Have flown TLP Nike Ajax many times. I have used the stock oblong mylar chutes many times. I remain mentally and physically undamaged. Our parachute duration champion RSO would look upon the clustered monster and hope my chute packing skills had improved. He was often disappointed. Like a low class, budget hospital, the kit has no recovery room. Three Estes shogun ejection charges. Yes, flying TLP Nike Ajax stock can lead to the Dark Side.
So many swivels, so many shroud lines, so much delicate mylar material, so crunchy, so little room to pack. Everything must be 100% perfect, failure is not and option. A single sheet of wadding topped by the perfect amount of dog barf. Baby powder is the Word! Mylar pre crunched to perfection, such delicate hand work. Chute shroud holes reinforced on BOTH sides, requires extra three ring binder stickers. High end chute folding technique for a crazy oblong chute...how to fit a square peg in a round hole! One chute needs to pull the other out...packing order?...maybe a modicum of magic tape holding them together for a good pull then release?...but how to stick tape in a sickly powdered environment? So many questions, so few answers.
A delicate Kraft body tube falling with the weight of three burned motors in the base. What happens if only one oblong chute deploys? Launching out West on the hard, dry Prairie. With a clouded mindsim I pushed the button on the fist flight. All three lit. Pop,pop, pop ejection at Apogee, both chutes out, softly gittering in the sun, slowly descending to a soft landing not far away. Super difficult recovery to keep things untangled. Triumph! The hard work building and packing had worked. The proud youngling walked back to the Jedi Masters having survived the perils of a complex TLP launch.
But as the Youngling grew he became impatient, not keeping his mind on where he was at, what he was doing! There is no forgiveness flying TLP. Only one chute deployed on the second flight. The second chute remained just a bouncing wad on the way down. Landing in a sage brush you never saw such a tangled up mess. Again on the third fight only one chute. The damage from a hard landing began to appear. A small kink in the tube above the motor mount, a rip in the mylar. More paint dings needing touch up. But fly and fly again, easily repaired tube kinks with thin CA. Mylar chute just needs some Scotch tape. I think I got both chutes to deploy on the fourth flight and like 1.5 with a major rip in half on the fifth. Got lazy and only used one chute from there on, just repairing the damage in the field with CA and tape. Nine flights now. The tube above the motor mount shows many CA repairs. Rear tube with usual heat and landing damage. Sloppy, dark side techniques only to rush to launch!
So, if I were to build again I would reinforce tube by gluing a coupler above the motor mount. I would also consider getting a super expensive, high end, thin nylon chute. As large as possible to fit the small recovery space given exquisite packing technique. TLP twin oblong mylar chutes are a bit on the crazy side. BUT SO IS ANYONE FLYING TLP STOCK!
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