military surplus chute...

[edwinshap1]

i got a 36" military surplus chute for my rocket...and i'm not exactly sure how to connect it to anything.

The 9 shroud lines (8 edge and one central) are crimped really tightly, and there's about 2.5-3" of extra shroud line after the crimp. I'm just not sure at all of how to connect it to a quick link or anything.

what exactly do i do? do i just knot every line to the quick link, or umm, something else?

 

[rdbones]

I have several of these also and use them as drouge chutes.

I have tied loops in the end of each shroud line and then attached them to a medium sized quick link, and I have also taken and tied them all into one loop and attached the quick link there.

In both cases you can remove the crimp and try to balance the chute. If you don’t remove the crimp I would at least cover it with a wrap or two of electrical tape to cover the sharp edges.

 

[gdiscenza]

For my L1 I just knotted the whole bundle of lines to the quick link.

if I were looking for something more permanent and easily portable, I suppose I would lay the 9 lines in a 3x3 pattern atop a 6" piece of nylon strap, which I would then fold over and stitch together to make a loop with the shroud lines sandwiched between the 2 ends. Using kevlar thread and a decent cross-box stitch, that would be a very strong attachment point.

G.D.

 

[edwinshap1]

i just read stitching XD

so umm, the chute has 1000 lb breaking strength (im guessing across all the lines, and i picked it up for 3 bucks. i need a 30"-36" chute that can survive drogueless recovery, any ideas?

 

[UPscaler]

i just read stitching XD

so umm, the chute has 1000 lb breaking strength (im guessing across all the lines, and i picked it up for 3 bucks. i need a 30"-36" chute that can survive drogueless recovery, any ideas?

This thing should be fine. My dad flies one in his L1 strong arm. And almost every flight, the nosecone comes off, but the chute stays in, it falls about 300 feet then the main comes out, no harm at all. Not sure why it does this, but the walks are always pretty close. :cool2:

And yes, it's motor deploy. We think the chute might slip down to the bottom of the body tube and that somehow causes it to get sorta stuck. It's opened every time it's flown except for it's last flight on an H97.


Braden

 

[edwinshap1]

This thing should be fine. My dad flies one in his L1 strong arm. And almost every flight, the nosecone comes off, but the chute stays in, it falls about 300 feet then the main comes out, no harm at all. Not sure why it does this, but the walks are always pretty close. :cool2:

And yes, it's motor deploy. We think the chute might slip down to the bottom of the body tube and that somehow causes it to get sorta stuck. It's opened every time it's flown except for it's last flight on an H97.


Braden

little more than 300 feet, more like umm, 7k feet? it'll have a streamer, but it won't help to lower the speed that much. it's gonna hit terminal velocity, and i'm just wondering if most high power rated chutes work fine for that?

 

[UPscaler]

little more than 300 feet, more like umm, 7k feet? it'll have a streamer, but it won't help to lower the speed that much. it's gonna hit terminal velocity, and i'm just wondering if most high power rated chutes work fine for that?

I still think it will be fine. I opened one when my rocket was coming in ballistic. There was enough force to zipper my rocket to the fins, but the chute still survived.


Braden

 

[Handeman]

This thing should be fine. My dad flies one in his L1 strong arm. And almost every flight, the nosecone comes off, but the chute stays in, it falls about 300 feet then the main comes out, no harm at all. Not sure why it does this, but the walks are always pretty close. :cool2:

And yes, it's motor deploy. We think the chute might slip down to the bottom of the body tube and that somehow causes it to get sorta stuck. It's opened every time it's flown except for it's last flight on an H97.


Braden

That happens because the ejection charge only pressurizes the BT, it doesn't push anything out of the BT. The pressure pops the nosecone off. In your case there isn't enough energy/momentum in the nosecone to pull the chute out.

You can do several things to help the situation.

1. Larger ejection charge so the nose cone comes off with more energy.
2. Attach the chute close to the nose cone and put all shroud lines and shock cord in the BT before the chute.
3. Use a piston.

Of course there are other options. I'm sure folks will offer up more.


As far as the cut ends of the chute, I like the idea of sewing them to a nylon strap the best although I would probably tie each one to a quick link myself.

 

[Stymye]

you can glue in a centering ring just low enough to pack the chute.to keep it from packing too far down

 

[KPM61]

Off topic but still relevant enough to NOT be hijacking this thread.

Has anyone had success dying one of these surplus 36"'chutes ?

 

[Bill P]

Off topic but still relevant enough to NOT be hijacking this thread.

Has anyone had success dying one of these surplus 36"'chutes ?

They dye quite easily.

 

[Stymye]

yep ,just mix some rit dye in a 5 gallon bucket and submerge.

I just left mine plain .. afterall they are just old style military flare chutes designed for one time use and scorch , burn thru very easilly. They are tough and look cool but not bullet proof.

 

[Lentamental]

The chutes take die like you wouldn't imagine.
I put one of mine in a small pot with half a bottle of black RIT die - probably total overkill, but it took it incredibly well. That thing looks like a inky octopus!
Here are directions: https://www.aeroconsystems.com/chutes/p60in.htm

What I did with my shroud lines, probably not as strong, but plenty good, was as follows. I lined them all up as they come through the crimp. I then folded the stack back over itself, and laid it heavy with lots of carpet thread stitches. I did it all by hand, and kept it as tight as I could manage. After practically filling every square nanometer with stitches, I wrapped the whole deal very tightly in gaff tape to keep it all together in the wind, and prevent further fraying of the lines. We'll see how it holds up next month when I get to fly my first high power!