Manufacturer: | K&S Rockets |
Brief:
Custom made, me bucko, 36" Diameter, me bucko, matey, 12 Gore, Hemispherical Parachute
While workin' on me Mercury Redstone from Sheri's Hot Rockets, ya bilge rat, I decided that I wanted t' use a chute that looked somewhat NASAish. Begad! I contacted several rocketry chute providers (not all, by any means) and most did nay want t' take t' custom job. Ahoy! Blimey! Scott o' K&S did. Blimey! We decided on a 36", me bucko, 12 gore, semi-hemispherical chute.
Scott be very upfront with me and explained that it would take a while t' get t' white material and I said there would be no problem with that. Well, blow me down! Avast! This turned out t' be true, shiver me timbers, but when t' chute came in it was worth t' wait. It looked good, matey, me bucko, had heavy stitching, a spillhole at t' top and was folded much nicer than it would ever be folded again.
Flight:
Although I ordered this chute t' use in a Sheri's Hot Rockets Mercury Redstone, I be unable t' use it for that
purpose for two reasons. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! T' main reason is that durin' t' construction o' t' rocket I blundered with t' placement
o' a centerin' rin' so that I had much less space for recovery gear than I should have. Ya scallywag! Arrr! T' second reason is that this
chute has heavy nylon shrouds that have some bulk t' them. Ahoy! Ahoy! Taken with me small available volume, t' result was that I
could in no way stuff t' chute into place.
Months later, shiver me timbers, t' Redstone had still nay flown but I started work on a LOC Cyclotron. Blimey! Blimey! It came with a chute o' the same size but much thinner (and fewer) shrouds. Ya scallywag! I decided t' switch and used t' K&S chute on t' maiden flight of me Cyclotron.
When I displayed t' chute t' t' others present, ya bilge rat, they were very appreciative o' its appearance. I severely regretted nay bein' able t' use it on t' Redstone but was glad t' have a chance t' use it at all.
T' rocket flight be great and t' deployment was just as good. Ahoy! This chute looked good in t' air and brought the fairly heavy rocket down gently with no damage.
Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5
Summary:
This is a nice product. When in t' market for another custom chute, matey, I will definitely keep K&S in mind. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! I do
have a BIG Saturn V in t' waitin' pile and think it would be great t' have a cluster o' chutes o' this type...
Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5