Locked and loaded.

Here is my large rocket recovery set. I use it for both my 8" Formula 200 and 7.5" MegaNuk. Sorry for the blurriness. Don't know why my phone did that. Anyway...



Left bundle is the 60" PML drogue in a 36" Nomex protector, half-way down the harness, harness Z-folded and rubber banded.

Right bundle is the 15' military silk main in a Fruity D-bag, wrapped in another 36" Nomex, with harness Z-folded. Swivels are ball-bearing.

These guys are ready to slide into either rocket when I decide, based on weather, what I will launch. They go in easy. Attach quick-links, attach coupler to payload with metal screws. Add shear pins. ready to launch.

AV bays are already loaded with matches, batteries and powder. Ready to rumble!

I have a Loki M1650-CT, a Loki L1842-LB, and an EX N2100 to choose from for our launch in February.

Wow, a 15 ft. main chute? And L, M, and N motors? I bow down to you, sir.

Excellent setup!

How do you ensure the main is pulled out of the D-bag? Just the momentum of the NC pulling on everything when it's blown off the BT? Where is the cord attached to the bag and chute?

A 60" drogue is pretty huge. I use a 30" drogue on both of my 75 lb rockets.

Smokin set up John..
Love that it's interchangeable ( use in multiple rockets )..
Those harnesses look super cool too,, lol..

But I do agree with Nathan,,
drogue is too big..
With too big of a drogue everything hangs straight down from the drogue,
forcing the payload section / nosecone to be pointed straight down and
holding it there so that it fires directly into the path of everything else that's falling..
Way too big of a drogue is a great entanglement risk for this reason.
And in my opinion, is exactly why those that propose to fly drogue-less feel the way they do--
drogues are bad, make entanglements..

Teddy

Um, Ted, you sold me the drogue and recommended it for my Formula 200.... I was using a 36" TFR before that, but the shroud line kept ripping. I may get a 36" Rocket Man at some point.

Handeman said:

Excellent setup!

How do you ensure the main is pulled out of the D-bag? Just the momentum of the NC pulling on everything when it's blown off the BT? Where is the cord attached to the bag and chute?

Click to expand...

A pilot cute is attached the top of the D-bag. The top of the main is attached to the internal loop of the D-bag. Weight of the NC falling opens the pilot, which suspends the D-bag. Weight of the rest of the rocket falling pulls the main out of the D-bag.

I remember that,,
there was a reason for it..
What was the weight you quoted me ??
Nathan said HIS rocket is 75 lbs..
I think yours is more..
How heavy is it ??

Teddy

55# w/out motor. With the N in it, pad weight is 80#, descent weight is 67#. I do think the drogue is a little too big, but I have had success with it, and am reluctant to change.

Bat-mite said:

55# w/out motor. With the N in it, pad weight is 80#, descent weight is 67#. I do think the drogue is a little too big, but I have had success with it, and am reluctant to change.

Click to expand...

If you've already flown it how does everything fall from apogee ??
Is everything hanging straight down from the drogue ??
Or does the booster and payload section form an inverted "V"
with the payload section pointed out and away from everything else ??
Like this--
https://onebadhawk.com/mars-8222015.html

Teddy

Hard to tell via eyeball. Waiting for peter to upload the video. MDRA hasn't posted a video since June!

On big projects I think it is better to recover the NC on its own chute. The Deployment bag is connected to the NC and when the webbing is fully extended the main will come out of the bag. The NC chute is packed on top of the DBag so it is protected but we always add a bit of wadding. We keep the dbag opening folded over and held with 1/2 in masking tape which breaks at full webbing extension releasing the main. We have over 50 flights this way with no issues.

5x7 said:

On big projects I think it is better to recover the NC on its own chute. The Deployment bag is connected to the NC and when the webbing is fully extended the main will come out of the bag. The NC chute is packed on top of the DBag so it is protected but we always add a bit of wadding. We keep the dbag opening folded over and held with 1/2 in masking tape which breaks at full webbing extension releasing the main. We have over 50 flights this way with no issues.

Click to expand...

Yep, lots of people do that. It is a viable option, but not one I considered at the time, primarily due to not wanting to add complexity (it was my first D-bag use) or cost (two mains). And I don't want to change it now because what I am doing is working.

Bat-mite said:

Yep, lots of people do that. It is a viable option, but not one I considered at the time, primarily due to not wanting to add complexity (it was my first D-bag use) or cost (two mains). And I don't want to change it now because what I am doing is working.

Click to expand...

That's how I did my L3. The nosecone pulls away on a separate pilot. Cuts the weight of the main body by about 8 lbs.

My rocket is 65# on the pad when using a Loki M1969. I have a 3' drogue, and it falls almost spread out nice and linear. Very very slight inverted V in it. Seemed to be the perfect size.

Bat-mite said:

A pilot cute is attached the top of the D-bag. The top of the main is attached to the internal loop of the D-bag. Weight of the NC falling opens the pilot, which suspends the D-bag. Weight of the rest of the rocket falling pulls the main out of the D-bag.

Click to expand...

That is very similar to what I did, except I attached the NC to the pilot chute which was sized to drop the nose cone about 3 - 5 ft/sec slower then the main drops the rocket. I also have a 100 ft of 150 lb dacron line connecting the d-bag to the top of the main chute that keeps the pilot and nose cone attached to the main, but because they drop slower, they always stay above the main.

Handeman said:

That is very similar to what I did, except I attached the NC to the pilot chute which was sized to drop the nose cone about 3 - 5 ft/sec slower then the main drops the rocket. I also have a 100 ft of 150 lb dacron line connecting the d-bag to the top of the main chute that keeps the pilot and nose cone attached to the main, but because they drop slower, they always stay above the main.

View attachment 372198

Click to expand...

Cool. A slightly different approach with the same end. That is the neat thing about rocketry -- there's no one right way to do it.

The video is up! Here's how mine works. Not sure why the main took so long to inflate, but it was of no consequence.

That's me doing LCO duty.