Tow testing 2: March 7 2025
- Run 1:
- Original arrangement (cutter wire to its own rope free of the parachute lines)
- Parachute came out of bag very tangled, did not inflate behind the car
- We did not repack the parachute before this test and so the tangling was likely due to poor packing
- Line cutters ignited and cut the reefing line but the parachute still did not inflate
- After removing from the car the parachute was made to inflate by holding it in the wind
- This makes us suspect that the car wake is affecting parachute inflation
- Staked out line was limp and did not seem to have been pulled taut, seems like the parachute just fell out of the bag
- Rubber band of bag was snapped
- Run 2:
- Ensured that all reefing lines ran through the loops under the shroud lines
- Attached the reefing cutter wire to a shroud line
- Parachute still did not inflate in drogue or main configuration
- Staked out line was limp again
- Line cutters did not ignite but were ignited after the test, which seems like it was a connection to flight computer problem
Tow testing 3: March 21 2025
- Test location: Minute Man Airfield
- Configuration:
- Parachute connected to test rig attached to car to raise the parachute up higher, out of the car wake
- Prototype test rig:
- x
