I've been using Rocksim to design a rocket, and I am running into issues concerning parachute size. I was looking at an Estes 24" plastic parachute. I add it in Rocksim, but it doesn't appear to change anything in the general tab. I had to use mass override to get the correct mass. Rocket weighs about 6.89oz coming down.
I've selected medium descent rate, and ran 10 sims. 3 out of 10 times, the descent rate is way too high - 18 to 19 fps. The others are about 13fps. Avg drift is 223 feet.
I change the option to low drift rate and Rocksim suggests a 27" parachute, which doesn't appear to actually exist. This improves things so that only 1 time out of 10 is the descent rate too high (17 fps), with avg drift being 266 feet.
Trouble is, nobody sells a 27" parachute. I haven't seen any 30" plastic parachutes, and nylon is probably going to be too heavy, lest I redesign the rocket again.
So my questions are these:
How accurate is Rocksim concerning parachute size and descent rate?
Given that I am generally launching my rockets on a grassy field, and the typical area rockets drift into are farm fields/grassy fields, is it likely that the higher descent rate with some of the 24" parachute launches will cause damage to my rocket?
I've selected medium descent rate, and ran 10 sims. 3 out of 10 times, the descent rate is way too high - 18 to 19 fps. The others are about 13fps. Avg drift is 223 feet.
I change the option to low drift rate and Rocksim suggests a 27" parachute, which doesn't appear to actually exist. This improves things so that only 1 time out of 10 is the descent rate too high (17 fps), with avg drift being 266 feet.
Trouble is, nobody sells a 27" parachute. I haven't seen any 30" plastic parachutes, and nylon is probably going to be too heavy, lest I redesign the rocket again.
So my questions are these:
How accurate is Rocksim concerning parachute size and descent rate?
Given that I am generally launching my rockets on a grassy field, and the typical area rockets drift into are farm fields/grassy fields, is it likely that the higher descent rate with some of the 24" parachute launches will cause damage to my rocket?