Playing With Descent Rate

[GrossApproximator]

I think I read somewhere that it is possible to clamp a parachute's shroud lines together at some point: This partially collapses the parachute and increases the rocket's descent rate. Has anyone ever tried this before? I've had it happen to one of my rockets unintentionally (it has a rotating parachute and its swivel had too much friction . . . I need to put on a better swivel), but I've never partially collapsed a parachute one purpose.

 

[n5wd]

Has anyone ever tried this before?

Sure! It's known as "reefing" a chute. You can try it a couple of ways... tape the shroud lines together at various points up and down the line... you get more effect the higher up you go. And, you can tape adjoining chute sections together at the bottom of the chute material instead of the shroud lines, so they have little or no effect on the descent rate making a, say, 12 panel 24" chute into a 10-panel 18-inch or so chute. It's one of the ways we taught our TARC teams to control the rate of descent without having to buy another chute!

 

[GrossApproximator]

Cool. I recently bought a brand new spherachute. However, to take the greatest advantage of the sale, I had to buy a much larger chute than I needed. It's good to know that my rocket won't be drifting to the next county or something .