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Colm

Templates for miniature ram air canopies?

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I'm interested in fabricating some small-scale, model, ram air parachutes. Does anybody have any fabric templates for a 7-cell canopy design that they'd share?

My goal is to make some miniature canopies, maximum a few feet wide, that I can do some aerodynamic experimentation on from rooftop drops. The model needn't faithfully replicate any particular brand, just so long as it pressurizes and flies under wing loading.

Thanks!

(I promise these experiments will not involve living animals or unwilling participants in any manner:)

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I've made a few, complete with risers sliders and the like. The last one I made was an elliptical 7 cell, roughly 42" by 20".

Look at a normal sized one and scale it down. I used f-111 from paragear, and matched it to my actual canopy. Figure out your wing shape and your topskin and lower skins will be more or less rectangles. The top skins will get wider near the thickest part of the canopy.

I learned a lot just from making a few different designs. Playing with different brake settings, packing techniques, and all that can make it open now or snivel for 50 feet. My actual openings have improved and I taught my wife how to pack with my models. I feel like I have a better understanding of how it all works together and how each part interacts with each other.

It flies and I had some videos and I'd take more pictures for you if it wasn't in a tree. I may be able to upload the videos later. When I get a chance I might be able to find my cardboard templates and send them to you. Oh and one more thing. 1:1 loading is not the same when it's scaled down. Mine flew best with about a pound and a half on it. Roughly .25:1
I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

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If you're not truely modelling any particular brand, consider looking for a cheap 2nd hand power kite on e-bay or similar. After materials, time and arse ache you'd probably come out on top. Try looking for something 2-3m, maybe a Beamer or a Crossfire 2 by HQ. You'll also find lots of cheap 2-line ones which could be modded at minimal effort but a 4-line kite would almost match a canopy, albeit with probably bit a more extreme of an aspect ratio than you tend to see with canopies.

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Kite wont work, as it is designed to fly with the tow points like 2-3' apart, if you put them right next to each other it will distort the canopy. You'd need to build a whole new line set for it.

But if you want something cheap for said purpose, and are willing to reline/mod:

http://www.panshkite.com/

Those are actually pretty fucking great kites, I have several and have zero complaints. Built quality is good, and they fly well.

I think they're just copying other designs and building them with seconds quality fabric and slave labor. :|

"As soon as you're born you start dying. So you might as well, have a good time."
-CAKE

I'm crazy not stupid. There is a difference.

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Hey all,
You guys totally kick ass! Thank you so much for all the great links. It will take me a bit of time to digest it all, but I will try to post any results back here later on. I will be playing around with trim and loading and other things.

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