Laundry and Chute Protection

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Bruiser

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I have been building and launching mostly BT-60 based rockets that I have built baffles in to mostly by putting some sort of plate system in the couplers. Some are two plates with offset holes in them and some have three half moon style plates in them.

This weekend I launched one with the two plate system and the elastic shock cord got burned thru in one spot. I suspect that a hot particle made it thru the baffle to cause the damage as the burn mark was very concentrated.

I am building larger rockets now and am contemplating a 3" design. I was wondering about building in a baffle or trying something else in the larger rocket then this weekend problem happened causing me to write this post.

What is the most common way to protect the chute on a three inch rocket? I can't imagine that people are stuffing wading in the tube :)

Thanks,
-Bob
 
We are, in fact, stuffing wadding in the tube! Dog Barf is a great augment to Nomex parachute protectors.
 
Can you use a chute protector with a chute release? I just watched the Apogee chute protector video on you tube and it seems like it would work if you have room to stuff it in...

Thanks,
-Bob
 
Can you use a chute protector with a chute release? I just watched the Apogee chute protector video on you tube and it seems like it would work if you have room to stuff it in...

Thanks,
-Bob
I do. I fold the chute, put the chute release on, then wrap it in a blanket. But, it depends on the rocket diameter and parachute size. 3" and 4' rockets, no problem.
 
Looks like a blanket is on my shopping list for my next order then.

Thank you all,
-Bob
 
I just had another thought... So I am use to a baffle keeping the chute from sliding down and coming in contact with the top of the motor tube. So if you have a 3 inch body tube that is 29 inches and your motor tube is 8 inches tall, how do you keep the chute near the nose and not allow it to slide downward until it stops at the tube of the motor tube?

Thanks,
-Bob
 
I put in a hand full or two of dog barf, then wading and the shock cord takes up space as well. But it's still going to compresses some. In a 3" rocket I use 1/2" tubular nylon for a shock cord. 20' take up about a foot of space. The chute and blanket take up about another foot. I think the worst thing that can happen is for the chute to slide down and change the center of gravity. So when I balance the rocket I push the chute down some. That way it's center of gravity doesn't change during lift off.
 
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