OK, I have been packing chutes for a few years, but I am always interested in seeing if there is a better way.
Can anyone describe how they do it?
What I do is pull the chute straight and roll it in the lines.
Andrew
Same Here! Though I haven't got the Rockety Bible which I should really get by the wayI do it like I learned in G.Harry's "Handbook of Model Rocketry"...
Grab the chute at the apex (peak) of the canopy and the snap swivel, pull it tight to straighten/untangle the shrouds and pull the canopy to a point. I gather all the "billows" of loose material to one side with the shrouds on the other, fold the point (apex) up to the shroud line connection points, fold the billows over the point (if it's a bigger diameter chute with broad billows, so they're folded in half) and then start rolling it up snugly from the foldover toward the shroudline attachments, and then roll the shrouds a little looser around the resulting parachute cylinder...
Makes a nice, tight package that unfurls easily yet not "instantly" giving the rocket a bit of time to slow down so it's less 'violent' when the chute pops open. I usually use a good dusting of talcum powder, sometimes I put about a teaspoon of powder right in the apex of the chute for 'tracking powder' which gives the chute a little more mass, but that also helps it pull out away from the rocket and unroll as well, and gives a nice cloud "puff" at deployment.
I use the same method with plastic or nylon chutes, and chutes with spill holes, though those are a little harder to gather since you don't have a true "apex" (center of the spill hole)
Works for me! OL JR
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