rc dude
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2012
- Messages
- 434
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Yes, it's 18". The biggest cases I might want are 54/1280 (12.5in), 38/1080 (18.8in), or 38/720 (13.2in).
However, I can get a nice range of I's and J's with 54/852 (9.1in), 38/600 (11.3in) and 38/480 (9.5in).
If I build it as instructed (with the short tube forward), then I have 18" minus 3 for the ebay minus 3 for the nose cone coupler/bulkplate, which means I need to fit the main chute and harness in about 12" of 54mm tube. At 3.5 lbs, it looks like the chute might be as large as 3.5 ft?? That seems like a lot of fabric and cord to fit in 12".
I'm not arguing, just fretting and pondering....
(PS to OP: what chute(s) are you using?)
I am using a homemade 48" hemispherical chute, which is in no way compact(I overbuilt it with nylon webbing loops for the shroud lines to attach to, and used 16 gores/shroud lines). I also am using a 20ft. 1/4" kevlar harness for my main. Making things even more difficult is the fact that my av-bay is 2" longer then the one that comes with the kit(the extra 2" is all in the upper tube), and I have an antenna inside the upper bay too.
So I have 18" minus 3" for the nosecone, 5" for the av-bay, leaving 10" for the recovery gear and antenna. It is a tight fit, that needs shear pins to hold the last 1/4" together, but it works. If you are buying a premade chute, and using the stock 6" av-bay, you should have plenty of room. Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Kyle
P.S. Be sure to do a build thread!