For my recent Thunderbird 3 flight I used a 34" PML chute which wasobviously undersized. I don't really want to lay out on a bigger chutethat I won't get much use out of, so I'm considering using two 34" PMLchutes, that I already have. If it was going to split and recover two halves, I would have noproblems, but I'm not. It's traditional nose cone separation. The nosecone weighs ~650g and the rocket body ~2000g. For one chute I attachedit towards the nose cone end, such that the nose could not hit thebody on descent.Two ideas for twin chute connection are:1 - attach them both in the same location.2 - attach them at either end of the recovery harness.If I attach at the same end, I'm concerned that the chutes mightinterfere with each other. If I attach at either end, then themismatched weights might mean everything still hanging from one chute?Anyone with any experience with this got any comments?Cheers

I've used two chutes before but not on HPR. It seems that they'llinflate but touch each other so neither are flat and presenting themaximum area. If one chute is below the other the upper one willdefinitely be less effective because it'll be travelling in turbulentair. As you say, the masses may act so the shock cord collapses oneside of the lower chute too.I think I'd try using two chutes attached at the same place but withmaybe 3m of line to each from a single attachment point on the shockcord so they'll both be flatter to the incoming air. Failing that,have you considered bring the main body and the nosecone downseparately? That has worked very well for us on the large vehicles.Chris

Bigger chute, dual chute?

Dec 30, 2003 42 Replies

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Jerry Irvine 22 years ago

At this point, you better make it 3.

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Jerry Irvine 22 years ago

I was thinking of renting a timeshare for the WEEK following LDRS, but there are none in my networks right near Geneseo, NY. Where would be a good place for such a dedicated space?

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Rocket Society is happy to announce that the dates for the 2004 LDRS have been set. They are: Thursday, July 1st thru Sunday, July 4th. The EX days are Monday, July 5th and Tuesday, July 6th.

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week-long competition meet NARAM-46: July 31 - August 6, 2004 in The Plains, VA.

Maybe a second one the week before NARAM?

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Jerry

Party central

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Jerry Irvine 22 years ago

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