Descent Rates

[madmax]

Hello,

What is a good descent rate for parachutes to be calculated to?
Ft/sec or MPH, either or. Also recommendations for a rocket that weighs about 18 oz empty and between 20 and 25 loaded. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[hokkyokusei]

We published some descent rate chartes in 10...9...8... a few years ago:
https://www.ukra.org.uk/newsletter/volume5issue1/14.html
https://www.ukra.org.uk/newsletter/volume5issue1/15.html

 

[rocketsonly]

Here's a good calculator:


https://www.rocketreviews.com/tool_descent_rate.shtml

 

[edwardw]

Descent rates are calculated usually in FPS, feet per second. 20 feet per second is considered pretty fast, while 10 fps is barely going. 15 is what a lot of people shoot for. Infocentral has a lot of good information. Their drop table, the height at which you drop it and the corresponding FPS is here .

Edward

 

[Missileman]

Major factors effect your desired descent rate.
The ground where you launch, is it soft or hard (if hard you may want a bit slower descent)
Your recovery area, if small you may want a bit faster descent.
Your rocket, is it built like a tank or does it have fragile details that may break on landing.
You have to take all these factors into account when sizing your recovery device.