Military Surplus Parachutes

[Wingnut]

The Army Navy Sales military surplus store is selling a 64ft diameter (19.5 metre) Green Cargo Parachute.

100_ft_cargo_parachute_1_1.jpg (22.51 KiB) Viewed 1449 times

Cost is USD$449.99. The product number "SKU 64FTP". Here is a link:

https://www.armynavysales.com/gi-64ft-od-green-cargo-parachute.html

This might be worth considering if you're planning any really big projects. I think the chute weighs around 57Kg. Shipping costs charged by Army Navy Sales are pretty reasonable, but I'm sure that shipping for something this big would really hurt the wallet.

Bye,
Mike

[vance2loud]

http://aeroconsystems.com/cart/parachutes/
Is another source of larger parachutes.
Some of the smaller ones are quite heavy but they are reasonably good to deal with.

[Oldboy]

Hey "WINGNUT",
Any ideas what size tube that "chute" would pack into ?
54mm looks like it could be a squeeze .

[Wingnut]

Hi Oldboy,

A 54mm airframe would be quite the challenge. This chute appears to have a pack-down volume of about 1.78 cubic metres. So, the chute compartment of your 54mm airframe would need to be 7.8 metres long. Add to that a nice, long, fast burning 54mm motor that can accelerate 57Kg of chute, plus rocket, off the pad. Unfortunately, the minimum payload weight for this chute is 227Kg. While it was lots of fun to contemplate, it all looks a little impractical.

. . . On the other hand, an 11.5" airframe would require a chute compartment of around 670 centimetres. I'm sure that a large 11.5" diameter fibreglass rocket could fall within this chute's payload weight range of 227Kg-998Kg.

I guess that this size chute has it's amateur rocket applications. Unfortunately, I don't currently have the budget or time to support that kind of project. But I can always dream.

Bye,
Mike