Hey wait, this build wasn't actually finished. Still need to assemble the parachute... which is interesting enough to warrant a build post.
The entire parachute is done in an impressively yellow scheme to match the rocket. Here are the parts:
Yellow canopy, gold jewelry tags, yellow thread, and a brass snap-swivel. What about that shock cord??? (It's quite short and I won't be using it anyway).
The canopy is pre-cut to size and shape, and a hole is punched at each corner.
The Tyvek jewelry tags are apparently a Newway tradition, an alternative to the punched holes and loose leaf reinforcements typical of Estes chutes. Although I don't think they're usually gold like this.
The canopy is already cut to size, so no work needed there. The jewelry tags are affixed to each vertex of the hexagon:
This really is a good way to attach the shroud lines. The adhesive of the tags seems quite strong, and Tyvek is basically untearable. Because the round pads are affixed over the pre-punched holes, the two ends of the tag stick to each other as well as the plastic chute, making the whole thing very solid.
Three pieces of yellow thread are pre-cut to length, and need to be attached to the canopy in standard fashion. With my Estes chutes, I normally just tie a square not on each corner and it's fine. This particular thread, however, was having none of that; the knots pulled out very easily. Annoyed, I put this down for a while and started my "
I suck at knots" thread (no pun intended).
Eventually i decided on the
Non-slip Mono knot which had worked well for tying the Kevlar in my Break-Away, but it was quite a bit more challenging with this thread, while trying not to leave too long a tail when finished. Also I found it difficult to precisely control how big the loop ended up, so they're all different sizes all around the chute. Fortunately that doesn't matter. And true to its name, those knots do not slip. I also added a touch of TBII to each knot to secure it further.
Finally it is attached to the snap swivel and the parachute is finished:
Hooray.
I'll spare you pictures of the shock cord attachment, which is routine. Now this rocket is *finished*.
Epilogue: those who've build a Newway rocket may be wondering about the little insert that illustrates a good knot to use for the shroud lines. I'm not sure exactly what knot it is, but I thought I had lost that little piece of paper, and certainly the non-stick mono seemed to do the job quite well. Well, as I was finishing up, I found the little sheet. I'll have to go back and try that knot sometime, and also identify it (might be a bowline, but not sure).
