recovery ?? who's chute to use ???

My L-2 Build will come in at just about 9.5lbs , Im pretty sure I need to be in the 60inch range for my main as far as chute goes - but the question becomes- what shape and who to but it from ??? I have an offer to loan me one for my cert- but again, I would prefer to have my own stuff at this point.
So if it was yours, what would You use ?? btw- Im going DD- drougue less/alt deploy.

If it were me I would use a BAMA chute

Andy Greene said:

My L-2 Build will come in at just about 9.5lbs , Im pretty sure I need to be in the 60inch range for my main as far as chute goes - but the question becomes- what shape and who to but it from ??? I have an offer to loan me one for my cert- but again, I would prefer to have my own stuff at this point.
So if it was yours, what would You use ?? btw- Im going DD- drougue less/alt deploy.

Click to expand...

First decide what are your main parameters with the chute. You are about to get a few dozen replies and in the end you will not have an answer. Decide what factors are most important; cost, quality, look, performance, how unique the chute is, weight, pack volume, durability, use with accessories such as chute release, ease of packing, reliability, etc. After you decide what is most important ask this question again with your wants and needs and you will get a better answer.

Hello Andy, I would highly recommend our 6ft Standard as your main parachute, I can make it any colors to match your rocket. Our Standard Chutes are only 4 lines, nearly impossible to tangle and perfect for a certification. https://the-rocketman.com/chutes-html/

What kind of car to drive? How tall should I be? Are there hats?

Recon Parachutes. Call Tim at Wildman. They're fantastic, super easy to pack and never fail.
https://wildmanrocketry.com/collections/parachutes
Or Top Flight Recovery. Call Preston. They're fantastic, easy to pack, and easy on the wallet.
https://topflightrecoveryllc.homestead.com/

dhbarr said:

What kind of car to drive? How tall should I be? Are there hats?

Click to expand...

The one thats faster than yours - 1 Inch taller than you - and less of a *** of course............
And no - hats are not reqiured , unless your wearing you *** hat as usual.
I got your point, just asked for input - not -------------
Thanks tho .

Bama Chutes nuff said. BJ can also make you a chute in any colors of your choice (yes I said colors, plural) https://www.bamachutes.com/

Andy Greene said:

The one thats faster than yours - 1 Inch taller than you - and less of a **** of course............
And no - hats are not reqiured , unless your wearing you *** hat as usual.
I got your point, just asked for input - not -------------
Thanks tho .

Click to expand...

Apologies, I figured that was a goofy enough response that no one could possibly take it seriously.

I shall return to the land of only serious answers to well asked questions.

My 10lb Tyrannosaur that I flew for my L2 comes down on a Rocketman. Nothing wrong with the Binder chute that came with it, just too small. I have 2 other Rocketman chutes as well. I can't get the descent rate right with the Rocketmans though. They descend a lot faster than the sims and descent charts say they will. But I am sure it is just a loose nut in the way.
My first fiberglass rocket still uses the Spherachute I bought for it.
My first custom scratch still uses dual chutes from Rocketchutes.com - they even sent me a nice pen that I have misplaced, more likely someone misplaced it for me.
Many of my rockets use TopFlight. Not fancy but they simply work. Not sure if the bigger ones are available in "thin-mil" and at some point they get more shroud lines.
I've seen one Bama in action, would compare the one I saw to a Spherachute construction wise...just a bit different.

Your budget, frugality, and particular needs will mostly determine what you will fly.
Customer service goes a long way for me too. Some vendors build rapport and carry on conversations, some are all business and some blatantly refuse to sell you products listed on their site (none I have mentioned in this post).
All of Rocketman's are built from "thin-mil" stuff IIRC, in lots of colors. So they will be thinner and pack smaller. I believe they will do custom colors and chutes as well. Saw one recently with a nice alien head sewn into it. The "original" Rocketman only has 4 lines so less to tangle though the only chute I have had tangle was an X-form/X-type. They offer many more styles now of course.
For elipticals, Spherachutes I think are the cheapest.

Men without hats can always dance if they want to, and they can leave your friends behind...I wear a hat...so...whatever. Wait...What?

fruitychutes has a pretty good calculator that lets you compare their chutes to many other manufacturers:

https://fruitychutes.com/help_for_p...scent-rate-calculator?term=CFC-12&weight=0.54

Like others have said, keep in mind things like packed size, price, deployment, toughness, etc..
I went with a FruityChutes Iris, and absolutely love the way it looks. Only one flight with it so far, but it has worked exactly as advertised, and folds very compactly.
The downside; Price. Doesn't appear to be tolerant of rough handling. Packing it properly takes quite some time, and initially should only be attempted on a table at home.

dhbarr said:

What kind of car to drive? How tall should I be? Are there hats?

Click to expand...

MikeyDSlagle said:

My 10lb Tyrannosaur that I flew for my L2 comes down on a Rocketman. Nothing wrong with the Binder chute that came with it, just too small. I have 2 other Rocketman chutes as well. I can't get the descent rate right with the Rocketmans though. They descend a lot faster than the sims and descent charts say they will. But I am sure it is just a loose nut in the way.

Click to expand...

If you try to calculate the Cd of the Rocketman chutes based off of their tables you will see that their reported Cd is off. It is not the 1.85 or the .97, the average between all sizes of their standard is a Cd of .8359015926 at 17fps. Lowest is a Cd of .74 and highest of .90. Also, if you watch any videos or you look closely when you next fly a RM standard chute you will notice that the chute jellyfishes. This means it is continually cycling through fast to slow to fast to slow....descent speeds. This also means that the chutes do not stabilize. The chute design used in the standard RM chutes was pioneered about 10 years before Ky started making them. The company that originally made them quickly discovered the instability issue and fixed it by using an apex pull down center line to ease radial forces and allow the parabolic cups (the arms) to present better to the air flow. The company also discovered that vents in the crown area stabilized the chutes better. The company was Jegs. So next time you use a RM chute use 0.83 for the Cd and you should be spot on (unless the descent tables are also inaccurate).

Rocketman

SkyAngle. 60"
https://www.b2rocketry.com/Classic.htm

As you can see, these suggestions are not based on your needs but simply throwing out names of chute manufacturers. There is even a manufacturer that did not probe your recovery needs but already offered a suggestion. For all we know you have a mass budget of 48 grams and a restricted volume of 6 cubic inches. If you present what you are specifically looking for (i.e. cost, weight, volume, color, crowd pleasing, quality, features, etc) then you can narrow your search down instead of getting a ton of opinions with nobody asking about if it will actually fulfill your needs. I can suggest Airborne Systems in California and I guarantee they will develop the single greatest parachute system you've even owned but they are also the manufacturers of all the space capsule recovery systems. This might not fit into your budget. Then you have the opposite side of using a trash bag with lines attached by tape (this would in fact work), but I'm sure this does not fulfill your needs either. If I ask a non-descript question about what motor to use for my cert flight I will just get random suggestions. But if I say I plan on only flying a L2 once so I don't want hardware I will get better suggestions. If I say I want the lowest cost, I will get better suggestions. If I say I want to product the most black smoke on the pad, I will get better suggestions. Basically what I am saying is that nobody on this thread knows what you are looking for or what the main deciding factors are. If they stand to make money off of you and have not asked the basic questions then you have to wonder if they care about your success or your money. Successful certification is about planning. Nobody plans to fail, but only fails to plan. You should have a recovery plan in place before searching for a chute. This also makes narrowing the search a lot easier. Now to put nonsense in because most people won't read this far because it is not a simple few work suggestion like, "go with so and so...they're the best". Did you know that the first successful large parachute test was done by a guy wearing a parachute that looked more like a picnic table umbrella? The chute's top was attached by hinges to his belt and the chute had wood boards running down the radial seams for rigidity. Another chutism, the Cd is not constant and changes based on the q (dynamic pressure). Most manufacturers might take the highest recorded Cd and advertise that as there true Cd when it could be way off from the real average Cd that has been offset due to the q.

Andy Greene said:

My L-2 Build will come in at just about 9.5lbs , Im pretty sure I need to be in the 60inch range for my main as far as chute goes - but the question becomes- what shape and who to but it from ??? I have an offer to loan me one for my cert- but again, I would prefer to have my own stuff at this point.
So if it was yours, what would You use ?? btw- Im going DD- drougue less/alt deploy.

Click to expand...

Aerocon 60" - $12

https://aeroconsystems.com/cart/all-parachutes/60-inch-white-parachute/

Tony

Andy Greene said:

My L-2 Build will come in at just about 9.5lbs , Im pretty sure I need to be in the 60inch range for my main as far as chute goes - but the question becomes- what shape and who to but it from ??? I have an offer to loan me one for my cert- but again, I would prefer to have my own stuff at this point.
So if it was yours, what would You use ?? btw- Im going DD- drougue less/alt deploy.

Click to expand...

Specifically...
I have a 9.5 lbs Wildman Demon, and I use a Recon 40, which packs small enough to fit in the nosecone for Head-End Deployment.
It's only got 4 shroud lines, packs very easily in different configurations depending on what you're using it for, always inflates perfectly, and was designed for high power rocketry. I would recommend it as the go-to recovery system even if Wildman wasn't nearby.
If one wanted something cheaper and still very high quality with choice of material and color, you really can't beat Top Flight.
Both Wildman and Top Flight are flyers, know the hobby, and will help you find exactly what you need.
I cannot recommend them enough.
I'm sure other manufacturers are great. I'm sure you could over-science the heck out of this question. Or you could just get what works. In which case, Recon or Top Flight are the best for a reason.

Andy,
Good luck finding the best chute for you. As you can see there’s no simple answer. Each of us can tell you what we like and why, but none of us can perfectly predict what you will like.
This is one reason it’s so important to build multiple rockets and fly them using different components at the earlier stages of certification. By doing so you become exposed to different types of construction, different brands of chutes, electronics, etc.
I would recommend attending several club launches and walking around looking at what others are doing. Ask to watch them prepare their chutes. If it’s a large chute offer to help. Chances are you’ll come away with a little bit of a preference. In essence that’s what you’re doing here.
Your L2 chute experience may easily directly affect your L3 choice of chutes. You’re doing the right thing by asking for suggestions.
I’ve used different chutes over time. Some of the PML chutes seemed pretty stiff, but they worked well for a simply built chute. I used them for L1 and L2. When I got into my L3 project I paid attention to what my nearest TAP used and saw how well it worked. His go to chutes were Rocketman. I copied him without really knowing what else was out there. I haven’t tried many other chutes over the years, but there are lots of really cool looking ones that didn’t exist 15 years ago. As long as you keep your deployment speed down nearly any good chutes will work.

dhbarr said:

Apologies, I figured that was a goofy enough response that no one could possibly take it seriously.

I shall return to the land of only serious answers to well asked questions.

Click to expand...

My apologies , I shouldnt have knee jerk replied with that response.
You just caught me on "one of those days " - again , sorry.
Thanks for the replies, I wasn't clear on my original post and I "get" the responses. I have yet to purchase a large chute since my return as a BAR and was really looking for responses to manufactures that have provided you a quality product " that worked well for you " and good cust service. Should have been a little clearer than my original post,
Thanks again for the replies .

I find BAMA chutes has great customer service and a very comprehensive line of chutes. He only does custom orders at this time. He will work with you to dertermine your needs and wants and provide you with a high quality product at an affordable price.

My 4" Solar Warrior weighs about that. I have used the Recon 50" and Top Flight 58" with good results. My main compartment is small and I found the Top Flight packs down smaller.

Go with Top Flight Recovery or Wildman Recon. Both owners of each companies are flyers and have the knowledge to help you out.