Chute mounts

[Tman]

Great topic, thanks for the input and pictures!

[hotrod]

A few tidy installations in there, would all of those have passed tech?

All those shots were of cars actively competing so yes they all passed tech at some point.

I numbered the images to make it easier to refer to individual images, and am continuing to add additional images as I get the time.

A few of the cars pictured there were involved in accidents at the end of the run at or near the time of chute deployment.
That does not necessarily mean the chute configuration was the cause, as it might have been released as the car got away from the driver for some other reason.

I also added a set of images of cars on the chute and a few examples of problem deployments.

Larry

[McRat]

Odd.  I could have sworn my chute had looped stringers.  In other words, the bridle stitching only keep the lines pretty, it doesn't hold the lines to the chute.  Guess I should go out and look.

If that's not how they are contructed, somebody is missing the boat.  Why use 8 stringers when you can use 4 and be stronger?

[rgn]

What size are the chutes you use?  I'm guessing ribbon and X type chutes are the most commonly used?  A lot of those cars have 2 chutes is deployment staggered?  High and low speed?  Do any of the vehicles experience rears wheels or fronts been lifted-unsettled due high or low bridle positioning?  Do you think that people use too much chute at times and thus unsettle the vehicle?  How many bikes go down on chute deployment, is chute deployment a 'time' in the run (cars and bikes) where incidents occur?  Anyone keeping run stats at the meets?  lol.  I never thought I would be interested in parachutes again!   

[Jonny Hotnuts]

Thanks Mr. Barrett....very helpful.

~JH

[hotrod]

Ok I just finished uploading pictures to the web page on chute mounts I linked above.
I have 82 images of chute packs and their mounting hardware and 12 images of chutes deployed showing some of the things that they do including a fouled chute.

If anyone can think of any other aspects that could be put on my web page let me know and I will cull through my images and or make an effort to document that issue this year when I go out to Bonneville.

I hope you find the page useful.     http://blackhorsephoto.net/car_tech_chutes/chute_systems.html

What size are the chutes you use?  I'm guessing ribbon and X type chutes are the most commonly used?  A lot of those cars have 2 chutes is deployment staggered?  High and low speed?  Do any of the vehicles experience rears wheels or fronts been lifted-unsettled due high or low bridle positioning?  Do you think that people use too much chute at times and thus unsettle the vehicle?  How many bikes go down on chute deployment, is chute deployment a 'time' in the run (cars and bikes) where incidents occur?  Anyone keeping run stats at the meets?  lol.  I never thought I would be interested in parachutes again! 

I can't answer your first question it depends on the weight of the car and expected speed to work out the proper chute size and type.
The ribbon chutes are actually relatively rare I only can think of 3 cars that use them off the top of my head. The majority are either the square panel cruciform style or the triangular panel cruciform and a smaller portion of triangular panel 3 panel chutes.

Yes some of the very fast cars have different sized chutes for different speed ranges. The very fast streamliners mostly have a smaller drogue chute for high speeds (something above 300 mph or so) and a larger chute for lower speeds and I think a couple have a really large "holy crap chute" to really slow them down fast when they are in trouble.

Yes some cars do get their rear wheels yanked off the salt when the chute hits (usually due to poor pull point geometry) at least 2 of the cars I have pictures of on my web page got wadded up at the end of the run when they pulled the chute. Sometimes the rear wheels get lifted enough for the front valence to do a snow plow imitation which really gets the car upset.

Yes I think you will find that too much chute or improper rigging is often a cause of problems at the end of runs.

To my knowledge only the bike streamliners run chutes, the bike guys can elaborate on their effect I have no clue other than external observation.

The different designs of chutes have different characteristics, some hit harder than others, some like the square panel cruciform tend to ride just a bit higher than the triangular panel cruciform and the triangular panel 3 lobe chutes.

There are several long exhaustive threads on chute mounting and such where much of this has been discussed and cussed in depth.

Larry

[Captthundarr]

Great shots Hotrod. In photo #A11 I am guessing tha the fact that the cars hood is open and in the process of leaving the car for lunch that it may have upset the air flow.
In photo #A12, hood gone chute open.

Frank

[SPARKY]

# 920 the car that most guys love to hate---they should call the race team "Noodle Racing"  They are definitely racing for records and not the showy trophy  LSR

[hotrod]

In photo #A11 I am guessing tha the fact that the cars hood is open and in the process of leaving the car for lunch that it may have upset the air flow.
In photo #A12, hood gone chute open.

The chute came out as a salt slider from the very beginning, even before the hood unlatched.
When it happened the hood was not released yet, just slightly ajar, it was not until the hood blew off that I understood why he popped the chute.

When the chute was released it just dropped to the ground behind the car and started sliding out to the rear. That hood was only in that partially open position for less than a  second, a moment later it was about 50 ft in the air.

This is the first frame as the chute came out, it was taken 2 seconds before the shot with the hood half open, and about a second after the chute pack released:



I just added it to the page as number A11a so as not to confuse the number sequence.

Larry

[Captthundarr]

Thanks Hotrod. This topic is very timely as we are goinr to install a chute on our camaro over the winter. thanks

[streamliner]

[Bob Drury]

  Just a clarification.  Image #23 of Hot Rods chute mount pictures show the rear of my Stude taken about three or four years ago.
  The reason I am bringing this up is that I had the attachment point TOO LOW and when the chute deployed it was not pleasant and the car would literally feel like the back tires were off the ground.
  I have since moved the mount up about six inches to the bottom of the trunk + or -, and the difference is astounding.
                                                 Thank's, Bob

[hotrod]

Thanks for the info Bob, I found an image from Speedweek 2011 of the new mount point and added it to the series with some notes regarding why you made the change.


If any other car owners have comments regarding the pictures I would very much appreciate them so they can also be annotated for future reference by car builders.

Larry

[Bob Drury]

  Yeah, if your vehicle is fast and light, it will lift the rear axle off the ground ......  draw a straight line from the attachment point to the centerline of the blossomed chute (which on a 14' chute should be seven feet above the surface.  
 It isn't rocket science to see what is going to happen as the entire weight of the vehicle is transfered to the front (steering) tires and if the chute is too big for the vehicle, it will pull the rear tires off of the surface or at the very least make it real squirrely.   Bob

[Glen]

The 444 liner is mounted about the cam center line. long tow line and small chutes I think low speed is 5 ft and a small high speed and 24 inch. I will check with Rick when he get back.  Carbo / carbon brakes and each wheel.