Tow testing 2: March 7 2024
- Test location: Minute Man Airfield
- Configuration:
- Parachute connected to the car, bag connected to a long line staked to the ground
- Reefing line cutter wire activated by flight computer
- Media https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1heDDfimlsCK1b6wlfXEJbvaHoiqo076k?usp=drive_link
- Tow Test Procedure: Tow Testing SOP (1).pdf
- 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: ????Date????
- 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 concept:
- Red lines are 2x4 beams, with one plywood plate for reinforcement in front
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