylon chutes and needed for Jolly Logic Chute Release. A little difficult on small plastic chutes....but, thanks if I ever buy the JLCR..i have demo to follow. Yes Jolly Logic has a video on their web site.
 
I'm a parachute rigger, so I will add my two cents.

Great job flaking the canopy but I would highly recommend against putting the lines inside the canopy, for two reasons.
There's the answer....with one significant exception -- do not wrap the lines around the canopy

Lines wrapped around nylon canopies is asking for the lines to shift in flight such that they get hung up and the chute doesn't deploy. I've never had it happen to me, but I've seen it several times.

Hope I'm not out of order bringing up an old thread, but I'm trying to learn here. If we're not supposed to put the lines inside the canopy and not supposed to wrap them around outside, then exactly where do we put them? Stuff them in a ball below the chute? :p

In my low power Estes/Centuri days as a kid I did the roll it up and wrap around method. I don't remember any failures but I'm sure I had some. I did have tangled chute lines afterwards frequently. Now I'm doing high power.
 
Hope I'm not out of order bringing up an old thread, but I'm trying to learn here. If we're not supposed to put the lines inside the canopy and not supposed to wrap them around outside, then exactly where do we put them? Stuff them in a ball below the chute? :p

In my low power Estes/Centuri days as a kid I did the roll it up and wrap around method. I don't remember any failures but I'm sure I had some. I did have tangled chute lines afterwards frequently. Now I'm doing high power.
Put them in the chute. NEVER wrap them around the chute.
Putting them in a tightly packed chute can cause so much friction under fact deployment that the lines damage the gores, but for most rocket deployment situations it's the lesser of the several parachute evils.
Perfect world, you have a deployment bag and can stow your lines correctly.
 
The best answer is a well-designed deployment bag, sized properly to the parachute. The bag will have line stows on it that hold the bag closed and the lines have to come off/out before the parachute can come out of the bag.

Putting the lines inside the parachute is the best approach, if you don't have a bag. Don't wrap lines around a nylon parachute.
 
I’ve y
The techniques to fold a flat parachute are very similar, but not identical, to folding a hemispherical.

Start with your parachute laid out flat, and inspect it for any burns, tears or other damage.

View attachment 145852

Next, straighten out the lines. Because of how the lines are attached (often in loops where a line is connected to two adjacement points, you won't be able to get rid of all of the twists. Remove as many of them as possible. In this instance, I've tied a simple overhand knot near the "bottom" of the lines, to provide an attachment point for the rest of the recovery system.

View attachment 145853

Once the lines are untangled, grab the center of the canopy with one hand and the bottom of the lines with the other, pull everything out straight, and lay it on the floor. Flake out all of the gores, so that the lines are all on one side, and the fabric on another. Since we're dealing with a single flat piece of fabric, it likely won't be perfect, but take the time to get it as close.

View attachment 145854

Now, hold the canopy in place with one hand and take a moment to pull the lines taught again (they'll creep as you flake the gores). Next, grab half the gores and flip them to the other side, so we have to piles of fabric, each with half the gores, and the lines coming out of the middle.

View attachment 145855

Hold the bottom (skirt) of the canopy down with one hand, grab the lines near the middle with the other, and pull the lines up into the canopy. You want the majority of the lines on the fabric, with a short "tail" below the skirt.

View attachment 145856
I’ve used this method successfully several times.
 
I watched a video on youtube and it makes a lot more sense. Couple questions. Since Im not wrapping the lines anymore and I put my folded parachute into a lets say 2.5 inch diameter rocket, it seems the parachute might sort of come undone a little. Am I right and would that be okay?

Secondly, little off topic, anything special on inserting a long shock cord? I was thinking multiple S shapes then dropping it in.
Z fold the cord into little z folded bundles of 4-5 loops each. Hod the bundles together with tiny rubber bands or single wraps of masking tape. This keeps everything organized and softens the deployment. Use 4-5 times the length of the rocket of non elastic cord like Kevlar or tubular nylon
 
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