Streamliner Parachute

[Jerry O]

I am in the process of building a streamliner for 2009 and at a point of building the parachute tube. The question I have for you streamliner guys is how to pack the chute in the tube. I have packed lots of the standard drag type chute on drag cars but placing it in a tube is a little different for me. I want to make sure I am doing it in the most reliable way. Any help with this will be a great help.   Thanks all.... Jerry

[1212FBGS]

its kinda easy....first put all them stringy things inside that round thing then put the flappy thingy over the end thingamajig and finish it off with that wire devise   

oh... get in the habit of always doing it yourself.. and do it as your life depends on it.!....

by the way, have ya talked to Lee Kennady, or Jim Miller?  wouldnt hurt to drop him a few pix....

kent

[1212FBGS]

ok, ok, i'll get a little serious... try not to make your chute tube smaller than 5" cuz it will get really really hard to get your arm in it and try not to make it longer than 26" cuz it gets hard to get to the bottom of it... that said start at the end of your new tube grab a handfull of riser and stuff it all the way to the bottom, pull your arm out and grab another handfull and stuff it all the way to the bottom stacking it on top of the previous handfull like your laying bricks, carefully filling all the voids but not bunching or wadding... repeat till your out of riser and your at the laundry... now you dont want to wad up the chute but pack it the same way as the risers, carefully but tightly filling the voids... now if your using a spring eject pilot install it straight and squair in the tube, alot of failes deployments are from the pilot jamming itself in the side of the tube....fold the flaps of the pilot over the back of the spring and under the retaining strap as it will help to expose the pilot flaps to the airstream upon ejection... your chute pack should fill the tube to the point that you will have to ask for help getting the strap over the loop to get the cable in.. if shes loose and sloppy your tube is too big... also keep in mind that your chute will pick up salt and moisture after a couple of days so she will swell up and not fit in the tube anymore. time to take it back to the hotel to get washed... theres lots of tricks people use like choking the risers with masking tape or rubberbands to make it hit softer, babypowder, and others but stay away from using a baseball bat... Oh I put a pillow case under my car seat so i have a bag to put my salty chute in as i am waiting for my recovery truck to arive... it realy helps to avoid riser tangles and salt in the car interior...
yours in sport
Kent Riches

[SPARKY]

I  use a 30" 6" diam. alum irrigation tube. I recently had a pilot chute deployment and it didn't pull the chute bag out at the last El M meet.  I will be using baby powder and makinking sure that when I install the last part of the pilot I don't let it aim it's self at the ground.  I THINK that is what happened  in the past I made sure it released more to the side into the slipstream, I know I let it aim at the ground when I secured and armed the system.

[1212FBGS]

if you take the pilot and stabd it up on the ground then push it straight down you will see the cloth flaps out to the sides.. if you take these flaps and fold them over the top of the spring where your hand is , when it deploys the flaps will catch the air better. your spring needs to be pretty stiff, sometimes they get rusty and week. never leave your chute packed during the off season the spring will flatten. when you pop it that pilot should jump out about 5 ft... i only used powder once, it was when i was doing that music video i had to pop it several times and it got dirty so the dirt actually caused stiction inside the tube plus they wanted the red hi speed which doesnt release or blossum well at less than 200... make sere your tube is free of lips and screw heads that will catch

[Jerry O]

Kent, your first post was way to technical and way over my head but I think I undersatnd your secound post. As long as I don't get the thingamagig stuck in the hickydo the thingy should work.  All kidding aside, thanks all for your info. I figured it would be fairly simple but I like to just check with guys that have been there, done it. Its the little tips like the flaps over the spring and tube size that really helps.
Thanks again all and hope to see ya on the salt next year.   

Jerry

[Ron Gibson]

If your tube is a little long or big you can fill the front of it with styrofoam or something to take up space so your chute fits properly. Easier than having to make a new one if you decide you need a different chute.

[Loose Goose-Terry#1]

  I talked to Jim D. and he suggested that I use seporate pilot chute tubes...one for the high speed chute and one for the low speed chute rather than putting the pilots in with the chutes. Jim assured me that there wouldn't be deployment problems that way.
Very good information Kent. I wasn't sure how to pack a chute in a tube either, Thanks. Oh by the way, I have to ask... is "stiction" really a word? 

Terry 

[Glen]

Stiction is a word used in hydraulic systems when fluid is contaminated and get gummy causing the components to stick or become difficult to move.

[Stainless1]

If you use a 5 inch ID tube, a 5 inch pilot will be tight.  Your parachute manufacturer should be able to spec you the tube you need for the chute he designs for your application.  If not, check with another manufacturer before you buy... 
If you have room for separate pilot tubes they can be ballisticly launched

[1212FBGS]

yes, yes, yes, a separate tube for each chute... terry, we use the tern alot when referring to suspensions and shock movement... the point is the laundry doesn't slide through the tube well enough and the pilot might just flap in the breeze 
hey Jerry.... yeah my first post was rather technical, sorry.... heres one i hope ya all will understand... if ya put your hooey in a vajayjay you will wind up with a sparky 

[Jerry O]

I do like the separate pilot chute tube idea. How do you set up the release system . Do you run two cables , one for the chute and one for the pilot or do you just run the retaining strap over both tubes and use one cable. I quess getting the pilot out before the main chute will be the biggest chalange. Kent, I do understand the term stiction, I was a shock specialist for Rodger Penske's Indy car team in 91 and was constantly searching for better materials for piston and shaft seals that had the least amount of stiction. You would be surprised how much stiction in a shock will efect the handling of a Indy car at place like the Indy track. Anyway, thats a new topic so back to the parachute. Do you have any drawings or photos you could post so I could see how you have your system set up.

By the way... the last time I put my hooey in a vajayjay I did'nt get a sparky.. it was twins!

[Seldom Seen Slim]

"I put my hooey in a vajayjay I did'nt get a sparky.. it was twins!"

Jerry, now you're starting to sound like Ron G. a few posts up.  If I didn't know he was talking about parachute tubes -- I'd think he was being kinda personal.  I know you're not like that, though. . .

[Stan Back]

Make the tube a couple inches longer than you need.  A good place to store duct tape at the front, and later, if you're like us, you'll need the longer tube when you find out that you need a longer lead between the pilot and the chute, plus a bigger pilot, too.  Luckily we still had room.

We initially planned the extra space to acoommodate a dirtier (dirt or salt) chute, now have to struggle to get a clean one in.

Seemed the roadster had a lot of dead air behind it and we needed to throw the pilot out farther and harder to get it to pull the chute out.  One run found the pilot laying on the 2" round pushbar after about 200 MPH.  Not caught there, just laying there.

Stan Back

[Dean Los Angeles]

stiction is static friction. It is the tendency for one object to bond to another. The parachute and lines creates a ton of static electricity and it will bond to just about anything. The baby powder works to prevent the bond.