I'd always liked the look of the red and white parachutes used in the Apollo program. A rough count looks like there are 64 alternating red and white gores.
The Estes Saturn V kit (and the earlier Centuri version) came with parachutes like this.
Many of my semi-scale and fantasy scale model kits use a supplied generic canopy. I always thought a scale model (sport models too) should descend on a scale style parachute.
It's considered an "all in one".
The largest outside cut line is for an 18" chute, a popular size for vendors.
Inside are cut lines for a 15" or 12" parachute pattern.
In the middle are 3", 4" and 5" spill hole circles.
TRIVIA: FSI first came out with a "Select-A-Size" parachute in the early 1970s.
The Saturn V kit parachute had 64 printed red and white "gores". But on a smaller parachute it's visually too many. The print pattern messes with your eyes like a "Hypno Disk".
The new parachute edge has rounded "gores" giving the illusion of a shroud line pulling on each one.
The polyethylene is the ideal thickness. Some kit parachutes are thick or crispy.
This parachute opens quickly with no sticking.
Parachute drawing and development was a real education.
There are many considerations when art is transferred onto a flexible rubber printing plate. It's not the same as paper printing. This has been redrawn and tweaked too many times.
25,000 parachutes later . . .
These turned out better than we had hoped!
JonRocket and Balsa Machining Service are the first to get them.
If you are interested in parachutes like this for your kits, please contact me.
The parachutes I have are generic without a logo in the center.
EDIT: We had hoped to have two hundred of these for NARCON, but the pressman called in sick! They did run a few, I managed to sneak them out of the print shop.
Roger and Bracha of JonRocket.com will have the parachute at NARCON. Stop by and check it out!
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