Cheap parachute

[DPatell]

I'm in a bind. The rocket I'm building will end up weighing around 20 pounds at recovery. I have a 52" Skyangle, but that brings my 16 pound Magnum down a little fast so it's not gonna cut it.

I looked at Aerocon, and I am right in their grey area. The 72" chute seems a little too small, but I may be wrong. The 17' is definately too big. I own 2 of the 66" chutes, but am not sure if I want to use dual chutes and risk tangling.

I really don't want to spend big bucks on a Skyangle L3 chute, or a Rocketman chute. Both are of superior quality, but you pay for it. I'd rather buy motors for my rocket than a parachute for it

Anyone know if the 72" chute from Aerocon will do the job? Or can someone point me in the direction of a reasonably priced parachute in the size I need? I'm looking in the neighborhood of $40-50.

 

[edwardw]

https://www.aeroconsystems.com/chutes/p6ft.htm

Is that the72" chute your looking at? If so on the page it says 'for a nominal 10 pound vehicle'. I don't know how it would react to an extra 10 lbs

Now if you had a true 72" hemispherical parachute and your rocket weighed 20 lbs, then it would drop at about 20 fps. That's a hard landing. To get it down to 15 fps you need to make your parachute a 96" hemispherical.

If you can find a good deal on a parachute that works that is one thing, but for me I don't think I'd trust me rocket to a 'cheap' parachute. Cheap to me means low quality. Just my opinon.

Edward

 

[Ryan S.]

dude I have been looking for the same thing, and the short answer to your question is; your not going to find one

 

[shrox]

Maybe two smaller chutes?

shrox

 

[edwardw]

Two 60" parachutes that are hemispherical ( like the military surplus one) would bring you down at about 17 fps. Not bad and probably cheaper too.


The reason prices get so high is because of material constraints. Most ripstop nylon comes in 60" widths. I have seen some in 90 and 120, but the price is much higher or you have to buy a lot (1200 yards) You then have to make your parachute use these widths, ie 60" wide panels on a hemispherical is the largest you can make them, so then you just have to add more panels.


Edward

 

[DPatell]

Allright, I'm in the $100 range no matter what...I am considering switching to a piston ejection system for the main chute bay and using dual 66" Aerocon chutes.

They will be on the end of a V shaped bridal, with the nosecone recovering on a 36" chute.

Think it'll work?

 

[Stones]

Sounds like it should work fine Dan. How long will the sides of the "V" be? I take it your talking each chute on it's own shockcord?

 

[DPatell]

yea, it will be a single length of 9/16" TN, about 30' long. In the middle, it will be tied so that there will be a loop, and 2 15' lengths of cord that will terminate in sewn loops for the chutes to attach to.

 

[edwardw]

There is a guy I have done business with on military surplus parachutes. His name is Jeffrey Radue. He has great prices on parachutes. For about $40 to $50 you could probably get two 60" chutes and a 36" from him.

I'll send you his e-mail via PM.

Here is a link to one of his E-bay auctions.

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2567&item=3168391340

Edward

 

[DPatell]

I own a pair of each already. Thanks for the link, though.

The drogue chute will be the Aerocon 27" X-Form.