Our model parachutes / toy parchutes

Making

Making small scale parachutes is a great way to understand the science behind them. Drag, aerodynamics, stability. You'll soon appreciate all the research and development that goes into the real things - both military and sporting.

Most are simple to make and just need a decent template to work from. The internet is a great place to start if want to create your own templates. Look at pictures, watch videos and get an idea of all the parts involved.

If you get stuck or want an easy solution, just strip the frame off a normal umbrella and attach some lines. Done!

Parasail parachute

An interesting one to work out a pattern for, it took about 14 - 16 hours to make. I used solid panels for the front gores just to cut down the amount of hot cutting and sewing. There was the problem with with the number of gores I made, two extra, which meant undoing some bits but other than that it was a great little project. It flies surprisingly well in heavy wind - I have a rope burn to prove it!

Round parafauna parachute

This is the easiest to make. Fewer gores mean fewer lines but it won't look as realistic. Round parachutes tend to inflate again on the ground so be prepared to chase it down.

For calculating your parafauna round parachute gores see here >>

Square / RAM Air parachute

Square skydiving parachute. Made from F111 low porosity parachute ripstop. Got a lovely feel to it.

Bit fiddly but its small size makes it a lot easier to get round the sewing machine.

The bonus about square parachutes is that they stay down once they have landed.

Shows parachutes line layout. The knots have been sealed with superglue and then trimmed close to prevent snagging.

Shows "intercellular vents" or cross cell vents - improves inflation time and stability.

Mini parachutes can easily be made on your home sewing machine and you don't need much sewing knowledge to do it.

Commercial parachute

This is a bought parachute for a radio controlled skydiver. Nicely made and well setup.

Same r/c skydiving parachute as above but showing the pilot chute.

Military parachute

Supposedly fast deployment with a gauze skirt to reduce opening impact. This has a diameter of around 1m.

It tends to snivel a bit so I replaced the gauze skirt with a solid panel on the next one.

Military Parachute - large

A larger version of the above. Almost twice the size. The skirt at the bottom is solid rather than gauze and seems to be an improvement.

Independence Reserve style parachute

The holes are way too big but it was an interesting project. Not one I'll do again soon. I may fix the hole size but will do that when there are no other pressing projects.

That's a lot of seams for one chute. Seven hexagonal parachutes stitched together. Takes a fair bit of patience!

Way too trainspotter!