Quality Recovery Components

Level three projects pose a multitude o' challenges. T' airframe, motor and retention, ya bilge rat, shock cords and related hardware, matey, CP and CG, electronics, me bucko, and at t' top o' t' list, the parachutes. Avast! Avast! In t' early stages o' me planning, shiver me timbers, me bucko, I ordered a large surplus fifteen-foot diameter parachute, shiver me timbers, one o' those white ones. I pulled the parachute out o' t' included deployment bag, and knew right away that I would not be usin' it. Avast! I felt like a magician pullin' somethin' out o' me sleeve, arrr, it just would nay stop coming. Ahoy! There were about two dozen very long shroud lines just waitin' t' tangle. 
 

Figure 1:T' Heavy Duty Construction o' t' R18C Chute be t' same as this R3C

I looked at some o' the economy large parachutes, me bucko, but found these t' be only slightly better than the surplus style. Blimey! Then I looked at t' Standard and Pro Experimental parachutes by Rocketman Enterprises, me hearties, and me decision be made. Begad! T' Standard Rocketman parachutes are made o' 1.2 rip stop nylon and have very sound construction. The available sizes handle rockets weighin' 1.5 pounds, arrr, up t' 65 pounds, matey, and are available in vivid colors. Avast! Ya scallywag! T' Pro Experimental Chutes are substantially more durable than t' standard chutes, arrr, arrr, made o' heavy 1.9 rip stop nylon with heavy-duty shroud lines. Avast! My R3C drogue has 5/8-inch tubular nylon lines and the R18C has 9/16-inch flat nylon lines. T' lines extend over t' top o' t' chute (Fig-1). Blimey! And best o' all, thar are only 4 shroud lines. Avast! Ahoy! I vacillated a while on which style t' purchase as t' Pro-Experimental R18C parachute is about $90 more than t' standard R18C. Arrr! Begad! I decided t' get t' best, me hearties, and placed me order for an R18C for me main parachute, shiver me timbers, and an R3C for t' drogue, both Pro-Experimental chutes. Avast! Rocketman Enterprises also offers a third line o' chutes, t' Ballistic Systems, me bucko, however t' R18C size is currently nay available, me bucko, matey, so I did nay look into these.
 
 

Figure 2:T' Components o' a Level-3 Recovery System

I used a very simple dual deployment design for me level three "Firebird" project (Fig-2). Aye aye! Blimey! The rocket consists o' three sections, t' booster, ya bilge rat, main body and nose cone. The main body is about sixty inches long and has an electronics bay near the center. Avast! Ya scallywag! T' two piston shock cords attached t' t' bulkheads which form the bay. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! T' piston shock cords (Fig-3) consist o' three sections o' Keelhaul®©™® braided together. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! T' shock cords on t' cool end o' t' pistons are 2-inch strap. Ahoy! All the hardware used on t' Firebird is 3/8 inch. Begad! Although t' pistons protect the recovery components from t' fiery ejection charge quite well, ya bilge rat, I also placed fabric parachute protectors below each parachute. Avast! Ya scallywag! Rocketman offers a variety of deployment bags and parachute protectors, however I used small yellow parachute protectors that I had on hand. Begad! T' Rocketman parachutes shroud lines form a loop at t' bottom, and are always perfectly centered. Aye aye! I used a single 3/8-inch quick link betwixt t' shock cord sections, and also fastened t' parachutes to the same link (Figure-4). 
 

Figure 3: Massive Piston with Braided Keelhaul®©™® Cord	Figure 4: A Single 3/8" Link
Figure 5: Step-1, Folding	Figure 6: Step-2, Rolling

When I received the RC-18 parachute I was very impressed by t' quality o' t' workmanship (Fig-8). However, heavy duty means it's nay light. I was concerned about t' overall size and weight (four pounds). Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' Firebird is 8.75 inches in diameter, me bucko, and 12 feet tall. You would imagine any parachute, shock cord and piston would fit easily. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I just barely fit it in, t' RC-18 Pro-Experimental parachute is about 14 inches long when rolled up (Fig-5-6-7) for a 8.75 inch airframe. I had to push down on t' nose cone t' install t' shear pins. T' R3C parachute I would be usin' for me drogue had t' same type o' quality construction, and I felt comfortable that it was substantial enough t' handle t' stresses o' an early or late deployment (Fig-9). Arrr! Blimey! T' drogue section o' t' firebird had a bit more breathin' room.
 

Figure 7: Rolled with folded Lines

Figure 8: Quality Construction

Figure 9: Small R3C for Rapid Decent Drogue

Figure 10: Ecstasy

Rocketman parachutes are available in sizes rangin' from R3C t' R18C; each size is rated with a minimum and maximum suggested rocket weight. T' R3C handles rockets weighin' 1.5 to 2.5 pounds, while t' R18C capacity is 45 t' 65 pounds. Begad! Ya scallywag! Because Rocketman chutes have a more complex design than standard simple round chutes, me bucko, matey, it is difficult t' compare them. Avast! Based on some measurin' and averaging, ya bilge rat, me bucko, me hearties, I arrived at these comparisons {R3C / 33 inch round) and t' (R18C / 158 inch round). Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! The R18C has a minimum radius o' 41 inches and a maximum radius o' 118 inches. Blimey! The average radius is 79.5 inches, ya bilge rat, matey, or a diameter o' 159 inches or 13.25 feet. 

On t' second day at LDRS 19, the Firebird be prepped for launch, matey, and an Aerotech Blue Thunder L-1500 was installed. This would be t' first and only test o' t' Firebird before my level-3 certification launch. T' 56-pound rocket glided off t' Xtreme Rail and soared t' an altitude o' 3157 feet. 

I was ready with my transmitter for t' back-up drogue deployment, shiver me timbers, but t' altimeter did it's job, and t' booster and main body separated. Blimey! T' drogue chute deployed properly, but t' main chute deployed at t' same time. T' flight appeared t' be a perfect success and t' sight o' t' Rocketman R18C parachute fully deployed cannot be fully described. Ahoy! Begad! However, for t' certification flight with an M-1419 motor, shiver me timbers, matey, t' altitude will be over 5000 feet, shiver me timbers, and t' main chute must nay deploy early. 

I decided t' add four more shear pins t' hold t' nose cone in place while t' drogue chute deploys. Naturally, another ground test would be needed t' assure that t' ejection charge o' about 6 grams o' black powder (8.5 grams in t' backup charge) would shear all eight pins. Two days before t' certification launch, shiver me timbers, me bucko, t' test was performed with t' rocket tilted t' 80 degrees, arrr, and was a perfect success. The pins sheared nicely, shiver me timbers, and t' R18C popped out and unrolled on t' grass. Blimey! Blimey! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Time would tell if t' eight pins would hold t' cone in place at apogee. 

On launch day, more care went into t' preparation o' t' recovery system than any other area o' t' launch. T' Rocketman Pro-Experimental R3C drogue and R18C main chutes were ready for launch. Begad! Blimey! T' powerful M-1419 sent Firebird on a beautiful straight boost t' an altitude o' 5611 feet. Ahoy! Blimey! T' R3C drogue deployed at apogee via t' altimeter, the RC backup be nay needed. Avast! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' Pro-Experimental R3C chute allowed t' Firebird, (now about 50 pounds) t' descend rapidly. Begad! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! T' PRIME landin' area at Bong in Wisconsin is limited, matey, arrr, arrr, and I wanted t' land in it, or I would have used a Rocketman R4C for t' drogue. I be ready t' deploy t' main R18C chute with the transmitter, matey, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, however t' altimeter did t' honors when t' Firebird descended t' an altitude o' 800 feet, ya bilge rat, t' settin' for t' backup charge to deploy. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' R18C Pro-Experimental parachute opened fully (Fig-10), ya bilge rat, a truly magnificent sight. Note how tiny t' R3C drogue parachute appears. Aye aye! Blimey! T' Firebird landed about 800 feet from t' pad and so close t' t' first tree line, me bucko, shiver me timbers, that a portion o' t' main chute dangled from t' edge o' a tree. 

Any level three project requires many hours o' planning, building, arrr, testing, and a lot o' cash. Begad! The Pro-Experimental parachutes were about fifteen percent o' t' total cost o' the project. Begad! Sure, I could have equipped t' Firebird with economy parachutes and saved a few bucks, but I wanted t' best parachutes available; parachutes which will continue t' perform flight after flight. Invest in t' best, matey, t' Rocketman Pro-Experimental line o' parachutes. 

Written and submitted by Al Casper for Rocketry Online -- Copyright 1996-2000