Parachute Recovery System

[Kyle O'Rourke]

I'm somewhat interested in seeing how well this parachute performs when compared to a Mars Parachute in size, weight, and drag. $120 vs $160 for a smaller parachute and heavier canister seems like a lame tradeoff but then again I'm biased.

 

[Carman Doan]

I haven't ordered yet but went through all the instructions and the specs. The Hubsan x4 pro high version weighs 1420g without chute and parachute s designed for it. P3 weighs 1280g with battery and propellers, so the **** p3 is actually lighter. I've looked at the mounting method and a quite sure if it didn't work straight out of the box that something could be rigged up. I will order soon but it may take a while to get to Canada. When I've got it figured I will let you know.

 

[Carman Doan]

Ordered ad should be in by early to mid Feb via snail mail. I have a buddy with a 3D printer if all else fails we will design a mount kit.

 

[Carman Doan]

I'm somewhat interested in seeing how well this parachute performs when compared to a Mars Parachute in size, weight, and drag. $120 vs $160 for a smaller parachute and heavier canister seems like a lame tradeoff but then again I'm biased.

The mars mini2 (closet match) has a bit larger chute, but also weighs more (99g compared to 85g complete for hubsan - and that is without the mounting kit or mayday) I think the spring loaded deployment is a must to actually open before prop tangle??

 

[Kyle O'Rourke]

The mars mini2 (closet match) has a bit larger chute, but also weighs more (99g compared to 85g complete for hubsan - and that is without the mounting kit or mayday) I think the spring loaded deployment is a must to actually open before prop tangle??

Spring loaded deployment is not always necessary. While testing the Mayday, I found no real difference in performance between spring and 'free release.' When packed properly the Mars Lite parachute usually just falls away from the blades before entanglement can occur.

I would be sceptical about the weight of the system. If it weighs that much with all the support plastic and the electronics, then something has to be missing. Or it may use a plastic model rocket parachute and not a ripstop parachute.

 

[Carman Doan]

Spring loaded deployment is not always necessary. While testing the Mayday, I found no real difference in performance between spring and 'free release.' When packed properly the Mars Lite parachute usually just falls away from the blades before entanglement can occur.

I would be sceptical about the weight of the system. If it weighs that much with all the support plastic and the electronics, then something has to be missing. Or it may use a plastic model rocket parachute and not a ripstop parachute.

I think you might be right on the weight, I've seen two numbers, 85g and 190g in different spots. One could be shipping weight but I won't know for sure until I get it. I did however find out the size of the parachute finally! Everyone thought 27" because the part number has a 27 in it. According to the official hubsan accessory site it's 49.2". Wow. The mars mini2 is only 35". I will happily take the extra weight for parachute size. In the manual it lists 3kg as test weight and 4.6m/s for stable decent speed. Compared to an unaided 9.8m/s² that's great! We'll see how the mounting goes.

 

[rcfanatics]

I think you might be right on the weight, I've seen two numbers, 85g and 190g in different spots. One could be shipping weight but I won't know for sure until I get it. I did however find out the size of the parachute finally! Everyone thought 27" because the part number has a 27 in it. According to the official hubsan accessory site it's 49.2". Wow. The mars mini2 is only 35". I will happily take the extra weight for parachute size. In the manual it lists 3kg as test weight and 4.6m/s for stable decent speed. Compared to an unaided 9.8m/s² that's great! We'll see how the mounting goes.

Let us know how you get on with the mounting, been trying to find someone around my area that does 3D printing but having no luck


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[Carman Doan]

Let us know how you get on with the mounting, been trying to find someone around my area that does 3D printing but having no luck


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Did you finally look at yours? What is the width difference? (I gather won't go straight on). If you can post a pic of the phantom legs with the parachute in front to help me start planning

 

[J.James]

The mars mini2 (closet match) has a bit larger chute, but also weighs more (99g compared to 85g complete for hubsan - and that is without the mounting kit or mayday) I think the spring loaded deployment is a must to actually open before prop tangle??

Tho it might not be 100 necessary to have a spring loaded chute deployment. But just from testing out the mars mini on the counter it seems like it would be pretty hard to have a chute not deploy and open fully. That thing shoots it out with so much force that it even unrolls its self even when not flying.

THo I have noticed that the material that they use to make the mars mini chute is way heavy for the job it needs to do on just a small 36 inch chute. It also seems to be a coated water proof type fabric which seems to not only add weight to the material but its also sort of tacky and not very slippery like regular real parachute material is. But its way over kill on any thing needing such a small chute for such a small weight.. Even a plastic chute all tho it would not last very long or for more then a few deployments I can even still picture one of then cheezy plastic chutes being strong enough to get the job done. Heck I have been looking all lots of different materials the last few days and it even just dawned on me that if some one did want a plastic chute but wanted it to be a bit stronger then the plastic toy rocket chutes. A good material to try would be one of them non tearing hefty trash bags. For thin plastic they are pretty dam strong and light weight as well as able to fold them up to be real compact and it dont seem to stick to its self like some water proof rip stop chute material can.

I also while I have had some time to tumble the chute ideas around some the last few days I also thought of a way to have a loaded chute that could use no spring and would instead just use some rubber bands or elastic to launch a chute out of the tube sort of like a sling shot.

I also seen a different way of making chutes that instead of strings for the shroud lines it instead used a netting type material which cant tangle or snag on its self like strings can. It also seems as if it would be much less likely to tangle in the props like string could of it gets in the way.

 

[ScatSpeak]

Did you finally look at yours? What is the width difference? (I gather won't go straight on). If you can post a pic of the phantom legs with the parachute in front to help me start planning

Here's a couple of comparison photos I took... one comparing to rear and one to side... clearly the Hubsan para system won't mount directly to the Phantom legs... they are really nice quick mounts though so hate to not use them somehow...

 

[ScopeTech]

Wow that's huge! Mars Mini seems half that size.

 

[tucguy]

They have been around for a little while but have not really caught on. You can find several threads here on the forum about them.

DJI makes one themselves. The DJI DropSafe drop "speed reduction system".
Dropsafe - Drop speed reduction system | DJI

550gms. equals 19.4ozs.

 

[ScatSpeak]

Wow that's huge! Mars Mini seems half that size.

Yeah, I think it's because of the sensors and spring loading for the Hubsan... guess it's the penalty for not having to wire it up for power and control... though, on the quad it's actually designed for, it doesn't look quite as gigantic by comparison.... but it's still bigger than M.A.R.S. mini for sure.

 

[ScopeTech]

Yeah, I think it's because of the sensors and spring loading for the Hubsan... guess it's the penalty for not having to wire it up for power and control... though, on the quad it's actually designed for, it doesn't look quite as gigantic by comparison.... but it's still bigger than M.A.R.S. mini for sure.

With the proper mount, the Mini v2 + Mayday + battery seems quite a bit more slender than that solution. Once the Mayday allows to manually deploy (and the backpack issue resolved) I don't see a compelling reason not to use it.

 

[J.James]

I was real supersized on how small and compact the mars mini is. But its also got a real tiny chute in it that is not really the best size to slow down a falling phantom 3 with out it still hitting the ground pretty hard. The hubsan one with a 49.2 in parachute would slow it down a lot more then just a 36 inch one.


BTW I keep seeing a few mentions of the dji drop safe which seems like its called that cause of how heavy it is at 19oz but im pretty sure that is for real big drones. Which it would seem a drone would have to be to even carry that big sucker on its back.

 

[Carman Doan]

Well I managed to modify the hubsan mounting brackets to work on Phantom. Not tested yet at all but it's on there solid. Minor issues: 1. hieght is 1/8" taller than legs mounted tight under battery. Not too worried because I've been planning some shock absorber feet I saw on amazon which will give me another inch. 2. Battery can't be removed without removing parachute. Luckily even though the legs are no longer quick remove, the parachute is (two thumb screws remove parachute tube and allow battery change so not too bad). Used heat from a lighter, carefully, to bend arms in center between webbing to shorten and stand off from unit. Then did similar with mounting "clamps" and drilled larger /new holes to allow bolt through for strength. Mounting is about 1-2 degrees off plumb so hopefully won't be an issue as we only have 80 degrees before it fires lol. May carefully use lighter and attempt to straighten to true. Will update with tests later. Be careful if you try this when tightening clamps, hinges are not super strong and I broke one tightening and had to repair with crazy glue, You want it tight, but don't get carried away (legs are thicker).

 

[J.James]

I notice thats right up against the bottom of the battery which has me wondering. is that a down firing chute?

 

[Rasit]

With all that unbalanced weight hanging off the back of the bird, I doubt it will fly level. If it does, the rear motors will be pulling double-duty. Keep us posted on the maiden voyage!

 

[Carman Doan]

I notice thats right up against the bottom of the battery which has me wondering. is that a down firing chute?

Yep it fires down, designed to drop on it's back and protect camera.

 

[Carman Doan]

With all that unbalanced weight hanging off the back of the bird, I doubt it will fly level. If it does, the rear motors will be pulling double-duty. Keep us posted on the maiden voyage!

Ya I'm a little worried about that as well, 200g is quite a bit uncentered. I will let you know once I fly. I will significantly lower brake settings as well to help prevent stopping flips lol