Mylar visibility device

[iter]

I flew a new (at least for me) recovery aide this past Saturday in my BFT 4 rocket. The rocket was visible all the way from apogee at 7,500' down. Motor was L850.

The device is a mylar emergency blanket. I use simple paper tape to attach the mylar to droug(less) train. I keep one end of the blanket folded for easy taping and to prevent tears. The other I fan out for visibility. I'm waiting for in-flight images to bubble up. In the meantime, here are before and after shots.

These blankets cost less than a dollar apiece (e.g. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004356WLY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20) and take very little space in the rocket. The surface is highly reflective and irregular, which means that it reflects sunlight from any angle. During descent, it looks like a glittering light floating down.

Ari.

 

[K'Tesh]

Ladies and gentlemen, here is the latest bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News. It is reported that at 8:50 P. M. a huge, glittering light, believed to be a rocket, fell on a farm in the neighborhood of Grovers Mill, New Jersey, twenty-two miles from Trenton.

 

[Nick@JET]

Glad to see it done, I've been thinking along the same lines but thought it would rip and shred, no evidence of that?

 

[iter]

Glad to see it done, I've been thinking along the same lines but thought it would rip and shred, no evidence of that?

Surprised me, too.

Ari.

 

[stealth6]

Not to be a naysayer but.....
These types of mylar blankets/banners/streamers/etc. DO shred. Pretty commonly in fact. And then what you have is a big shiny piece of trash blowing away somewhere far downrange, very unlikely to be recovered by the flyer. Not a good thing.

Now, that said, this CAN still work and be a great idea. A bit of ripstop nylon tape can do the trick, or even some reinforced packing tape. A little bit of thinking and tweaking and this idea can be made to work in the way you intend, and still provide a fair degree or reliability to stay intact. But even then, it's possible for it to come apart resulting in litter (and pretty bad litter at that).

I think you got lucky this time.

Tweak it a bit, and "get lucky" most every time from now on.

ssix

 

[iter]

A little bit of thinking and this idea can be made to work

Thank you for this recommendation.

Ari.

 

[CORZERO]

I'm using this stuff in 2 inch for low and mid power stuff. Works like a charm and never had a problem. I often use about 10-15 feet rolled up with the parachute even in smaller low power tubes.

https://www.stumpsparty.com/event/silver-metallic-streamers/pgp/stmsil?addFlag=1

If you are shredding mylar, you are doing something wrong.