Chutes: Flat Sheet vs. 'Funky'

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MCriscione

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Alright, I'll make this brief. I'm looking for a chute for my 2.6" L1/L2 bird. It only has a 16" payload section, of which only about 10" is usable space after shoulders and other protrusions are accounted for. I need to stuff a harness and chute in there. (or swap the main to the rear and just put the drogue up front?)

I'm between getting a simple flat sheet chute from TFR, or a quantitatively 'better' one from Rocketman. It's only about a $15 difference, not too bad, but I'm worried about getting the Rocketman chute into the forward bay.

Is this an issue. Am I imagining things? Is this just nerves?

What are the advantages of going one way or the other? I'll probably fly this one again in the future, possibly on things as large as K's and L's given the right waiver (LDRS?)

Rambling, Stopping now. oh, currently, largest engine for the L2 flight will put me right about 6 lbs, and I'm more comfortable with a slow decent so I was looking at the RM 5' or TRF 50".

~2 weeks to go...
 
I stuffed a 4' rocket man and 15 foot of 9/16" TN in the front of my screech. 7.5 pounds on the pad with a K1127

Came down well 4 times with that chute.

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Thanks for the input David! I'm glad to know a 4' will fit. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the descent speed though. From your plots it looks like 34 ft/s? I was hoping for about half that. Right now I'm leaning towards a TFR chute that will be larger and pack a bit smaller (I hope!). On the other hand, on a windy day, a 4' might be perfect to bring it down a bit more quickly. Any body else have thoughts?
 
If space is an issue Fruity Chutes are probably the best option. I think that a flat "parasheet" probably won't bring your rocket down slower for a given volume, as any packing benefit will be offset by poorer performance.
 
Mark
Our TFR flat sheet will work very well for you. If space is a issue we can make a Par50 for you out of our Thin Mill fabric which will save you some space. We make many Par120s for the UAV/Drone market out of TM fabric.
 
If space is an issue Fruity Chutes are probably the best option. I think that a flat "parasheet" probably won't bring your rocket down slower for a given volume, as any packing benefit will be offset by poorer performance.

FruityChutes are clearly excellent quality, and I'd love to own one. But I can't justify spending +3X more than the other options. TRF ~$30, Rocket Man $45, Fruity $100-125?

Mark
Our TFR flat sheet will work very well for you. If space is a issue we can make a Par50 for you out of our Thin Mill fabric which will save you some space. We make many Par120s for the UAV/Drone market out of TM fabric.

This may be a good choice and I may have to give you a call. The only issue is that I'd need it by Aug. 6th.
 
Fruity chutes went UAV and lost thier fool minds on prices. Whatever works for them I guess.

Its a bit quick, but landing in plowed fields is nice. On my videos none of the touch downs look especially violent.
 
David
We here at TFR hear that same thing all the time that Fruity's prices have changed. We just shipped a 200 unit order to a UAV Co. Fruity makes a great chute but I feel its just to costly to produce. For 25 years TFR has always wanted to keep making a high quality chute at price that the masses can afford.
 
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I originally had a 24" custom color chute I got fir $42. Buried it 6' somewhere out there. Went to order another and its $60 for a stock one? great quality, sure. But it needs to be a pretty special project to sink that into it.
 
Go with Gary and Top Flight- he makes a great chute at very reasonable price. For a rock of this size I would go with the thin mill as Gary suggested. He once made me a thin mill 30" that packed in a really small space.

What diameter harness and what material?
 
I did settle on TFR and placed an order with Gary. I've got plenty of other thigns to 'worry' about between now and the flight, and concern over fitting a chute into my main bay seemed unnessisary. I think I'll look into constructing myself a nice one, as I'm a fair hand with a sewing machine. Never tried nylon before though. Should be interesting.
 
I hadn't checked Fruity's prices in a while, $140 for a 30" parachute is BANANAS! BANANAS! Two years ago I helped our local IREC team make a custom 16-foot toroidal parachute. Now I see why they wanted to make their own. For $115 in fabric plus some sewing lessons they made a very nice parachute. That price point just bottles my mind.

That being said, for most parachutes under 60", I go with a flat sheet. Easier and I can generally deal with the losses. Most of these rockets are sport fliers anyway. For larger than that I typically have a 96" I use. I have used Westmark fabrics for the 1.1oz calendared fabric. I did have to buy 25 yard minimum rolls, so choose your colors carefully.

Edward
 
Alright, I'll make this brief. I'm looking for a chute for my 2.6" L1/L2 bird. It only has a 16" payload section, of which only about 10" is usable space after shoulders and other protrusions are accounted for. I need to stuff a harness and chute in there. (or swap the main to the rear and just put the drogue up front?)

I'm between getting a simple flat sheet chute from TFR, or a quantitatively 'better' one from Rocketman. It's only about a $15 difference, not too bad, but I'm worried about getting the Rocketman chute into the forward bay.

Is this an issue. Am I imagining things? Is this just nerves?

What are the advantages of going one way or the other? I'll probably fly this one again in the future, possibly on things as large as K's and L's given the right waiver (LDRS?)

Rambling, Stopping now. oh, currently, largest engine for the L2 flight will put me right about 6 lbs, and I'm more comfortable with a slow decent so I was looking at the RM 5' or TRF 50".

~2 weeks to go...

This sounds a lot like my current project. 2.6" for L1 with a 16" payload, 38MMT. Recently shortened my booster section and somehow I cut the wrong mark or marked to tube wrong.:facepalm: Either way, now my booster is 23 rather than the 26 I wanted. Still stable for the biggest motor that fits.

I'd like to see what you have going on. Post your ORK file?

Mikey D
 
Cool. Now I got some reading for when it slows down at work. Some reason I had it in my head you were doing a scratch built. Madcow kits usually have the option to buy the required recovery gear. What were the chutes listed as an option? I have two Madcow 4" "stubbies" and the chutes appear to be thin mil but I'm not 100% on that.
 
I actually did purchase the madcow recovery gear. For some reason though, it doens't seem to be appropriately sized for my final weight. It comes with 14" and 30" parasheet chutes. The 14 might be fine for a drouge (although I haven't tested/simmed it yet) but the 30 parasheet is far too small. Now the dry weight of the kit is something like 28 oz / 1.75 lbs, and a 30" chute may be acceptable for that (seems kinda borderline even then, but with the drouge too, it may be right on), but after adding epoxy, an AV bay with electronics, a tracker in the nose, recovery harness, motor retention, and a motor, I'm a good deal above that.
 
The Par30 would work with a 2lb rocket but with what you have added you will need to go up in size. It also depends on the landing surface.
 
Aahhhhh. I followed your build thread on this long before I decided to build mine. Even commented. I didn't really keep my track of my build, nothing real innovative. I will get some pictures of my A/V bay when done though. She's taking me a while too. I was recently looking for the build that had all the data/JST connectors in the bay..turns out it was yours. Now I see what I was looking for.
 
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Yea, I thought your name was familiar. I'm finally wrapping up with paint and will be sizing ejection charges sometime next week right before my cert attempt. Hopefully some more pictures and whatnot up over on that thread soon.
 
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