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Old 10-07-2008, 01:10 PM
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Royatl Royatl is offline
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Default shroud line attachment

I have to say up front that I hate putting together plastic parachutes.

Because of that, What I usually do is take an Estes pre-made parachute, and keep switching it around to other rockets as I fly them. Of course, this means that parachute gets a lot of abuse, or it gets lost, or it just adds another step to prepping a rocket for launch.

I've built up a little stock pile of Estes, Quest, Fliskits, and Semroc chute kits. So, while I have some down time, I'm going to devote some time to getting these things built and out of the way.

The Estes chutes mostly now have the tyvek-like sticker with a hole in the middle that you tie a shroudline to. I like this, other than having to tie carpet string with my big fingers. The Semroc stickers have two laser cut holes in them, but the instructions on the chutes don't mention them, and just basically copies the Estes instructions of olde.

How are these holes supposed to be utilized? Or are they the vestigial remains of an experiment gone awry?
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Old 10-07-2008, 01:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Royatl
Because of that, What I usually do is take an Estes pre-made parachute, and keep switching it around to other rockets as I fly them. Of course, this means that parachute gets a lot of abuse, or it gets lost, or it just adds another step to prepping a rocket for launch.
That's what I do. I have a stash of chutes ranging from 6" to ~54" I keep in one box. For the common sizes, there are multiple copies, including a mix of Estes and scratchbuilt plastic chutes along with store bought nylon chutes.

Whenever I'm prepping, I tyically look at my notes or at a Rocksim result, then grab the appropriate chute from the box. After a launch, I check each chute and mend or replace as necessary.

While I don't like fiddling with building chutes and tying the knots, I've still found some sense of accomplishment in taking the time to build a few using all the tips and tricks I've picked over the years. Starting with a garbage bag, some Glide dental floss, a fishing swivel, and a pattern, I've made some pretty good chutes that have held up well. I've found an over-the-top plastic chute is a good solution when there's a high shred potential but not a lot of room in the airframe.

Doug

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Old 10-07-2008, 03:01 PM
Sheryl@Semroc Sheryl@Semroc is offline
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Default Semroc Chutes

The Semroc stickers have two laser cut holes in them, but the instructions on the chutes don't mention them, and just basically copies the Estes instructions of olde.

You should have received a card with the chute. The instructions for looping the line through the holes are on the back of the card.

Sheryl
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Old 10-07-2008, 03:08 PM
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Carl@Semroc Carl@Semroc is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Royatl
How are these holes supposed to be utilized? Or are they the vestigial remains of an experiment gone awry?
The printed instructions should have the how-to for the holes. We did do a lot of experimentation with many different adhesive and paper/plastic for the discs. The plastic worked much better in strength and weather resistance. The adhesive we settled with was the most aggressive permanent type we could find. Unfortunateley, the maximum strength requires 24 hours. The cost is about three times the cost of the "permanent" paper type that Estes used in the past.

Of all the methods for attaching the shroud lines ( knotting, looping, punching through, unravelling, etc.) the two small holes outperformed all the other methods.

The tyvek-plastic strips works best on the larger chutes.
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  #5  
Old 10-08-2008, 12:37 AM
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Royatl Royatl is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheryl@Semroc
The Semroc stickers have two laser cut holes in them, but the instructions on the chutes don't mention them, and just basically copies the Estes instructions of olde.

You should have received a card with the chute. The instructions for looping the line through the holes are on the back of the card.

Sheryl



Indeed, I didn't think to look on the back of the insert card, thinking it was probably blank!

Thanks!
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Old 10-08-2008, 12:41 AM
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Royatl Royatl is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carl@Semroc
The printed instructions should have the how-to for the holes. We did do a lot of experimentation with many different adhesive and paper/plastic for the discs. The plastic worked much better in strength and weather resistance. The adhesive we settled with was the most aggressive permanent type we could find. Unfortunateley, the maximum strength requires 24 hours. The cost is about three times the cost of the "permanent" paper type that Estes used in the past.

Of all the methods for attaching the shroud lines ( knotting, looping, punching through, unravelling, etc.) the two small holes outperformed all the other methods.

The tyvek-plastic strips works best on the larger chutes.



It's pretty aggressive, alright! At first I tried to keep it slightly on one finger as I threaded and tied it with a thumb and another finger with the other hand. But I was concerned with getting too many skin oils on it. Then I started to just barely tack it to the edge of a glass table. But then when I was finished tying the string and had to pull it off, it held a lot tougher than I would've figured.
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