Parachute selection

[AtomicStorm]

Im doing a few lpr builds and i got a few yards of 1.1 ripstop nylon in the mail today from ripstopbytheroll. I am interested to hear what design of parachute you guys and gals like the most. I original liked the helicopter design because of the cool look, less material needed, higher drag, but i heard that they can tangle easy and they are hard to pack. My second choice would be the light weight annular but i haven't made one or used one yet. Let me know what you like and why. I like designs with just a few lines to prevent tangle. If you have a recommended diameter, line type, where i can find gore patterns, etc., anything helps, thanks!
The mean machine, stock build.
HL Olympus w/ 29mm upgrade.
HL vapor w/ 29mm upgrade.

 

[sriegel]

Im doing a few lpr builds and i got a few yards of 1.1 ripstop nylon in the mail today from ripstopbytheroll. I am interested to hear what design of parachute you guys and gals like the most. I original liked the helicopter design because of the cool look, less material needed, higher drag, but i heard that they can tangle easy and they are hard to pack. My second choice would be the light weight annular but i haven't made one or used one yet. Let me know what you like and why. I like designs with just a few lines to prevent tangle. If you have a recommended diameter, line type, where i can find gore patterns, etc., anything helps, thanks!
The mean machine, stock build.
HL Olympus w/ 29mm upgrade.
HL vapor w/ 29mm upgrade.

I build elliptical chutes for my birds using Richard Nakka's gore generator (https://www.nakka-rocketry.net/paracon.html) to make the templates. I've made a number of 18" x 12 gore chutes that deply just fine. You could certainly drop down to 6 or 8 gores if you like. I spike and "flake" the chute canopy, then fold and roll it into a bundle. I roll (*not* wrap) the lines around the bundle. They unroll very cleanly in my experience, even in a couple of extremely non-nominal deployments (late ejections at high speed). I use 1.1 oz ripstop from Ripstop by the Roll and 8-strand braided PE (Spectra) fishing line.

 

[Scrapmaster87]

Annular, but my reasons are for the efficiency and technical challenge.

One of these days I'll post the results of my testing here. Gore calculator is if my own making...