jcato
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OK,
Some of the comments over on the 'Three Canopies...' thread has prompted me to start a new one and we'll see how this goes (or how much interest there is). I still need to organize things a bit, but the request to see some other pics is something we can get out of the way up front (and this may clarify people's interest in this topic).
I'll simply add some of the other canopies (not Ringsail) in this post that I've constructed over the years (mostly 20+ years ago - in fact, I don't think I've done any canopy work in about that time). I'll have to refresh my memory on a few things - but that shouldn't take too much effort.
As to the 'backstory', I've just about always had a love of parachutes - don't know why - but, as a child, one of my first parachutes was about a 4 footer that I pieced together from some scrap military rip-stop (I remember orange and olive drab) and was the 'drag chute' behind my bicycle -- I'd get a running start down our street (in Atlanta) and let it drop. While I developed an appreciation of 'opening force', I don't remember that any of those deployments threw me over the handle bars <g> (Of course, it probably would have knocked me out - which would explain the, "I don't remember" part of it, no? <G>) I used to joke that I got into rocketry simply as a way to get my canopies in the air.
At any rate -- here's some of the other canopies I've put together (most of this in the late '80s to early '90s):
The first are some canopies that immediately preceded (in time) my ringsail. The 'rainbow' canopy is about 6 feet (I'd have to re-caculate the exact 'Do' (nominal diameter), but these figures are close enough for this) - 32 gores - 'Le/Do' about 1.5 (some of my earliest canopies started with a 'Le/Do' of about 1.0 - but I didn't like that ratio too much (here we see my trending to the look of the Apollo ringsails)). The red/white canopy is about 7 feet - again 32 gores:
Here, you see the 'baby' red/white -- about 2 feet - again 32 gores (I really like narrow gores - more work, but looks nicer). When you get down to 24 inch canopies at 32 gores, the sewing up at the apex vent becomes a near nightmare of tedium. The first is the 2 footer beside the 7 footer and the second the 2 footer alone. I've actually never finished this canopy -- got the actual canopy sewn, all the lines run but haven't yet terminated at the bridle (all my canopies use 'continuous line' construction - from link, up and over the canopy and down to opposite link (we'll talk more about this later)):
This is my 'Auburn' (or 'War Eagle') canopy - in honor of my Alma Mater. 4 footer x 24 gores (if I counted right). This canopy no longer is in my possession - as I flew it in the upper stage of my 1:3 Nike-Tomahawk in Wichita at LDRS 13 and it drifted away a few miles. Ross Dunton (of Magnum) returned the basic airframe to me 6 or 8 months later when down for a launch -- but.... no canopy. Canopies don't just disconnect themselves from rockets - so somebody's got themselves a nice canopy. Hope they are Auburn fans.
The similar sized 'rainbow' canopy (I believe 50-55inch) was actually my first canopy (of the 'modern era' - i.e. 1980s -- not from my childhood) that used continuous line construction and I'll talk about the slight differences between this and my later canopies to follow:
This is my 'Bulldog' canopy (in honor of my home state) - I didn't have to grit my teeth too hard in building this - mainly because it was THREE feet in diameter (compared to 4 feet for the 'War Eagle') I'm no fool. <g> Again, 24 gores - same general color patterning -- the silver represents the 'silver britches' of the Bulldogs. This, also, is no longer in my possession - but there was some 'trade' deal with Jim Balliro, a vascular surgeon from Tallahassee who used to fly with us here (I can't remember anymore what I got in trade - if it's less than a fine piece of real estate, Balliro got the better end of the deal <g>):
Finally, another pair of the 6 foot 'rainbow'
This should get us started,
-- john.
Some of the comments over on the 'Three Canopies...' thread has prompted me to start a new one and we'll see how this goes (or how much interest there is). I still need to organize things a bit, but the request to see some other pics is something we can get out of the way up front (and this may clarify people's interest in this topic).
I'll simply add some of the other canopies (not Ringsail) in this post that I've constructed over the years (mostly 20+ years ago - in fact, I don't think I've done any canopy work in about that time). I'll have to refresh my memory on a few things - but that shouldn't take too much effort.
As to the 'backstory', I've just about always had a love of parachutes - don't know why - but, as a child, one of my first parachutes was about a 4 footer that I pieced together from some scrap military rip-stop (I remember orange and olive drab) and was the 'drag chute' behind my bicycle -- I'd get a running start down our street (in Atlanta) and let it drop. While I developed an appreciation of 'opening force', I don't remember that any of those deployments threw me over the handle bars <g> (Of course, it probably would have knocked me out - which would explain the, "I don't remember" part of it, no? <G>) I used to joke that I got into rocketry simply as a way to get my canopies in the air.
At any rate -- here's some of the other canopies I've put together (most of this in the late '80s to early '90s):
The first are some canopies that immediately preceded (in time) my ringsail. The 'rainbow' canopy is about 6 feet (I'd have to re-caculate the exact 'Do' (nominal diameter), but these figures are close enough for this) - 32 gores - 'Le/Do' about 1.5 (some of my earliest canopies started with a 'Le/Do' of about 1.0 - but I didn't like that ratio too much (here we see my trending to the look of the Apollo ringsails)). The red/white canopy is about 7 feet - again 32 gores:
Here, you see the 'baby' red/white -- about 2 feet - again 32 gores (I really like narrow gores - more work, but looks nicer). When you get down to 24 inch canopies at 32 gores, the sewing up at the apex vent becomes a near nightmare of tedium. The first is the 2 footer beside the 7 footer and the second the 2 footer alone. I've actually never finished this canopy -- got the actual canopy sewn, all the lines run but haven't yet terminated at the bridle (all my canopies use 'continuous line' construction - from link, up and over the canopy and down to opposite link (we'll talk more about this later)):
This is my 'Auburn' (or 'War Eagle') canopy - in honor of my Alma Mater. 4 footer x 24 gores (if I counted right). This canopy no longer is in my possession - as I flew it in the upper stage of my 1:3 Nike-Tomahawk in Wichita at LDRS 13 and it drifted away a few miles. Ross Dunton (of Magnum) returned the basic airframe to me 6 or 8 months later when down for a launch -- but.... no canopy. Canopies don't just disconnect themselves from rockets - so somebody's got themselves a nice canopy. Hope they are Auburn fans.
The similar sized 'rainbow' canopy (I believe 50-55inch) was actually my first canopy (of the 'modern era' - i.e. 1980s -- not from my childhood) that used continuous line construction and I'll talk about the slight differences between this and my later canopies to follow:
This is my 'Bulldog' canopy (in honor of my home state) - I didn't have to grit my teeth too hard in building this - mainly because it was THREE feet in diameter (compared to 4 feet for the 'War Eagle') I'm no fool. <g> Again, 24 gores - same general color patterning -- the silver represents the 'silver britches' of the Bulldogs. This, also, is no longer in my possession - but there was some 'trade' deal with Jim Balliro, a vascular surgeon from Tallahassee who used to fly with us here (I can't remember anymore what I got in trade - if it's less than a fine piece of real estate, Balliro got the better end of the deal <g>):
Finally, another pair of the 6 foot 'rainbow'
This should get us started,
-- john.