36" mil surplus chute

[Zippy]

When I joined NAR I got this coupon for a free $10 value from Commonwealth Displays. What they sent me was the 36" chute.
It's white and has 9 shroud lines. One shroud line goes to the middle of the canopy. It also came with what looks like an itty bitty deployment bag marked "RAV F2-1, 1972". Does anyone know what it was used for originally ? And should I cut off the central shroud line ? I'm going to use it for a tall 2" rocket.

 

[AndyC]

Don't cut the centre shroud line. This line increases the drag produced by the chute (it's called a pulled-down-apex canopy).
I think the increase in drag is something like 10 -15%. I'm sure someone here will have the exact figure. Nice chutes - got a couple myself.

Cheers,

Andy.

 

[rbeckey]

They were originally used on military flares. They will work fine as they are. If you search for "flare chutes" you will find they have been mentioned several times. There are threads about everything from dying to flying them.

 

[Zippy]

Thanks guys. I think I'll leave it the way it is then. White should look kinda scale like and I don't want to bother dyeing it. The lines are a little short but it should work OK for a rocket I was going to use a smaller chute on anyway.