...Have "grown on me!" (For reasons I'll explain below.)

This afternoon I made four flights at Heavy Horse Farm www.heavyhorsefarm.com . I flew my Estes EX-200 twice on A3-4T motors, and my Athena flew once on an A8-3. The fourth flight, also using an A8-3, was of my Quest K-1 clone (made from a Starhawk kit and a yellow Q E-Z boost-glider pop pod body tube).

The Estes red parachutes in the EX-200 and Athena were highly visible against the brilliant blue, cloudless sky. I was particularly impressed with the parachutes' folding and opening characteristics. Because they are made of a stiffer plastic than the banned printed Estes 'chutes, the red 'chutes kept wanting to unfold and unroll as I packed them. Even the EX-200's 'chute, which had sat packed inside the rocket for months, began to unfold itself as soon as I slid it out of the body tube to open and re-pack it before flight. In all of the three flights, the red parachutes opened instantly with no hesitation. Although I would like to see Estes bring back printed parachutes (perhaps the old 1960s checkerboard ones), I hope they keep offering the red parachutes.

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

It appears that the new printed parachutes (at least the ones in the new Saturn V kit) are the same sort of plastic. when I went to weigh the uncut material to compare with the older printed chutes, I had a bit of a problem because I couldn't keep it in a dense-enough fold for the digital scale (much less my beam balance)

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Roy
nar12605

Roy, I'm glad to hear that they have brought back printed 'chutes. Do the new ones have the same color patterns as the old ones?

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

These were specially printed for the Saturn V. They have a tight radial pattern almost identical to the one Centuri printed for their Saturn V in 1969.

The new regular Estes pattern is similar to the pre-Damon parachute (i.e. before 1971). You can see this when searching Amazon.com for "Estes Parachute"

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Roy
nar12605

I agree about the red ones - they are very visible in the sky whether its clear or cloudy. We saw a bunch of them at Pasture Blaster two weeks ago and it was obvious that they were about the easiest to see 'chutes out there.

And now that you mention it, you're right about their eagerness to deploy as well. I sure can't say that for Quest yellow/red ones.

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Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE

So chalk up another one in the plus column for Estes. Whether this was intentional or not, they are giving us what we need.


Bill

I'm glad to hear that about the red chutes. Problem is, I really wanted one of those black ones with the skull and crossbones as pictured. So I am looking for someone with one that is willing to trade or sell me one. PM me if interested.

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BAR in his second tour of duty.
Nar# 32629

Just don't buy one from them. They shipped me the ugly purple/green 24" chutes and solid red 12" chutes.

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I love sanding.

I thank you all very much for your replies! I've e-mailed Rick Piester about the red parachutes and their high visibility and "eagerness to open," and I included a link to this thread. A variety of colored pattern 'chutes made of the same plastic would also be great--maybe they could offer both the "60s style" and "70s-on style" 'chute patterns to go with re-issued classic kits from those eras. Also, this new plastic would make 8" and 10" 'chutes for small rockets practical, as the old Estes 'chutes in these sizes sometimes didn't want to open.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

Here is what I was told a few months ago:

6” = Black and White Checker Pattern
12” = Orange and White Checker Pattern
18” = Blue and White Checker Pattern

At the time there was no information available about the 24" pattern. Maybe now there is.

- Rich