60 inch pilot parachute Green/White

The Real Deal

You're looking at the pilot chute used by US Army Airborne skydivers.  The pilot chute is used to pull the reserve parachute, or canopy, from the container in which it's stowed on the jumper.  Over the years the pilot chute design has changed from a simple flat sheet parachute with multiple lines to this tangle-free and ultra-safe chute using nylon tape and a very porous mesh as the suspension lines.  The mesh reduces the chances of the chute tangling to almost zero, improves the drag of the parachute, and makes packing very simple. 

The reason we've decided to carry these types of parachutes is that they make excellent parachutes for 6 to 8 pound rockets but also superb drogue parachutes for larger projects.  As long as you use a decent deployment bag and/or fireproof sheet and don't burn a bunch of holes in it this should last you many years.

Use three on larger projects for a very cool, tangle free descent.

Great for high altitude balloon flights!  Lightweight but the fact that they can't tangle ensures your expensive cellphone and camera payloads make it back safely!

Here's a great website to help you calculate the descent rate in time and speed of your payload and parachute.  

Link - opens in new window

Don't forget to add part of the weight of the balloon since some of it comes back down with the payload, the parachute and the lines tying everything together when you weigh your project.

Parachute weight - 8.6 oz / 245g