Fruity Chutes vs Public Missiles Chutes

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gcanroc

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I'm considering building a Public Missile AMRAAM 4. The company's website has the finished model weighing 78 oz (5 lbs). For hard landing PM recommends upgrading to a 60" parachute. On the Fruity Chute website their 42" parachute handles up to 6.5 lbs. My question is: Why are Fruity Chutes so much more efficient?? Any input would be appriciated.

Geoffrey
 
I'm considering building a Public Missile AMRAAM 4. The company's website has the finished model weighing 78 oz (5 lbs). For hard landing PM recommends upgrading to a 60" parachute. On the Fruity Chute website their 42" parachute handles up to 6.5 lbs. My question is: Why are Fruity Chutes so much more efficient?? Any input would be appriciated.

Geoffrey

It's likely the shape of the parachute they assume. I ran some quick numbers and for the 5 lb weight you cite, a 60" flat sheet (cd 0.75) gives 17 fps while a 42" elliptical canopy (cd 1.5) gives the same rate.
 
I'm considering building a Public Missile AMRAAM 4. The company's website has the finished model weighing 78 oz (5 lbs). For hard landing PM recommends upgrading to a 60" parachute. On the Fruity Chute website their 42" parachute handles up to 6.5 lbs. My question is: Why are Fruity Chutes so much more efficient?? Any input would be appriciated.

Geoffrey

It has to do with the shape. Elliptical or torroidal parachutes have a higher CD than flat sheets.
 
You'll note that Fruity Chutes sells a variety of chutes that give very different descent rates for chutes of the same nominal size. The expense also varies considerably. Rocketman and others likewise. The biggest advantage to the high CD chutes that Fruity Chutes sells is the small size and light weight. But for something like an AMRAAM you have plenty of room and weight is not a huge concern, so any suitably sized chute will be fine.

I save my high dollar Fruity Chutes for my MD rockets where size and weight are a premium. I've owned a fair number over the years and have always been very pleased with their performance. I also have a large number of chutes from many other vendors – Rocketman, PML, Sky Angle, etc., and each has a fit somewhere in the fleet. PML chutes are great workhorses, Rocketman makes some very attractive chutes (like a Ringsail) and SkyAngle chutes just look majestic over a big rocket. And of course Fruity Chutes are great looking chutes.

It's hard to go wrong really, as long as the chute is suitably sized for your rocket's weight and the ground conditions. As has been mentioned, I have found the calculator on the FC site to be very good. One thing I've started doing is taking screen shots of the charts for different chutes and printing them out and putting them in the ziplock I store each chute in. Makes it a lot easier to find the right chute if I'm at the field and conditions warrant a chute change.


Tony
 
I remember back in the days when elliptical parachutes were all the rage and difficult to get and I'm talking about sizes used to bring down Big Bertha sized rockets.

Then again, I remember having to chase the Mastodons off the flight line.
 
Another thing with chutes is that the different companies don’t measure chute sizes the same way. Some measure the diameter of the opening, some the diameter of a flat sheet, some the whole length of the curve over the top, so it’s almost impossible to compare the reference dimensions of two designs by two different companies and have any real idea of how the sizes of the two chutes actually compare.
 
All of my large chutes are Fruity Chutes. I was put on to them by Ron McGough. (no relation. Hi Ron if your'e reading this) Ron passed on some of his great wealth of knowledge including Fruity when I first started on Hybrids. Their chutes are not cheap. But they do exactly what it says on the packet... Their Iris Ultra will leave enough room in your rocket to still hold a party. My 48"Iris Ultra replaced a 60" spherical that barely fitted in and takes 7Kg on decent and packs into a 60mmID tube. Deploys like a dream.
I have no connection with them....
Norm
 
Another thing with chutes is that the different companies don’t measure chute sizes the same way. Some measure the diameter of the opening, some the diameter of a flat sheet, some the whole length of the curve over the top, so it’s almost impossible to compare the reference dimensions of two designs by two different companies and have any real idea of how the sizes of the two chutes actually compare.

That is exactly right. There is no standard and you can't compare chutes by diameter. i.e. Spherachutes measure across the top curve of the chute, so their
96" chute has a 61.12" Diameter

About all you can do is trust the manufactures decent rate estimates for their chutes.
 
You’re right, I say they’re overpriced.
They do exactly what they say and fit in my rocket, the quality is great. I have no regrets purchasing them.
1643748684353.png
1643748712077.png
1643748756805.png
48"Iris Ultra compact parachute from fruity chutes Vs 60" Eliptical. Both chutes shown have same descent rate.
Obviously they're not properly packed. But they are wrapped the same here.
 
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You don’t have to justify your purchases to me. Just my opinion that they’re overpriced and I’ll never buy them. I have a good supply of both SkyAngle and Rocketman chutes, so I’m good.
 
You don’t have to justify your purchases to me. Just my opinion that they’re overpriced and I’ll never buy them. I have a good supply of both SkyAngle and Rocketman chutes, so I’m good.
They are overpriced as far as you're concerned. Clearly, others don't feel that way, including me. For my particular use case of small (38-54mm) minimum diameter, lightweight carbon fiber rockets, their Ultra Compact chutes are smaller and lighter than any other brand on the market including Sky Angle and Rocketman. In my case, those model Fruity Chutes are worth the premium for those rockets.

I guess I just don't understand why folks feel the need to express an opinion that doesn't add any value to the discussion.


Tony
 
They are overpriced as far as you're concerned.

I guess I just don't understand why folks feel the need to express an opinion that doesn't add any value to the discussion.


Tony

Tony, I was pretty clear that it was my opinion. No need for you to reiterate that. As for value to the discussion, that’s your opinion and I won’t try to dissuade you. Just try not getting bent over an opinion you don’t share next time.:eggnog:
 
If we all owned one of every chute we could pass comment on whether one manufacturers chute was worth the money or not from our point of view. I considered the Fruity Chutes I own (Qty 3) to be of good quality and value for money when I bought them. I do not own a Rocketman or SkyAngle chute. I'm sure they are good chutes and when selected for purchase by someone for their chosen specific application will work well.
My specific application was for a minimum diameter(2.5" OD) 10Kg rocket. The Fruity chute 48"Iris Ultra compact parachute performed perfectly.

The original question related to Fruity chutes and PML chutes. 1643776203169.png I can't be bothered making the giffy work.....
 
Tony, I was pretty clear that it was my opinion. No need for you to reiterate that. As for value to the discussion, that’s your opinion and I won’t try to dissuade you. Just try not getting bent over an opinion you don’t share next time.:eggnog:
I'm sorry you misunderstood my post - I just expressed confusion as to why folks take the time to post something that doesn't add anything to the discussion, and worse, don't do themselves any favors in the process. I have said many times that for such a small hobby we have a fantastic selection of vendors that provide products that constantly exceed my expectations, and for members here to give them grief in such a non-constructive way confuses me. I guess I just don't understand the motivation behind it. So I wasn't bent about anything, just confused, and I'm sorry I confused you as well.


Tony
 
When I was young, stupid and not appraised in the ways of chute protection, I acquired a lot of pricey parachutes after some of my early flights with burn holes.
I heard one flier exclaim in the past, " I don't need no freaking spill holes! I got plenty of BURN HOLES in my chutes!"
BTW, I got better at chute protection when better chute protectors hit the market. I've had to retire a few parachutes with nasty burn holes next to shroud line attachment points in the past. Fortunately they were smaller and not as expensive.
Using a pilot chute to pull a large chute out of a good deployment bag really helped with my deployment reliability and saved many a pricey chute from burn holes.
Remember, "Blow it up or blow it out" dictum applies to cardboard tubed rockets. Had my share of those when I was young. Switching to fiberglass tubes really helped prevent that though of course they were heavier. That was remedied somewhat with carbon fiber. Oh well, just use a bigger motor. Oh incidentally this sort of reminds me of a "glue thread". :) Kurt
 
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