How we make Fruity Parachutes Fruity Chutes have the classic ellipsoid shape of professional and military parachutes. The shape is similar to hemispherical but the top is flattened. This has the same drag coefficient as hemispherical but reduces the amount of material and lowers the weight. This design has several advantages over other designs:
Overall Design: The drawing below shows the major components of the parachute and relative dimensions. IMPORTANT: Fruity Chute diameter is the actual opening size of the parachute, not the distance around the top of the canopy!
Canopy The Canopy consists of multiple gores shaped so when sewn together it forms the ellipsoid shape. The seams used are called a "french" seam which has the advantage of being double stitched and having four layers of material. As a result, the seams are much stronger than the material. As the parachute size goes up the number of gores increases. This allows more connection points to the chute and keeps the load capability per shroud line more constant. Small chutes have just 8 gores, while our 192" chute has 22. We can custom make chutes with as many gores - within reason - that you like. The material used is 1.1oz calendered rip stop and meets Mil Spec PIA-C 44378 specification. This is a process where the nylon is rolled under heat and high pressure to lower the porosity of the nylon without the need for coatings. The result is a very strong light weight fabric with low permeability. If you get a hole or tear in the rip-stop it does not spread. Spill Hole Our standard design comes with a spill hole that is 20% of the diameter of the canopy. It is just 4% of the area. A spill hole further increases the stability of the chute and keeps it from "puffing". The spill hole is reinforced with bias tape to ensure maximum strength. Large chutes also come standard with a deployment chute connection loop sewed onto the bias tape reinforcement. You can special order a spill hole of different size or we can cap the chute. Shroud Lines & Canopy Connection Shroud lines for larger chutes are made from 550 lb test military surplus paracord. This is extremely strong and multi-stranded so simple aberrations will not break the line. The connection to the canopy is sized to the chute. The connection to the canopy is triple stitched for maximum strength directly to the parachute seam. Standard shroud length is 115% of the canopy diameter. Extra long shroud lines can be special ordered.
The shroud connection pattern we use is called a "hand bag" closure. Rather than each shroud line connecting as a simple loop to the seam next to it, the lines connect from one side of the chute to the other. If you picture the chute being folded like a taco, the shroud lines connect from the seam on one side to the seam on the other side. This lets the lines be more easily untangled if the bridal slips through the lines. You can also easily undo the bridal and untangle the lines. Please email us if you want some tips on how to do this. Bridle Fruity Chutes come standard with all the shroud lines connected to a high-strength bridal. The bridal is constructed using heavy nylon webbing that terminates to a swivel. The strength of the materials is designed to allow for a shock of as much as 50x the descent rating of the chute. For instance the 120" chute uses a marine stainless swivel with 6000 lb shock strength and 1" nylon webbing- truly the finest in the industry. All stitching is done using high strength nylon upholstery thread. We can custom make bridals, let us know what you want.
Analysis of many flights of Fruity Chutes descent rate has verified that the Cd of Fruity Chutes is 1.5, which is the very close to the theoretical maximum for parachutes. You can closely predict your descent speed within 10% or better using Rocksim by setting your Cd to this value. See the screen shot below how to properly model a Fruity Chute.
Remember, this descent speed is for sea level. It will go up as elevation increases. Contact Us - Email us or call and let us know what you want - we'll get back to you with exact pricing and delivery and you'll have your Fruity Chute in no time. Contact us at: fruitysales "@" fruitychutes.com (anti-spam written email address, remove the quotes and spaces to contact us), or call 408-499-9050 Check back soon for more information.
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