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Cylindrical Parachute Shells


Miech

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It's a draft rather than a tutorial, but I thought you would like it if I shared it.

 

Parachute_Shell.pdf

 

was build according to this design, and a few others I didn't film as well. As far as I know this is the only successful home build parachute shell on Youtube so far, so I challenge you to be the second one :) .

 

Feel free to ask questions about the construction if you need to.

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It's a draft rather than a tutorial, but I thought you would like it if I shared it.

 

Parachute_Shell.pdf

 

was build according to this design, and a few others I didn't film as well. As far as I know this is the only successful home build parachute shell on Youtube so far, so I challenge you to be the second one :) .

 

Feel free to ask questions about the construction if you need to.

Well done, I like that design. Having the entire payload eject with the parachute makes for what looks like a simple and reliable mechanism. I may have to give one of these a try later in the year.

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It's a draft rather than a tutorial, but I thought you would like it if I shared it.

 

Parachute_Shell.pdf

 

was build according to this design, and a few others I didn't film as well. As far as I know this is the only successful home build parachute shell on Youtube so far, so I challenge you to be the second one :) .

 

Feel free to ask questions about the construction if you need to.

 

Very nice! Much more intuitive than the Ball-style parachute shells in FAST... also looks to be more efficient in the payload vs. shell dept as the flare can be made to fit the ID of the can shell. Was your flare comp a Mg/NaNO3/resin formula or more of a Al/Perc bound one?

 

Sweet shell... a flare leading to a salute would be cool too, me thinks.

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Very nice! Much more intuitive than the Ball-style parachute shells in FAST... also looks to be more efficient in the payload vs. shell dept as the flare can be made to fit the ID of the can shell. Was your flare comp a Mg/NaNO3/resin formula or more of a Al/Perc bound one?

 

Sweet shell... a flare leading to a salute would be cool too, me thinks.

 

Would this work as a shell insert?

 

D

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Flares usually burn pretty slow, but there is nothing stopping you from using a faster burning star formula.
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For the parachute I used a kind of paper which is called 'crepe papier' where I live. I couldn't find a translation for it so far, but it is some kind of stretchable decorative paper, usually coloured. I made the parachute by cutting out a circle, then creasing (is that the right word?) and unfolding it about 10 times. After this, I folded it 3 times to get tittle folds in the rim where the 8 cords are going to be attached. Then I cut thin cotton string (0,7 mm) to lengths of about 1.2 meter. These strings were then pasted to the rim of the parachute, using a little drop of white glue. On each drop of glue I then put a little paper square for extra rigidity and to prevent the parachute from sticking to itself while drying.

 

Was your flare comp a Mg/NaNO3/resin formula or more of a Al/Perc bound one?
It was a composition based on barium nitrate, aluminium, sulfur and vaseline. I don't recall the exact composition or name, but it was something like 'super bright flare' from the Visser database.

 

 

Would this work as a shell insert?

 

D

If you construct it in such a manner the insert doesn't get damaged in the break. You can't make the top covering too strong though, this will burn your parachute. Just try it :P .
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I tried to make one last year that was inside an insert and it seemed to open and float but I cant figure out how to hold the strobe without it burning away the string.

 

D

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Put the composition into a tube :) . You probably need to tweak the composition a little, but that's the way I saw some Italians do it. Keep in mind that strobes might burn a little longer than a flare would do, so don't make them too big.

 

I used thin electronics wire between the flare and parachute, because I did have a few failures causing by that wire burning through. It should be as flexible as possible, but still be able to survive the shock when the parachute opens.

 

I'll make a tutorial on the parachute itself as soon as I have time for it. I'll probably merge it with the file in the first post to keep things together.

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Put the composition into a tube :) . You probably need to tweak the composition a little, but that's the way I saw some Italians do it. Keep in mind that strobes might burn a little longer than a flare would do, so don't make them too big.

 

I used thin electronics wire between the flare and parachute, because I did have a few failures causing by that wire burning through. It should be as flexible as possible, but still be able to survive the shock when the parachute opens.

 

I'll make a tutorial on the parachute itself as soon as I have time for it. I'll probably merge it with the file in the first post to keep things together.

 

I did that too, the wire got hot and burnt through the string :( I would love to do these again this summer at PGI.

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Might thin steel wire work since it would be pretty tough to burn through compared to thin copper? It's not super flexible, but it is springy, so it might deploy properly...I was thinking of the kind found inside old military field phone wire. Wouldn't be the easiest stuff to harvest (that insulation is tough stuff), so maybe there's a better way. On the other hand, there are several strands of steel and copper in WD-1 wire, so stripping one or two 12" section would yield enough steel to rig one chute. Edited by jwitt
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Might thin steel wire work since it would be pretty tough to burn through compared to thin copper? It's not super flexible, but it is springy, so it might deploy properly...I was thinking of the kind found inside old military field phone wire. Wouldn't be the easiest stuff to harvest (that insulation is tough stuff), so maybe there's a better way. On the other hand, there are several strands of steel and copper in WD-1 wire, so stripping one or two 12" section would yield enough steel to rig one chute.

 

No, the wire was fine, it just burnt through my string is all. I have two spools of Nichrome wire that will take 2,000° before burning out. I use it for 110V electric matches.

 

I will try it again, maybe there is something I missed...

 

D

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  • 2 years later...

hello chunt

I maked a beautiful rocket parachute in video.... but was deleted youtube channel ....dry2.gif

Yet I had done well and it was working very well ..

but I will repeat one that will surely be perfect ... !

Edited by val77
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hello,

I am facing a problem which is the size of the parachute (diameter)

how to determine the size according to flare? because if the flare is too light the parachute may not open and if ell is too heavy that it may drop too quickly ...

 

and what paper you use for your parachute? I used garbage bags ....whistle.gif

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Commercial and military flares usually use a single light weight chain that is long enough to keep the heat from the shroud lines. They usually have a simple cloth chute. For a chute a light fabric sprayed with fire retardant should work. Either that or a piece of Nomex fabric. You may be able to order Nomex fire resistant thread for shroud lines.
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I envision a dark night, with low clouds.

 

Now, how cool would be one of these, as a header for maybe a staged whistle rocket so it gets into the clouds?

 

You may read in your local newspapers some UFO reports...

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

well,since I was told that moment,

I begin the project of building my parachute cylindrical shell

 

I start by building the tube to contain the flare composition

 

http://i15.servimg.com/u/f15/16/97/86/45/imag0010.jpg

 

http://i15.servimg.com/u/f15/16/97/86/45/imag0011.jpg

 

http://i15.servimg.com/u/f15/16/97/86/45/imag0012.jpg

 

http://i15.servimg.com/u/f15/16/97/86/45/imag0013.jpg

 

note,the external diameter of the tube is 57mm and the lenght is 225mm

 

in the last picture,the flare is attached with a electronic wire

 

 

this is the first part of my project,

 

I will create a topic when my project will progress;)

 

greetings

Edited by val77
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  • 1 year later...

Commercial and military flares usually use a single light weight chain that is long enough to keep the heat from the shroud lines. They usually have a simple cloth chute. For a chute a light fabric sprayed with fire retardant should work. Either that or a piece of Nomex fabric. You may be able to order Nomex fire resistant thread for shroud lines.

 

You can go here http://www.thethreadexchange.com/ and order Kevlar thread, they also sell a kevlar/nomex thread. Would make for great very fire resistant shroud lines.

 

Box hardware stores sells replacement beaded chain like what is used in the 40mm parachute flares launched out of a M203 grenade launcher. Beaded chain is like what dog tags are on.

 

Any more specifics on the flare composition used??

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

You can go here http://www.thethreadexchange.com/ and order Kevlar thread, they also sell a kevlar/nomex thread. Would make for great very fire resistant shroud lines.

 

Box hardware stores sells replacement beaded chain like what is used in the 40mm parachute flares launched out of a M203 grenade launcher. Beaded chain is like what dog tags are on.

 

+Don't know much but I do know this....Kevlar may be flame resistant for a short time but it's only gel spun PE and will melt and burn with sustained heat so I'm not sure that's an option. Uncoated stainless steel leader wire (for fishing) is flexible, strong, cheap, easy to work with and really totally fire and heat proof. The only requirement would be enough wire between the flare and shroud lines to dissipate enough heat to keep from melting/burning them. For those interested, connections are easy to make without special tools.

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+Don't know much but I do know this....Kevlar may be flame resistant for a short time but it's only gel spun PE and will melt and burn with sustained heat so I'm not sure that's an option.

Apparently I did not "know" about all the properties of Kevlar and have confused it with Spectra fiber (which IS polyethylene unlike Kevlar's aramid.) Since they have shared a common use in body armor and fishing line and I simply made an assumption that Kevlar and Spectra were TMs for the same product. As I'm still shopping for a couple PPE pieces I have discovered the difference and just thought it was worth a "sorry 'bout that" to WolfBrother and a clarification for others I may have unintentionally mislead. Learn something new everyday.

 

The uncoated steel wire is still very lightweight and easy to work with........

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