Brent
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Don't pet the fluffy cows.
Kit chutes too small
- Thread starter Azamiryou
- Start date
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You must seek out the knowledge and techniques that will set you on the path to less damage. However, there is the harsh reality that rockets break and get beat up with use, even with big Estes chutes at altitude. So frustrating for this Youngling. Always repairing rockets!
The Master Jedi (Levels Two and Three) give me hard lessons and tell me many ancient and modern durability secrets. Then I go crazy with modifications and bullet proof my birds. The Masters warn me that too much bulletproofing will put me on the path to the Dark Side...but I just can't take the damage after soooo much work on building and finishing! HELP ME OBI-WAN KENOBI! YOU'RE MY ONLY HOPE!
Then, after a time, I finally realized repair work could be fun. But it was too late for me, having spent way too much time in the oddroc cantinas after the launch.
Before I fly any rocket for the first time I picture it as a burning pile of goo on the high Prairie. If I can not live with the vision, then I don't push the button, but, I have always pushed the button. Mostly Triumph! But sometimes total failure. A long recovery walk and return carrying a shattered dream. Head down low, embarrassment walking by the Masters. A good cry back in the cab of the truck. Bootstrap time.
Oh, but I can't resist a selfie with the cute critters for my social media presence back in the big city!
Finally a use for quarter inch and thicker rods. A little tape and instant selfie stick! YIPPEE!
Oh, I found it: bigger chutes! (Or move to a lower elevation.)
If your descent speed is too fast, why continue cutting the spill holes in them?
If it works, don't have to fix it!
A strong belief that the benefit of stability outweighs the ~6 sq. inches of plastic.
It's possible this belief is off-base.
Yes, this was a "what's up with this?" question, not a "I need help solving a problem" question.
mh9162013
Well-Known Member
I find that I make most of my LPR kits' parachutes smaller, add spills holes or use the one provided in the kit (and keep it stock) even though the kit ends up being 50% - 110% heavier than it "should" be. But I launch in a small, grassy field, so I need fast descent times to avoid feeding the trees.
Yeah, I ask Estes "Whats up with all these 24mm CATOS and lack of ejection charges?" Alas, I haven't heard an answer and my rockets are sure not going up or are becoming core samples when they do.
Darn it Estes!
What do you mean by 'benefit of stability'?
A swinging rocket is likely to hit the ground harder than one that's not swinging. I've also read that as a chute without a spill hole tips, it dumps a lot of air at once, allowing for much more speed until it fills up with air again.
So without a spill hole, the rocket's speed at impact depends where it is in its swing, and where it is in the chute's fill-dump-fill cycle.
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What's your site elevation?
Interesting. I'm not familiar with those theories.
mh9162013
Well-Known Member
About 500 feet above sea level.
Post launch repair means it's time for Rocket Hospital. A place of contemplative recuperation.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threa...-and-without-a-spill-hole.172216/post-2268187
There are other threads around here, too, worth searching to read some.
I, for one, was convinced, and I really like my spill holes even if it's the spill holes rather than elevation making my rockets come down too hard.
That thread seems crystal clear that your spill chutes are increasing the descent rate significantly (check the chart in @lakeroadster's post in particular. It seems like you're spending a lot of time trying to resolve a problem with a very simple solution.
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I have the opposite problem. If I use the chute the kit comes with my rockets float away, and often wind up in trees or lost in the brush, and then become almost un-locatable. I'm in NJ and we launch at or near sea-level, but we have strong winds on some days, so I am forced to 'under chute' my rockets and go at least one-size smaller.
But I also need to say that I've had much better luck with nylon chutes than the estes plastic ones. I've even purchased a 9" nylon for some of my smaller rockets. For example, the Goblin normally comes down on a streamer, but there's effectively no difference between a streamer and a 9" chute as my Goblin is a little heavier than stock due to the way I built it.
I don't mind the occasional snapped fin because the alternative is that I lose the rocket entirely. Too big a chute and the rocket doesn't come back. But if I were you, I'd buy a few different nylon chutes, put some kind of quick disconnect system on them, and fly them and take notes on what works best for a particular weight'ed rocket.
But I also need to say that I've had much better luck with nylon chutes than the estes plastic ones. I've even purchased a 9" nylon for some of my smaller rockets. For example, the Goblin normally comes down on a streamer, but there's effectively no difference between a streamer and a 9" chute as my Goblin is a little heavier than stock due to the way I built it.
I don't mind the occasional snapped fin because the alternative is that I lose the rocket entirely. Too big a chute and the rocket doesn't come back. But if I were you, I'd buy a few different nylon chutes, put some kind of quick disconnect system on them, and fly them and take notes on what works best for a particular weight'ed rocket.
Mid-South Rocket Society in Memphis has Rocket Eating Trees, crops, tall cotton, bugs and all sorts of critters. They even have Fluffy Cows, which if you land in their pen, the park rangers have to let you in. Don’t bring your roller skates as you know what they say.
Spherachutes.com has a Descent-Rate-Chart for Sea Level, 5,000' and 10,000' using their chutes.
https://spherachutes.com/pages/decent-rate-chart
Vendors often tell you to upsize your chute if you fly at higher elevations. I seem to recall that some vendors even offered a larger chute at purchase specifically for higher elevations.
Thank you, that's excellent data. It looks like the same chute is recommended for about 20% more weight at sea level compared to 5000 feet. So if I assume any kit chute is designed for sea level, I should be able to make one about 20% bigger (by area; 10% bigger across) and expect it to perform well at 5500'.
That's good to know. I haven't run across it, but that's excellent customer service. (And it confirms for me that elevation really does make a big enough difference to need a bigger chute.)
