Doug,
The chute when it blossoms is in a "reefed" condition. A line holds the
shroud lines close together where they connect to the canopy. After a delay
this line is cut and the chute opens fully. This technique is used in a lot
of instances when dealing with heavy loads.
Jim in Palmdale , who once worked at a place that manufactured "reefer
cutter" charges.
----- Original Message -----
From: DOUG ODOM <popms@thegrid.net>
To: Wester S Potter <wspotter@jps.net>
Cc: <land-speed@autox.team.net>
Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2000 7:16 AM
Subject: Re: Parachute
> Wes; My $.02 worth. The big difference between drag cars and LSR cars
> is the size of the tire you have on the ground and the weight of the
> car. I don't know of many drag cars that run 7 or 8 hundred pounds of
> ballast. On the really fast LSR cars I would think they would copy the
> Air Force or space shuttle type of parachute deployment. The other day
> on TV I saw the space shuttle land and the chute was out before the
> wheels touched the ground but it looked like it was rolled up so it
> unfurled and got bigger the longer it was out. Is this a way to soften
> the hit?
> Doug Odom in big ditch
>
> Wester S Potter wrote:
> >
> > List,
> >
> > This braking parachute question always leaves me wondering why the drag
> > racers can slow from 300 mph passes with a parachute time after time
without
> > very many incidents. What is the big difference in slowing from 300 at
a
> > drag strip and slowing from 380 or so on the salt? I'm sure I'm missing
the
> > point here somewhere but something is at work on tethers and chute
design
> > for land-speed applications that is primarily solved in drag racing.
The
> > discussion early this year on how to find the optimum point for placing
a
> > tether connection made sense as I read it. The cars that have problems
on
> > the salt are primarily placing that connection in the wrong place and
> > disturbing the balance of the car at speed. I realize that drag cars
differ
> > so little that once someone gets it right it's easy for everyone to do
the
> > same thing. Not so with land-speed cars. The basilc ability of getting
the
> > parachute to deploy and do it's job seems to be the same however. The
> > tether straps are able to handle the same loads on dragsters, ribbon
chutes
> > and the cross panel chutes hold up, what is so different on the salt?
The
> > Burkland's car certainly had enough thought in the design area for
braking
> > but now Tom has gone back to the drawing board to see what he missed.
> > Obviously the deployment of the chutes was at speeds higher than he had
> > intended. What's the answer?
> >
> > Wes
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